BUSINESS VALUATION Business valuation is a process and a set of procedures used to determine the economic value of an owner’s interest in a business. Business valuation is often used to estimate the selling price of a business, resolve disputes related to estate and gift taxation, divorce litigation, allocate business purchase price among the business assets, establish a formula for estimating the value of partners’ ownership interest for buy-sell agreements, and many other business and legal disputes. Standard and Premise of Business Value Before the value of a business can be measured, the valuation assignment must specify the reason for and circumstances surrounding the business valuation. These are formally known as the business value standard and premise of value. Business valuation results can vary considerably depending upon the choice of both the standard and premise of value. For example, a business buyer and seller may bargain to establish the value of business assets that approaches the fair market value standard. However, the value conclusions based on the going concern premise and that of assemblage of business assets may be quite different. One reason is that an operating business creates value by means of its ability to coordinate its capital, human and management resources to produce economic income. The same set of assets not currently used to produce income is generally worth less. Reasons for Business Valuation Business people may need to conduct business valuation for a number of reasons including sale, estate tax planning, estate tax valuation, divorce, business purchase price allocation, collateral documentation, litigation and documenting that a sales price is equitable. Fair market value “Fair market value”, a central standard of measuring business value, is defined as the price at which property would change hands between a willing buyer and a willing seller when the former is not under any compulsion to buy and the latter is not under any compulsion to sell, both parties having reasonable knowledge of relevant facts. See IRS Rev. Rul. 59-60, 1959-1, Cum. Bulletin 237, codified at 26 C. F. R. § 20. 2031-1(b). The fair market value standard incorporates certain assumptions, including the assumptions that the hypothetical purchaser is reasonably prudent and rational but is not motivated by any synergistic or strategic influences; that the business will continue as a going concern and not be liquidated; that the hypothetical transaction will be conducted in cash or equivalents; and that the parties are willing and able to consummate the transaction. These assumptions might not, and probably do not, reflect the actual conditions of the market in which the subject business might be sold. However, these conditions are assumed because they yield a uniform standard of value, after applying generally-accepted valuation techniques, which allows meaningful comparison between businesses which are similarly situated. Elements of business valuation Economic conditions A business valuation report generally begins with a description of national, regional and local economic conditions existing as of the valuation date, as well as the conditions of the industry in which the subject business operates. A common source of economic information for the first section of the business valuation report is the Federal Reserve Board’s Beige Book, published quarterly by the Federal Reserve Bank. State governments and industry associations often publish useful statistics describing regional and industry conditions. Financial Analysis The financial statement analysis generally involves common size analysis, ratio analysis (liquidity, turnover, profitability, etc. ), trend analysis and industry comparative analysis. This permits the valuation analyst to compare the subject company to other businesses in the same or similar industry, and to discover trends affecting the company and/or the industry over time. By comparing a company’s financial statements in different time periods, the valuation expert can view growth or decline in revenues or expenses, changes in capital structure, or other financial trends. How the subject company compares to the industry will help with the risk assesment and ultimately help determine the discount rate and the selection of market multiples. Normalization of financial statements The most common normalization adjustments fall into the following four categories: Comparability Adjustments. The valuator may adjust the subject company’s financial statements to facilitate a comparison between the subject company and other businesses in the same industry or geographic location. These adjustments are intended to eliminate differences between the way that published industry data is presented and the way that the subject company’s data is presented in its financial statements. Non-operating Adjustments. It is reasonable to assume that if a business were sold in a hypothetical sales transaction (which is the underlying premise of the fair market value standard), the seller would retain any assets which were not related to the production of earnings or price those non-operating assets separately. For this reason, non-operating assets (such as excess cash) are usually eliminated from the balance sheet. Non-recurring Adjustments. The subject company’s financial statements may be affected by events that are not expected to recur, such as the purchase or sale of assets, a lawsuit, or an unusually large revenue or expense. These non-recurring items are adjusted so that the financial statements will better reflect the management’s expectations of future performance. Discretionary Adjustments. The owners of private companies may be paid at variance from the market level of compensation that similar executives in the industry might command. In order to determine fair market value, the owner’s compensation, benefits, perquisites and distributions must be adjusted to industry standards. Similarly, the rent paid by the subject business for the use of property owned by the company’s owners individually may be scrutinized. Income, Asset and Market Approaches Three different approaches are commonly used in business valuation: the income approach, the asset-based approach, and the market approach. Within each of these approaches, there are various techniques for determining the fair market value of a business. Generally, the income approaches determine value by calculating the net present value of the benefit stream generated by the business (discounted cash flow); the asset-based approaches determine value by adding the sum of the parts of the business (net asset value); and the market approaches determine value by comparing the subject company to other companies in the same industry, of the same size, and/or within the same region. In determining which of these approaches to use, the valuation professional must exercise discretion. Each technique has advantages and drawbacks, which must be considered when applying those techniques to a particular subject company. Most treatises and court decisions encourage the valuator to consider more than one technique, which must be reconciled with each other to arrive at a value conclusion. A measure of common sense and a good grasp of mathematics is helpful. INCOME APPROACHES The income approaches determine fair market value by multiplying the benefit stream generated by the subject company times a discount or capitalization rate. The discount or capitalization rate converts the stream of benefits into present value. There are several different income approaches, including capitalization of earnings or cash flows, discounted future cash flows (“DCF”), and the excess earnings method (which is a hybrid of asset and income approaches). Most of the income approaches consider the subject company’s historical financial data; only the DCF method requires the subject company to provide projected financial data. Most of the income approaches look to the company’s adjusted historical financial data for a single period; only DCF requires data for multiple future periods. The discount or capitalization rate must be matched to the type of benefit stream to which it is applied. The result of a value calculation under the income approach is generally the fair market value of a controlling, marketable interest in the subject company, since the entire benefit stream of the subject company is most often valued, and the capitalization and discount rates are derived from statistics concerning public companies. Discount or capitalization rates A discount or capitalization rate is used to determine the present value of the expected returns of a business. The discount rate and capitalization rate are closely related to each other, but distinguishable. Generally speaking, the discount rate or capitalization rate may be defined as the yield necessary to attract investors to a particular investment, given the risks associated with that investment. The discount rate is applied only to discounted cash flow (DCF) valuations, which are based on projected business data over multiple periods of time. In DCF valuations, a series of projected cash flows is divided by the discount rate to derive the present value of the discounted cash flows. The sum of the discounted cash flows is added to a terminal value, which represents the present value of business cash flows into perpetuity. The sum of the discounted cash flows and the terminal value is the value of the business. On the other hand, a capitalization rate is applied in methods of business valuation that are based on historical business data for a single period of time. The after-tax net cash flow capitalization rate is equal to the discount rate minus the long-term sustainable growth rate. The after-tax net cash flow of a business is divided by the capitalization rate to derive the present value. Capitalization rates may be modified so that they may be applied to after-tax net income or pre-tax cash flows or income. There are several different methods of determining the appropriate discount rates. The discount rate is composed of two elements: (1) the risk-free rate, which is the return that an investor would expect from a secure, practically risk-free investment, such as a government bond; plus (2) a risk premium that compensates an investor for the relative level of risk associated with a particular investment in excess of the risk-free rate. Most importantly, the selected discount or capitalization rate must be consistent with stream of benefits to which it is to be applied. Build-Up Method The Build-Up Method is a widely-recognized method of determining the after-tax net cash flow discount rate, which in turn yields the capitalization rate. The figures used in the Build-Up Method are derived from various sources. This method is called a “build-up” method because it is the sum of risks associated with various classes of assets. It is based on the principle that investors would require a greater return on classes of assets that are more risky. The first element of an Build-Up capitalization rate is the risk-free rate, which is the rate of return for long-term government bonds. Investors who buy large-cap equity stocks, which are inherently more risky than long-term government bonds, require a greater return, so the next element of the Build-Up method is the equity risk premium. In determining a company’s value, the long-horizon equity risk premium is used because the Company’s life is assumed to be infinite. The sum of the risk-free rate and the equity risk premium yields the long-term average market rate of return on large public company stocks. Similarly, investors who invest in small cap stocks, which are riskier than blue-chip stocks, require a greater return, called the “size premium. ” Size premium data is generally available from two sources: Morningstars’ (formerly Ibbotson & Associates’) Stocks, Bonds, Bills & Inflation and Duff & Phelps’ Risk Premium Report. By adding the first three elements of a Build-Up discount rate, we can determine the rate of return that investors would require on their investments in small public company stocks. These three elements of the Build-Up discount rate are known collectively as the “systematic risks. ” In addition to systematic risks, the discount rate must include “unsystematic risks,” which fall into two categories. One of those categories is the “industry risk premium. ” Morningstar’s yearbooks contain empirical data to quantify the risks associated with various industries, grouped by SIC industry code. The other category of unsystematic risk is referred to as “specific company risk. ” Historically, no published data has been available to quantify specific company risks. However as of late 2006, new research has been able to quantify, or isolate, this risk for publicly-traded stocks through the use of Total Beta calculations. P. Butler and K. Pinkerton have outlined a procedure using a modified Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) to calculate the company specific risk premium. The model uses an equality between the standard CAPM which relies on the total beta on one side of the equation; and the firm’s beta, size premium and company specific risk premium on the other. The equality is then solved for the company specific risk premium as the only unknown. While this is ground-breaking research, it has yet to be adopted and used by the valuation community at large. It is important to understand why this capitalization rate for small, privately-held companies is significantly higher than the return that an investor might expect to receive from other common types of investments, such as money market accounts, mutual funds, or even real estate. Those investments involve substantially lower levels of risk than an investment in a closely-held company. Depository accounts are insured by the federal government (up to certain limits); mutual funds are composed of publicly-traded stocks, for which risk can be substantially minimized through portfolio diversification; and real estate almost invariably appreciates in value of long time horizons. Closely-held companies, on the other hand, frequently fail for a variety of reasons too numerous to name. Examples of the risk can be witnessed in the storefronts on every Main Street in America. There are no federal guarantees. The risk of investing in a private company cannot be reduced through diversification, and most businesses do not own the type of hard assets that can ensure capital appreciation over time. This is why investors demand a much higher return on their investment in closely-held businesses; such investments are inherently much more risky. Capital Asset Pricing Model (“CAP-M”) The Capital Asset Pricing Model is another method of determining the appropriate discount rate in business valuations. The CAP-M method originated from the Nobel Prize winning studies of Harry Markowitz, James Tobin and William Sharpe. Like the Ibbotson Build-Up method, the CAP-M method derives the discount rate by adding a risk premium to the risk-free rate. In this instance, however, the risk premium is derived by multiplying the equity risk premium times “beta,” which is a measure of stock price volatility. Beta is published by various sources (including Ibbotson Associates, which was used in this valuation) for particular industries and companies. Beta is associated with the systematic risks of an investment. One of the criticisms of the CAP-M method is that beta is derived from the volatility of prices of publicly-traded companies, which are likely to differ from private companies in their capital structures, diversification of products and markets, access to credit markets, size, management depth, and many other respects. Where private companies can be shown to be sufficiently similar to public companies, however, the CAP-M model may be appropriate. Weighted Average Cost of Capital (“WACC”) The weighted average cost of capital is the third major approach to determining a discount rate. The WACC method determines the subject company’s actual cost of capital by calculating the weighted average of the company’s cost of debt and cost of equity. The WACC capitalization rate must be applied to the subject company’s net cash flow to invested equity. One of the problems with this method is that the valuator may elect to calculate WACC according to the subject company’s existing capital structure, the average industry capital structure, or the optimal capital structure. Such discretion detracts from the objectivity of this approach, in the minds of some critics. Once the capitalization or discount rate is determined, it must be applied to an appropriate economic income streams: pretax cash flow, aftertax cash flow, pretax net income, after tax net income, excess earnings, projected cash flow, etc. The result of this formula is the indicated value before discounts. Before moving on to calculate discounts, however, the valuation professional must consider the indicated value under the asset and market approaches.   Careful matching of the discount rate to the appropriate measure of economic income is critical to the accuracy of the business valuation results. Net cash flow is a frequent choice in professionally conducted business appraisals. The rationale behind this choice is that this earnings basis corresponds to the equity discount rate derived from the Build-Up or CAP-M models: the returns obtained from investments in publicly traded companies can easily be represented in terms of net cash flows. At the same time, the discount rates are generally also derived from the public capital markets data. Asset-based approaches The value of asset-based analysis a business is equal to the sum of its parts. That is the theory underlying the asset-based approaches to business valuation. The asset approach to business valuation is based on the principle of substitution: no rational investor will pay more for the business assets than the cost of procuring assets of similar economic utility. In contrast to the income-based approaches, which require the valuation professional to make subjective judgments about capitalization or discount rates, the adjusted net book value method is relatively objective. Pursuant to accounting convention, most assets are reported on the books of the subject company at their acquisition value, net of depreciation where applicable. These values must be adjusted to fair market value wherever possible. The value of a company’s intangible assets, such as goodwill, is generally impossible to determine apart from the company’s overall enterprise value. For this reason, the asset-based approach is not the most probative method of determining the value of going business concerns. In these cases, the asset-based approach yields a result that is probably lesser than the fair market value of the business. In considering an asset-based approach, the valuation professional must consider whether the shareholder whose interest is being valued would have any authority to access the value of the assets directly. Shareholders own shares in a corporation, but not its assets, which are owned by the corporation. A controlling shareholder may have the authority to direct the corporation to sell all or part of the assets it owns and to distribute the proceeds to the shareholder(s). The non-controlling shareholder, however, lacks this authority and cannot access the value of the assets. As a result, the value of a corporation’s assets is rarely the most relevant indicator of value to a shareholder who cannot avail himself of that value. Adjusted net book value may be the most relevant standard of value where liquidation is imminent or ongoing; where a company earnings or cash flow are nominal, negative or worth less than its assets; or where net book value is standard in the industry in which the company operates. None of these situations applies to the Company which is the subject of this valuation report. However, the adjusted net book value may be used as a “sanity check” when compared to other methods of valuation, such as the income and market approaches. Market approaches The market approach to business valuation is rooted in the economic principle of competition: that in a free market the supply and demand forces will drive the price of business assets to a certain equilibrium. Buyers would not pay more for the business, and the sellers will not accept less, than the price of a comparable business enterprise. It is similar in many respects to the “comparable sales” method that is commonly used in real estate appraisal. The market price of the stocks of publicly traded companies engaged in the same or a similar line of business, whose shares are actively traded in a free and open market, can be a valid indicator of value when the transactions in which stocks are traded are sufficiently similar to permit meaningful comparison. The difficulty lies in identifying public companies that are sufficiently comparable to the subject company for this purpose. Also, as for a private company, the equity is less liquid (in other words its stocks are less easy to buy or sell) than for a public company, its value is considered to be slightly lower than such a market-based valuation would give Guideline Public Company method The Guideline Public Company method entails a comparison of the subject company to publicly traded companies. The comparison is generally based on published data regarding the public companies’ stock price and earnings, sales, or revenues, which is expressed as a fraction known as a “multiple. ” If the guideline public companies are sufficiently similar to each other and the subject company to permit a meaningful comparison, then their multiples should be nearly equal. The public companies identified for comparison purposes should be similar to the subject company in terms of industry, product lines, market, growth, and risk. Transaction Method or Direct Market Data Method Using this method, the valuation analyst may determine market multiples by reviewing published data regarding actual transactions involving either minority or controlling interests in either publicly traded or closely held companies. In judging whether a reasonable basis for comparison exists, the valuation analysis must consider: (1) the similarity of qualitative and quantitative investment and investor characteristics; (2) the extent to which reliable data is known about the transactions in which interests in the guideline companies were bought and sold; and (3) whether or not the price paid for the guideline companies was in an arms-length transaction, or a forced or distressed sale. Discounts and premiums The valuation approaches yield the fair market value of the Company as a whole. In valuing a minority, non-controlling interest in a business, however, the valuation professional must consider the applicability of discounts that affect such interests. Discussions of discounts and premiums frequently begin with a review of the “levels of value. ” There are three common levels of value: controlling interest, marketable minority, and non-marketable minority. The intermediate level, marketable minority interest, is lesser than the controlling interest level and higher than the non-marketable minority interest level. The marketable minority interest level represents the perceived value of equity interests that are freely traded without any restrictions. These interests are generally traded on the New York Stock Exchange, AMEX, NASDAQ, and other exchanges where there is a ready market for equity securities. These values represent a minority interest in the subject companies – small blocks of stock that represent less than 50% of the company’s equity, and usually much less than 50%. Controlling interest level is the value that an investor would be willing to pay to acquire more than 50% of a company’s stock, thereby gaining the attendant prerogatives of control. Some of the prerogatives of control include: electing directors, hiring and firing the company’s management and determining their compensation; declaring dividends and distributions, determining the company’s strategy and line of business, and acquiring, selling or liquidating the business. This level of value generally contains a control premium over the intermediate level of value, which typically ranges from 25% to 50%. An additional premium may be paid by strategic investors who are motivated by synergistic motives. Non-marketable, minority level is the lowest level on the chart, representing the level at which non-controlling equity interests in private companies are generally valued or traded. This level of value is discounted because no ready market exists in which to purchase or sell interests. Private companies are less “liquid” than publicly-traded companies, and transactions in private companies take longer and are more uncertain. Between the intermediate and lowest levels of the chart, there are restricted shares of publicly-traded companies. Despite a growing inclination of the IRS and Tax Courts to challenge valuation discounts , Shannon Pratt suggested in a scholarly presentation recently that valuation discounts are actually increasing as the differences between public and private companies is widening . Publicly-traded stocks have grown more liquid in the past decade due to rapid electronic trading, reduced commissions, and governmental deregulation. These developments have not improved the liquidity of interests in private companies, however. Valuation discounts are multiplicative, so they must be considered in order. Control premiums and their inverse, minority interest discounts, are considered before marketability discounts are applied. Discount for lack of control The first discount that must be considered is the discount for lack of control, which in this instance is also a minority interest discount. Minority interest discounts are the inverse of control premiums, to which the following mathematical relationship exists: MID = 1 – [ 1 / (1 + CP)] The most common source of data regarding control premiums is the Control Premium Study, published annually by Mergerstat since 1972. Mergerstat compiles data regarding publicly announced mergers, acquisitions and divestitures involving 10% or more of the equity interests in public companies, where the purchase price is $1 million or more and at least one of the parties to the transaction is a U. S. entity. Mergerstat defines the “control premium” as the percentage difference between the acquisition price and the share price of the freely-traded public shares five days prior to the announcement of the M&A transaction. While it is not without valid criticism, Mergerstat control premium data (and the minority interest discount derived therefrom) is widely accepted within the valuation profession. Discount for lack of marketability Another factor to be considered in valuing closely held companies is the marketability of an interest in such businesses. Marketability is defined as the ability to convert the business interest into cash quickly, with minimum transaction and administrative costs, and with a high degree of certainty as to the amount of net proceeds. There is usually a cost and a time lag associated with locating interested and capable buyers of interests in privately-held companies, because there is no established market of readily-available buyers and sellers. All other factors being equal, an interest in a publicly traded company is worth more because it is readily marketable. Conversely, an interest in a private-held company is worth less because no established market exists. The IRS Valuation Guide for Income, Estate and Gift Taxes, Valuation Training for Appeals Officers acknowledges the relationship between value and marketability, stating: “Investors prefer an asset which is easy to sell, that is, liquid. ” The discount for lack of control is separate and distinguishable from the discount for lack of marketability. It is the valuation professional’s task to quantify the lack of marketability of an interest in a privately-held company. Because, in this case, the subject interest is not a controlling interest in the Company, and the owner of that interest cannot compel liquidation to convert the subject interest to cash quickly, and no established market exists on which that interest could be sold, the discount for lack of marketability is appropriate. Several empirical studies have been published that attempt to quantify the discount for lack of marketability. These studies include the restricted stock studies and the pre-IPO studies. The aggregate of these studies indicate average discounts of 35% and 50%, respectively. Some experts believe the Lack of Control and Marketabilty discounts can aggregate discounts for as much as ninety percent of a Company’s fair market value, specifically with family owned companies. Restricted stock studies Restricted stocks are equity securities of public companies that are similar in all respects to the freely traded stocks of those companies except that they carry a restriction that prevents them from being traded on the open market for a certain period of time, which is usually one year (two years prior to 1990). This restriction from active trading, which amounts to a lack of marketability, is the only distinction between the restricted stock and its freely-traded counterpart. Restricted stock can be traded in private transactions and usually do so at a discount. The restricted stock studies attempt to verify the difference in price at which the restricted shares trade versus the price at which the same unrestricted securities trade in the open market as of the same date. The underlying data by which these studies arrived at their conclusions has not been made public. Consequently, it is not possible when valuing a particular company to compare the characteristics of that company to the study data. Still, the existence of a marketability discount has been recognized by valuation professionals and the Courts, and the restricted stock studies are frequently cited as empirical evidence. Notably, the lowest average discount reported by these studies was 26% and the highest average discount was 45%. Option pricing In addition to the restricted stock studies, U. S. publicly traded companies are able to sell stock to offshore investors (SEC Regulation S, enacted in 1990) without registering the shares with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The offshore buyers may resell these shares in the United States, still without having to register the shares, after holding them for just 40 days. Typically, these shares are sold for 20% to 30% below the publicly traded share price. Some of these transactions have been reported with discounts of more than 30%, resulting from the lack of marketability. These discounts are similar to the marketability discounts inferred from the restricted and pre-IPO studies, despite the holding period being just 40 days. Studies based on the prices paid for options have also confirmed similar discounts. If one holds restricted stock and purchases an option to sell that stock at the market price (a put), the holder has, in effect, purchased marketability for the shares. The price of the put is equal to the marketability discount. The range of marketability discounts derived by this study was 32% to 49%. Pre-IPO studies Another approach to measure the marketability discount is to compare the prices of stock offered in initial public offerings (IPOs) to transactions in the same company’s stocks prior to the IPO. Companies that are going public are required to disclose all transactions in their stocks for a period of three years prior to the IPO. The pre-IPO studies are the leading alternative to the restricted stock stocks in quantifying the marketability discount. The pre-IPO studies are sometimes criticized because the sample size is relatively small, the pre-IPO transactions may not be arm’s length, and the financial structure and product lines of the studied companies may have changed during the three year pre-IPO window. Applying the studies The studies confirm what the marketplace knows intuitively: Investors covet liquidity and loathe obstacles that impair liquidity. Prudent investors buy illiquid investments only when there is a sufficient discount in the price to increase the rate of return to a level which brings risk-reward back into balance. The referenced studies establish a reasonable range of valuation discounts from the mid-30%s to the low 50%s. The more recent studies appeared to yield a more conservative range of discounts than older studies, which may have suffered from smaller sample sizes. Another method of quantifying the lack of marketability discount is the Quantifying Marketability Discounts Model (QMDM).

Information Technology and the move to a computerized infrastructure model are bringing great changes to many industries. Often it is the CIO of the company who escort this fundamental shift in the business revenue stream. Leading others through modernization, revolutionize and transformation means you must be able to make changes yourself. Forget about asking whether technology drives business or business drives technology. Stop perturbing about whether or not technology is strategic. Silence all the confusions about how advance this technology is to that technology. In technology, there are numerous questions that if you have to ask, you probably already know and don’t like the answer. A more satisfying line of inquiry is how much of your technological horsepower is actually being used to turn the wheels of innovation. Some people says that Technology drives business modernization, novelty, success & Innovations that opens up new doors of opportunities, improves the company’s performance on the whole, sharpens the company’s market intelligence, and makes new things possible for the clients. Another school of thought is that the Business Drives Technology, as such integration is about assisting business to facilitate their profitability by utilizing technology and other resources available to the enterprise. But realistically speaking, the driving force comes from the CEO and CIO of the company, who both endeavor to leverage technology to its fullest potential. In a society that has become entirely dependent on computers and immediate communications, technology is becoming the heartbeat in the process of office design as decisions on layout and services. Some aspects of technology, like the computer animation & communication, are highly visible demonstration devices. But more of it is in the largely unseen infrastructure, with the emphasis on sophisticated wiring and smart communication devices to provide for an ever greater flow, and on communications and power facilities to keep operations running through almost any anticipated calamity. In the modernization of the today’s businesses, Common business drivers include; Mergers and Acquisitions, Internal Reorganizations, Application and System Consolidation, Inconsistent/Duplicated/Fragmented Data, New Business Strategies, Compliance with Government Regulations, Streamlining Business Processes. To achieve the success in the accommodation of these business drivers, the sturdy and smart input would be required from both the parties i. e. the business as well as the technology. In a company, you could cover every surface in your office with how to manage change. But one aspect of change management that often dodges IT Managers is how to better influence corporate colleagues. If information technology drives business decisions, the IT executives must communicate and be persuasive with other department heads on key project management issues. Strategic planning for Information Technology is one component of an overall company vision for success. This psychoanalysis facilitates IT professionals to successfully define short and long-term goals and ascertain the resources necessary to apprehend such goals. To ensure success, the strategic plan should be developed in a thorough but rapid manner, consist of a brief, succinct compilation of analyzed data, and provide opportunities by which additional planning and analysis can occur. Several important benefits occur as the result of a successful strategic IT plan. First, employees are provided with an understanding of how their role fits in with the overall company structure. Also, this planning allows managers to realize additional opportunities for growth and success. Finally, important relationships between technology investment and positive outcomes, such as increased market share, are revealed. It’s now become the industry dilemma that IT people need to know more about business. They need to understand the disciplines and the lingo of business process management, business performance management, customer relationship management, supply chain management, financial management, human resources management, operations management, etc. Lacking that knowledge, communication with business people and understanding of business requirements will forever be troubled. On the other hand the Business people should also drive their efforts to know more about information technology. As with all communication and relationship issues, this is not a prejudiced problem. Just as IT people need to become more business-oriented, business people need to be more IT-oriented. They need to understand the roles and relationships among the many different kinds of technology upon which their information systems depend, and they need to understand the dependencies among those technologies. Business people need to have a working knowledge of the technology stack as it affects their capability to get information, perform business analysis, and make informed business decisions. Beyond the relatively straight-forward needs of business becoming IT-oriented and technologists becoming business-oriented, there lies a new challenge. We must develop common understanding and shared perspective of value, an issue that is both a business concern and a technology consideration. When business and IT have different meaning and outlook for value, conflicts are certain to arise. Business and IT organizations often have two evidently different perspectives of value. IT expert generally take a data-to-value approach. Where Data produces information, information enhances knowledge, knowledge drives action, action produces outcomes, and favorable outcomes deliver value. Business management typically uses a goals-to-value system. Business drivers and goals determine strategies, strategies drive tactics, which in turn produce results, and positive results produce value. Effective business/IT relationships are ultimately a question of alignment. New IT skills, new business skills, and new perspectives that sets the stage for business/IT alignment. But it doesn’t assure alignment. To achieve genuine association there are several things that must be done; some by IT, some by the business, and some collectively. Conflicts between business and IT organizations have existed from the very beginning of automated Information Systems. We have accelerated in so many ways both in business and in technology. However, the problem still pestilences most of the businesses. The Business/IT crack must go away. The cost is high; the value is null; and the barriers that it crafts grow bigger each moment. The problem can be fixed, and the time to fix it is now!

Article Business from Scratch (By:- Mr. Azfar A Khan) Most of us sometimes feel that we should have a business of our own and be our own boss but we are shy to jump in the business arena due to some unknown fear. In this indecisiveness, we keep thinking for years and years together and can’t make up our mind one way or the other, thus wasting a lot of time with no tangible results. “The hardest thing about getting started is getting started. ”                                                  …Guy Kawasaki To own a business is a great challenge. It’s not difficult at all to start a business and succeed in it too provided you follow certain laid down principles of entrepreneurship. These principles are time-tested and provide guidance to avoid possible pitfalls. In this article, our discussion would generally revolve around these principles. While starting a business of his own, an entrepreneur has to decide which main product he’d like to keep in focus. Also, he’ll have to see whether there was any market for that product? Also, he has to see which other competitors already exist. So, he has to do something that distinguishes him from others in the area. He should develop his niche. His product has to be better in quality; he may offer useful options to the customers within the same price range. Say, there’re two Pizza shops side by side. One of them being new in the business has a system for home-delivery whereas the other one doesn’t offer this facility. Naturally, the one with home-delivery system would have an edge over the other.    Before starting a business, an entrepreneur has to carry out a survey as to which product was required by the market. Then he should choose his product keeping market need in view. He should always be thinking about the new ideas. He should assess his idea’s market potential.   He may look for some add-ons in the existing products; or still, he can make use of new technology, think of innovations. Once, he has done his homework, then he should implement his idea. The uniqueness of his idea would catch the customer’s attention. He may also see which segment of the society he intends to target. A lot depends these days upon marketing of a product. Marketing is nothing but ways and means to sell your product. He has to resort to massive advertisement for his product through various means like handouts, internet, banners, newspapers, radio, TV, etc. I would explain it in this way: Say, you’ve got gold in your pocket and you want to sell it, but unless you tell somebody about your intention, it would be next to impossible to find a customer for your gold. The same is true for your business. As mentioned above, an entrepreneur can make the best use of internet to promote his business. He may design his website through some professional in the field and attain international exposure. Website must be promoted through various means. It can be be promoted through search engines, business cards, stationery, etc. Selling online these days has become a roaring business. It’s a multi-billion industry and is quite cheap as compared to an actual bricks and mortar store. Now, you can access billions of websites, find an item of your choice and place an order online. Say, an entrepreneur is engaged in supplying electronics goods to his customers. For his satisfaction, the purchaser wants to see the item before placing an order so that he could be sure whether the item being supplied to him was exactly the same that he wanted. So, he’ll communicate with the supplier on the internet and at the same time see the item physically on the monitor of his computer before placing an order. Just imagine, how much time, effort and money is saved!Before starting his business, an entrepreneur has to choose what form of business he intends to follow like sole proprietorships, partnerships or corporations. . In sole proprietorship, he is fully responsible for all debts and liabilities. This form of business is very popular. The examples include home-based businesses, consultants, restaurants, etc. He can do his business in partnership with somebody and share the assets, liabilities and profits of his business. If he intends to conduct his business on a large scale, he can venture into a corporation. Corporations are divided into shares or stocks. Ownership is dependent on the number of shares owned. Corporations are expensive to set up. There’s one thing that’s very important while starting a business and that’s preparation of a business plan. Anybody, who starts a business, must prepare a business plan in advance. A business plan is a notice board of the company that shows the entrepreneur’s vision about the business. It convinces the client that the company’s business was in safe hands and that it wouldn’t be risky for him to make financial commitments to this company. The business plan comes handy while applying for loan as well. It tells the investor as to how the loan would be repaid. A standard business plan may comprise about 35 to 40 pages. It should make use of bullets and steps for explaining various aspects of the plan. The language should be simple and easy to understand. It shouldn’t give a gloomy outlook; rather it should evince enthusiasm and compel the investors to invest their money in this new venture. An entrepreneur should have a fair idea through estimates as to how much money would be needed to start his business.  He should be very clear as to which sources he intends to tap to arrange finances. The best choice would be if an entrepreneur invests his own money in the business. It would give a lot of confidence to the lending agencies implying that he himself was ready to take risk for his money, if any. The best part would be that in this case nobody would be sharing his equity. The next preference goes to his family members and friends who could chip in according to their capacity. But, their money should be taken as a sacred loan. By investing in his company, they have reposed a lot of trust in him. But, there’s one danger in this sort of investment and that is: If the entrepreneur incurs a loss, then a long-lasting relationship could be at stake. An entrepreneur has to protect his creations against copying. He must know what his rights were as far as intellectual property was concerned. He can opt for patents, copyright, trade secrets or trademarks. A new entrepreneur should not worry about the size of his business. He should find out the strengths of his new business. It has been observed that at times a lean company has defeated well-established companies. Why? Because, it has efficient management, its executives take quick decisions, its staff employs innovative techniques and responds to market needs, its monitoring mechanism is efficient; its management is alert to change; the quality of its product or service is superb; its staff is alert to all queries; it provides efficient after-sale service, and, above all, its clients are highly satisfied. In the modern world, technology is the name of the game. It’s changing at a very fast pace. In recent years, the entire concept of doing business has undergone a dramatic change. If an entrepreneur wants to succeed, he must keep himself abreast with the latest developments in technology as applicable to the business field. He should know that the time of typewriters is a story of the past and that he should now develop his liking for computer and internet. During my recent visit to the United States, I was staying with one of my friends running a super market in Long Island along with a franchise of “Subway. ” One day I saw him sitting with a laptop at his residence and passing some instructions to somebody in his office in his super market that was some 20 kilometers from his residence. Suddenly, he asked that person as to why his office had been opened without his (my friend’s) permission. The person from the other end explained his position and satisfied his boss. He was connected to his super market through a video camera and the internet. Being an entrepreneur, if you hire some workforce, you have to provide them resources as well. You shouldn’t bother about petty things and waste your time on non-issues. I know a gentleman who owned a large indenting business and making millions in defence deals but was extremely miser in providing necessary resources to his staff. I noticed that there was only one typewriter that was being used for typing the entire stuff of the company. You could always see three to four managers lined up in a queue waiting for their turn to get their letters typed on that single typewriter. An entrepreneur can use his website to introduce his business to a large audience in the shortest possible time. This way, even a small home-based business can easily get international exposure and that too at a negligible cost. Your website should be professionally prepared and be able to convince why people should place their orders at your store despite the fact that millions already exist for the purpose. If possible, an entrepreneur should get his company certified according to the requirements of the international standard for Quality Management System i. e. ISO 9001. This job should be accomplished right in the beginning so that the company starts on the right foot. But, one word of caution! He must make it a point that he himself gets involved fully during the preparation process. Only then that he would be able to exercise effective control on the quality management system of his company. An entrepreneur should know how to prioritize his jobs. I know a gentleman who lacked in this quality. He was based in Gulf and dealing in transporting manpower to African countries by chartering airliners from various companies. Once, he won a contract to airlift manpower from his country to a country in Africa. He hired an aircraft and called the passengers on the fixed date without first ensuring landing permission from the host country. He woke up when only two days were left in the departure date whereas 45 days were available to him since the contract was won. The aircraft and the passengers reached the airport at the appointed date and time. Due to various reasons, he couldn’t obtain permission for the next one week. The passengers had to be accommodated in the hotels and the aircraft had to be returned. The gentleman had to incur a colossal loss, running into millions. As a matter of fact, he should have known as to which actions were most important and needed immediate attention besides constant monitoring. If his company had been an ISO 9001 certified company, this problem would never have arisen as everybody in the company would be having his duties in writing and the gentleman entrusted with the duty of obtaining landing permission would have been on the job the moment he had come to know about the company having won the contract!An entrepreneur has to be extremely judicious in using his resources during the start-up phase of his business; like for example, during the initial phase, he could run his business from his home rather than hiring an office away from his residence. He could take office equipment like fax machine, photostat machine, computers, printers, scanners, etc, on lease rather than purchasing it. An entrepreneur has to be flexible while conducting business. Suppose he’s running a fast food business and preparing burgers for his customers and it’s running fine; but the people are approaching him with a lot of enquiries for Donuts as well. So, it would be prudent on the part of the entrepreneur to respect the demands of his customers by starting a franchise of the Donuts as well. It’s generally perceived that one needs a lot of money to start a new business which isn’t true. The main thing is how you manage it. You can start a business with even as little an amount as $ 3000! The main thing is ensuring an adequate cash flow i. e. the difference between the money you have received and the money you have spent. A successful entrepreneur always keeps the cash flow on the plus side. Starting business from scratch is an interesting endeavour. One has to pay heed to the proven principles of entrepreneurship. These principles were true yesterday; they are true today.   An entrepreneur doesn’t have to re-invent the wheel. He should just follow these principles in letter and spirit. Whosoever follows them is bound to excel and would ultimately touch the dizzying heights of success. ……………………………. .  

Almost every potential business owner is faced with the trouble of seeking for ways in which finance can be acquired to run the business. However, it should be noted that such troubles are not only identified with potential entrepreneurs. Research has shown that even experienced business owners also faced such difficulties. Keep in mind that in seeking solutions to such difficulties, there will be accuracies as well as inaccuracies and these will all determine the success or failure of the business. The above is an indication that starting a business and running the business should not be an end in itself. You must seek for means through which the business will be able to stand the test of survival often posed by its competitors. The following lines are aimed at identifying ways through which a business can be financed, be it incorporated or unincorporated:
Unincorporated Business
This type of business will refer to those that have unlimited liabilities. In most cases, such businesses have not been properly documented and the status of legal personality is absent. There is no distinction between what the business owns from those of its owners. Keep in mind that in the event of any problem, the owners are personally liable for the debts of the company.
Any source of finance on this type of business organization will weigh on the owner. Keep in mind that there is no legal personality in the business and this will deter any lending institutions from providing capital to the business. What is normally open to owners of such businesses is finance through the use of credit cards or some other forms of personal savings. But the problem with using credit cards is great. Remember that you may sometimes make use of these cards out of intuition. It is simple to ‘charge it’.
For this reason, there are lots and lots of lending institutions which will be afraid or unwilling to lend to unincorporated associations. They will not want to place their finances in ventures in which they are uncertain about their future. A good number of such businesses have been known to disregard certain essentials in running the business or even in repaying back their loans.
Incorporated Businesses
These are businesses that have fulfilled all the essentials of setting up a business and that have adequate cover in the event of any crises. Such types of businesses will include limited liability companies or partnerships. In most cases, the records of these businesses are open for appraisal and the administration of such businesses will conform to the required business standards.
It is very easy for these types of businesses to receive the required finances. Keep in mind that lending institutions are more confident of their ability and willingness to pay back. Financing with such businesses will be easily obtained at any phase of the business. Remember that there are lots of individuals as well as groups who will be willing to come in with finance that the business needs. This is however possible only when the appropriate individuals or groups have been identified. This type of situation is known as angel financing. Remember that when a business is properly administered and it has a sound reputation, it will attract more investors. Investors will also find it appropriate to be part and parcel of the current affairs of the business.
Besides the above type of financing, there are also many financiers who are willing and able to invest in high risk ventures, but with an expectation of equally taking home more profits. The business can also make open its shares for acquisition by the general public. In some cases, banks and other finance institutions will be willing to finance these businesses if they see a convincing business plan. However, if you are in search of any means to finance your business, it is necessary to carry out proper research ahead of resorting to any source of finance.

Have you been giving out your custom business cards but you do not seem to get a phone call? Did you spend a significant amount of money for business card printing only to find that no one really cares to look at them? Are you having difficulty giving out your custom business cards altogether? There are several ways why a business card can fail. This usually relates to you, the business card holder yourself, or the look and feel of your business card. Here we have collected several common reasons why people ignore your business cards, or throw them out altogether. Try to see where you got it wrong. Poor Business card etiquette: The most common reason why business cards get thrown out is because of poor business card etiquette. Some people might not know it but there is more to giving business cards than just whipping it out and giving it to people like a flier. Give your business cards in good taste, and for a reason. When you encounter a possible business contact, be friendly and ask about them. Do not just give them your business card. Explore each others interests first, especially in business. If something comes up that is related to your field then it is a good time to introduce yourself as someone who wants to do business and give them your business card. This way you establish a real relationship with the color business card as the bridge. Internationally, there are also some important business card etiquette reminders you should follow. In general, when you are giving your business cards, also ask if the receiver has his or her own business card at hand. This way it tells them that you care for making a contact and not marketing yourself. Also in some countries a specific gesture must be made to give business cards. In Japan for example, your business card is your honor. It is presented with both hands carefully, with a small bow to denote respect. Whipping out your full color business card and just casually handing it over is a sign of ill manners. Make sure that when you visit another country you know business card customs like this to prevent from appearing a rude or ignorant foreigner. Business card etiquette is just as important as the card itself so don’t forget about them. Incomplete, Outdated or Dubious details Some people, on the rush to print business cards do not check the details and the fine print. A common reason why business cards fail is that the details contained in the business card is wrong. For example, if your company suddenly moves to a new location, or you suddenly changed phone or fax numbers your business card details are automatically invalid. When people attempt to contact you again, they will fail to reach you. People might think that your business card might be a bit dubious and throw it away. Even if it is only a little change, always update your business card design with new details and print business cards again for distribution. This ensures its integrity. Make sure that the pertinent contact details like the telephone number, mobile phone number, address, web page URL and email address are included with your name and title as you print your designs again. Stop being cute. Uninspired Design If you used a simple business card template for your card design then that might be the reason why your business card is failing. Uninspired designs are a mark of laziness when it comes to business card printing. Your design must be eye-catching, easily noticeable and if possible have a picture of you, or an image if your business. This helps people remember you card based on its design. Plain business cards are hardly interesting and would probably end up in the trash. Substandard material Lastly, try to print your business cards made with durable materials. Picking out the cheapest paper to print your business card is totally the wrong decision to make. People place business cards in different places like their wallets, drawers, handbags etc. Besides the usual wear and tear, accidents may happen and business cards can degrade or fade over time. If your business cards become shabby after only a short amount of time, some people might not consider contacting their owners. Always invest in the best material you can afford so that your business cards last well in the years. Those are the reasons why your business card can fail. Sound familiar? If they do, then you have something t o improve upon before the next opportunity for giving your business cards. Keep a steady head and make those cards fly! For comments and inquiries about the article visit: Custom Business Cards, Business Card Printing

For the Support  of Small Business in GeorgiaContent. In the conditions of deep economic crisis and  during the period of extreme restriction in requisite  resources for economic investments of tendency of selecting priority in investing activities enquire upmost importance. According to these circumstances, small and average businesses must be admired in such system of priorities. It follows not only from conjectural, political  or ideological  purposefulness, but also from objective activities of social-economic conditions; Simultaneously it is also connected to the position perspectives of this field to solve vital questions of the country. (creating concrete atmosphere, increasing employment level and efficiency, treating and spreading technical decisions etc)  however, it is baseless to speak that small and average businesses in our country have any kids of advantages in distribution of investing resources, ` moreover, it often moves to the second place. Financing has always been the urgent problem of small and overage businesses.  According to the social research of small industrial management, half of respondents had to use  their own savings in organizing these enterprises. Only more than a quarter managed to receive credits, but less than 20% – to attract depositors’ sources. The  employers admit that, the first and main problem is finances and buildings and then follows cooperation with local authorities. However, investment always remains as the main problem in the activities of a particular firm. Pressent Day Situation of a Small Business. In western countries outnumbered commercial banks, insurance companies, branch funds, regional commercial departments of tuition structures stimulating small business, regional guarantees, outnumbered charitable funds and associations, actively support  them. Due to not existed similar institutions, the development of small and average businesses is prevented. So it is quite natural, that development of small industrial net is still unable to form the commodity market. Nowadays supporting industrial activity has  no main basis in small and overage businesses. The situation of providing these enterprises  with material, energetic and financial resources has recently   been deteriorated; according to results of selective researches in 2000-2005, in order study small industrial business activities in industry, building and retail trade showed  that  nearly 40% from small industries have their raw and building material supplies reduced. The existing level of orders and resource  maintenance was estimated as “. . below average”; however unlike large industries, homogeneous tendency  of economical situation in small and average businesses is distincted, e. g. during 200-2005, the amount  of employees and usage level of industrial capacity maintained sufficiently stable in small industries. Although capital investments of small industries include sufficiently large amount  of  money (11% of investment realized at the expense of financial resources in Georgian economy. The small enterprise activity of industry in the field of investment is still exceptionally low. Inquiries showed that among active reasons  about  restriction of investing activities, about 60% of  respondents  consider high level of taxation, 30% – high rate of inflation, above 30% general economic and political instability. The leaders of small industries, critically characterize competitiveness of their products over 50 % of leaders  consider   it as “average” towards the internal market. Leaders of examined small industries consider lack of their own resources. (75% from inquired people), high payment rate (over 60%), unaccepted conditions of investing and accounting as a main resistance for their  innovational activities. Financing Sources of a Small Business. Analysis of financing sources for small and overage business  shows that the most available for their activities are inner developing sources which are used by over 3/4 of industry, while only one from four, manages to abtain any kind of means from external sources. Enquiries show that their own small business incomes take first place among financing sources. It’s  proved by every two participants from three ones. On the second place are the founders of average business with their own sources;  (21,7%). And private credit takes the third place, used by 17,9% of these industries. Other sources are used by 10-15% of small businesses. Simultaneously over 20% of enquired leaders consider that their enterprises have no any developing chances. More complete idea about the nature of investing in small and average business field is given by the results; Researches on tendencies of small business investments. According to this data, leaders are those industries which direct their investments towards the equipment and transportation (57,5%); and the enterprises which use investments to fill their sources of circulation. take the second place (44,3%). A lot of enterprises use their sufficient sources in repairing building and commercials (38%). Over 20% of small enterprises spend their sources on their staff training. Comparison of data according to the groups of small industries prove all the following differences connected   with specificity of a business field. e. g. small industries of trade fill their  sources of circulation, frequently (76%), but they stay backward in investment of human capital – only 8% of them provide staff training, whilst corresponding average index for all enterprises is 20,8%. One of the main problems in small business development is their slight investment in the process of crediting due to existing high risks in this field. It  is caused by following factors: usually, small industries have no ability to represent absolute  guarantee independently over their responsibilities and there’s no complete system of guarantees and insurance of their investing activities. Usually, personnel of small and average  businesses have no sufficient knowledge in economy, which is the main cause of those incomplete projects which are introduced by them. As for consulting service of business management and preparation of investing projects, as a rule it is excessively expensive for enterprises of small and average businesses. The results show that in the process of providing crediting resources, leaders of small and average enterprises experience not only general inflexibility of crediting, but also discriminative policy of banks towards small and average businesses. The main difficulty in the process of receiving credits is price restriction (very high percentage was mentioned by 47,6% of leaders of small enterprises); It is followed by the range of nonprice restriction – unpractical mortgage and  guarantees (21,9%), innaccessibility of investing credits (10,5%), restriction of crediting terms (14,3%) and subjective evaluation of discriminative conditions. Besides, the role of organizing factors is not sufficient. The interests of commercial banks are not directed towards crediting of small enterprises due to their non-existing complete technologies of investment; Besides it claims to discuss numerous investing projects, though working procedures are highly  significant. Banks don’t take risks, due to their negative experience in disappearing of credited firms, no returned credits and hidden mortgages, including small and average businesses as well. Hence, due to controlling and providing insurance, they choose organizations having accounts in a particular creditor bank. Banks avoid crediting of newly founded firms and insist on collateral security guaranteeing  a small enterprise. The level of percentage implies the level of risk that is significantly high for every small industry. Standard validities of given credits include  3-6 months period. Thus, Georgian banks. like in western countries must inevitably develop assisted financial services for small and average businesses. First of all, it includes detailed treatment and examination of any kind of projects independently from credited funds and improvement for abilities of banks in estimation of loans. The same time, they must rely more on the knowledge of potential resources for enterprises and markets than in the amount of funds and guarantees. Who Helps and How to Developa Small Susiness. Noticeably developing non-governmental specific structures formed for supporting small and average industries are also of great importance. The first similar structure was founded in 1992. It was an agency, supporting small and average businesses. Its purpose is to increase industrial activity among the population with the  help of consulting, informational and expert services provided not only for small and average industries but for pioneer implcyers as well. It includes issues on economic, financial and taxation policy; recommendations about keeping a ledger; support for composing constituent documents; registration of enterprises and allowance of their activities; elaboration of a firm mode, teaching business; (hobbits based on special programmers, worked out  of the agency together with foreign experts). for  the successful development of their own activihes; (business planning; marketing; commercials; industrial experience etc); informational support for the operations of external trade. customs issues and other normative juridical problems. Agency constantly tries to expand its  own activities. It mainly includes issues on the support  of activity of small and average business industries. Special investing department is created in the structure of agency for this purpose, which is directed towards the preparation, training and conducting of recommendations for composing  business plans, investing projection and financial management; working and conducting of examination for investing projects; researches of their financing sources. The given department is an official agent of the federal fund for supporting small industries, that is directed to the selection of industrial projects for providing credits. In the beginning, the functions of agency were distinctly oriented on the demands of developing small and average businesses in Tbilisi region, but now it has begun to play the role of informal-methodical – coordinative organizational structure throughout the country. Realization of this role is significantly depended on the formation of corresponding regional agencies and their active participation in the country. Above mentioned activity of  the agency must necessarily be established by state departments.   Namely, it is advisable for the government to elaborate a special document about “regional agencies for supporting small industries”. In this document, it is necessary to be mentioned the labor financing scheme of the regional agencies’ net at the expense of assignation from the state budget. Formation of regional agencies supporting small and average businesses   is decisive to serve physical and juridical persons in creating small and average enterprises and to provide their effectiveness. Such schedule of services is defined by developing quality of agencies which may include practically all types of support for small and overage businesses including informational services,  legal advice and participation in investments. As a rule, the purpose of agencies is not receiving profits and that is why their quite high level of services  compared with ones of other organizations are relatively cheap, but in some cases it is  absolutely free of charge; if agencies function into contact with the government and authority organizations of all level. and are based on the assistance of these organizations. Herewith, the first task is that the agency of small and overage business supporting, leads the work to form united  informational net of regional agencies, that will take active part in the field of modern informational technologies, highly quailfield organizations. It is a significant stage of business, for united as well as regional agencies. Practice showed that, distinct division is the most essential task for separate regional agencies and affective organizational development of their net. It implies the gradual development according to the accumulation  of organizational experience,  stabilization of financial situation and  equipment with modern organizational-technical means and so forth. At the some time, determined service must be formed gradually and  successively, not only in accordance with the principle of senseless expansion of above men toned factors, but also selecting  the variants which are the most profitable and essential for the agencies in this or that concrete region. It must be said that estimation of perspectives in small and average business support activities is connected with the fact, that its significance is constantly outlined by the central government of the country as well as regional authorities. Of course, it clearly gives the chance to make optimistic prognosis. Unfortunately, in reality, the existed mechanism to support small and average businesses can’t still put into practice not only present-day objective demands, moreover the tasks which are not only possible to be solved but should be , for the development of its investing activities. Wat is the Programme of Small and Average Business Investment Support?As it is know, programme realization of investment support in small  and average businesses, may have double substantiation. The first assistance of a small  enterprise development, represents the effective way of solving social and foremost, employment  problems. Thus, conception of social direction for financial support in small and average business fields, follows that, grant realization of socially useful functions in a small business, must be fulfilled by state and society. The second-progress of small and average businesses are significant factor from the standpoint of effective use of people’s economic resources. Due to such approach , from the position of market   economy, defined means for small and average businesses must be considered as profitable investments. Nowadays, systematical crisis is proceeded in our country. Factual unemployment problem instead of falling is rising steadily and it requires of taking vast  and active measures for small and average business  development. Simultaneously, tensity of central and local budgets  and lack of foreign investments do not give chance to form such material-financial basis, that includes all the above mentioned factors. It’s clear that the way out of exiting situation can be found in the treatments of conception, such is investing support (and realization)  of small and overage businesses, when all the possible funds used with this purpose will  be spent on forming organizations and such financial machinery, that has high level guaranteeing aptitude for the feedback of invested resources. For the realization  of this conception, several main directions can be singled out, for the fulfilment of investing activity in small and average businesses. 1. Scientific-analytical and informative provision development of investment support mechanism  in small and average business fields.    Here, main goal is to study priority system of financing  for small enterprises, according to essential directions of development  and substantiation of their realization activities with the purpose of reflecting aims at each level. (central, regional as well as small and average enterprises). Strategic research organization and financing, forming development conceptions and treatment of inter-active mechanism for investing support system in small and average businesses. In addition to the point above, the following must be taken into account. The first and foremost, the mechanism for investment support in small and average businesses must be based on state structural and industrial policy, financing of private investments or definition of essential directions for stimulation, in the section of divisions,  subdivisions and enterprises – definition of so called dot priorities. Second – towards the formation of mentioned mechanisms, maintenance of scientifically proved approach is accessible as far  as it reflects the real peculiarities of economic development and  investing processes in this or that region. Third – Improvement of scientific -methodic and informative supply for investment activities, mostly in small and average businesses is simultaneously connected with the existence of investing projects of small enterprises in order to restrict existing risks. The most is financial, technological and marketing accompaniment, i. e. financial analysis, technical examination, and marketing research of investing projects of enterprises in small and average businesses. 2. Reinforcement of objective direction and transfer the obstacle centre of topping-up process of investment activities in small and average enterprises at regional level. It must be taken into consideration that, formation of regional politics of investment support of these enterprises, in accordance with this qualitative index of region economy, that creates the peculiarities for small and average business development and support. Simultaneously, the development level of industrial production, resourceful base, consumers market provision, regional problems of population employment and social  defence must be taken into account. Only complex  consideration of all these factors, gives chance to study those activities that provide attraction of owners of industries for people’s demands in the most suitable fields and stimulation of economic development, first of all at the expense of local possibilities. Nonexistence of financing, due to the deficit of state and local budgets, is one of the main reasons, that  represents the obstacle for the outcome of central and regional programmers in supporting small industries. In such cases, it is advisable, not only subsidization of industries, but also the assistance for the development of infrastructure in small and average enterprises. (marketing as well as industrial). It must also be admitted, that the state should do its bit to establish special regional banks, innovational funds, informational analitic centers and such organizational-regional structures that serve small and average businesses and keep their interests by means of preferential duties privileged regime of transferring buildings to the possession, licensing, etc. 3. Development  of perspective forms of small and average business support and financing. In this field, for reinforcement of purposeful direction of investing process and raising its effectiveness, local administrations should orientate on the creation of main tendencies of progressive investment infrastructure for small and average businesses. Great attention should be paid to the following factors:Grade 1. Development of crediting system for the purpose of increasing the number of financial support receivers and simplify the way of giving commercial credits to small industries, implies the expansion of financial institutes net, that realize small and average business crediting with preferential conditions. It includes: lowering interest, extension of crediting term, reduction of demands at the expanse of guarantee and free consultations. Grade 2. Development of guarantee mechanisms of investing credits, given to small and average business industries must include given state guarantees  to commercial banks, which took part in financing these enterprises. Compensation of  some parts of interests rate. at the expense of commercial credits of banks, could be considered as the significant tendency of using guarantee reserves,  especially at the initial stage of project realization, when returning of funds is still delayed in small and overage business field, for the support of investing business activity. Grade 3. Financial crediting mechanism of small and average business support, implies the assistance of development, including cooperation of small enterprises and establishment of new mutual – crediting forms of societies in crediting field. Grade 4. Leasing  development, as the most perspective form, is inevitable process as the most perspective form for small enterprise investors. In industrial countries, leasing includes 25-30% of direct investments annually, but in our country it is not still well expanded. for moving complicacy centre of financial operations from circulation field into real sector of economy in leasing development, it is essential that the participation of reliable commercial banks and insurance companies to be actively stimulated. Grade 5. Establishment of industrial and technological service  system  in small and average businesses, implies the consideration of this fact that, nowadays, actual reserve of  forming  some element of infrastructure of small businesses, can be usage of industrial capacities and properties of poor  industries, after their liquidation, reorganization and changing profile. (namely, it is possible to locate supporting units of small groups of ownership and enterprises on their base). Distinct experience of realization of such approaches is already existed in a number of regions from the standpoint of industrial-technologic support of industries. Grade 6. The problem of developing modern tendencies in small overage and large business cooperations has already been matured, e. g. franchise development of small industries in Russia will help to solve many essential economic  and social problems. Here, first and foremost is meant the creation of new working places and broad involvement into business of all these people, who can’t manage it independently, without any support and getting suitable knowledge. In modern conditions, a range of obstacles arised against the franchise development in  Russia: non-existence of special normative-legitimate base and suitable informational insurance, owners insufficient knowledge of running business  by means of peculiarities of such skills and possibilities; nonexistence of sufficient consultative structures; and common financial-crediting problems. In the development of modern tendencies of cooperation in large and average businesses, financial-industrial groups play a drastic role. According to the practice of development countries, such groups grow the stability of economy and give chance  to solve investing problems. It’s especially important  for the regions, where there are outnumbered branches and subbranches with high investment capacity. Such as: (fuel-energetic complex, wine-making, mineral waters, etc) and conversional enterprises. Financial-industrial groups can become the significant means of realization of state selective structural politics, as with the help of these large integrated structures, it  is easy to carry out rational manoeuvverability in industrial sector; among them, definition and support of prioritative  fields and enterprises. Grade 7. It’s necessary to put ventural financing schemes into motion and develop investment insurance system in small and average business fields. During realization of the above mentioned schemes,  effectiveness of scientific-research and experimental-constructive works are significantly increased in small enterprises. Innovational campaigns of a small business, in most of the countries function by direct backing of the state, that really estimates their great national-economic importance and due to this is ready to assign corresponding  financial expenses. Innovational small enterprises, technological development funds, incubator of technologies etc. nowadays, in Georgia,  experiments of a range of ventural financing programmes realization, in small and overage business fields take place from foreign financial institutes. These are: European World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, Development Credit Bank and so on. In the realization of ventural financing of small business, their experience can be acceptable for Georgian banks and financial institutes. In a country market, the most vital subject is insurance problems. In western countries, the insurance is considered as unavoidable mechanism of risk redistribution. Its increased level in small and average industries, causes a number of difficulties in the working process of insurance companies: herewith, simultaneously insurance and reinsurance, also guarantee systems of credit returning can be created. Perhaps, it is necessary, these systems to be supported distinctly by central and regional organs. (e. g. for specialized risk insurance companies, checking privileges or compensation of their loss). In perspective, Georgian financing crediting system must be filled with specialized net of risk insurance, connected with investment credit issue. 4. Establishment of united investment infrastructure in small  and average businesses. Specialization of financing-crediting system in small and overage businesses can be carried out in two ways: a) Investment. In the way of forming financial organizations, specialized at the expense of investing operations: 6) In the way of orienting, just connected with small business operations. Different combinations of the above mentioned directions of specialization for financing-crediting organizations in small and average  business fields, are also possible. But in any case, these organizations   must be given distinct privileges by  federal and regional organs. Unfortunately, for fear of next “financing pyramids”, at present, population don’t have  eny confidence in establishing these specialized investment banks and sharing investment funds, that assemble the private investors’ funds and after, these are put in small enterprises as well as in small and average infrastructural units as the investment portfolio. Thus, at initial stage ideological training for the sharers of small business and population is necessary. It’s not less important that such specialized investment organizations, for the  purpose of guarantee and getting confidence must be created on the initiative of these state, social and commercial organizations, which are highly qualified in successful running of small business industry field and have authority over this field. 5. The role of small and overage business support agencies in the development of crediting and investment mechanism of this field. In  the regions,  these agencies characterized by a range of peculiarities due to their status, that creates quite profitable atmosphere for them, during the corresponding service. First regional agencies are fully specialized in their field. With  the difference from many other organizations, for which small and average business support is either temporary or accompanying with essential business. These agencies can use their priorities for getting experience and advices, attracting highly trained  specialists, having permanent relationship with  administrative organs and  so  forth. That is why, the service of regional agencies is famous for its quality. Their consultations and other forms of small and average business support are high trained in all, and recommendations – useful and practically acceptable. Second, such agencies have right to use all the various forms and methods of small and average business support, that on its side securing the complexity of their service. Third, from the very beginning regional agencies are involved in federal, regional and local systems of small and average business support; That is very important for the successful realization of their registration, investment and other functions. Fourth, regional agencies take objective part in the whole net of intercommunicated and inter useful organizations, that is practically expanded all over Russia. In the case of successful development of regional agencies’ net, this advantage can be essential for small and average business support, due to their specialization and professionalism,  treatment of regional politics, development of proper federal and regional programmers and also because of having participation ability in creating similar regional bases. To maintain the special status and role of their organizations, the staff of regional agencies must take into consideration  well, a main point of the politics of small financial industries  support, that must be realized on different levels of state government, clearly elucidate all the varieties of useful forms, methods and institutes, necessary for the development of this politics; They must easily manage to orientate on the proper segments of investment-financing,  momentary-crediting and stock markets. In the formation and  realization of regional politics of small and average business subjects, the first condition for successful  participation of regional  politics is to know as much as possible about real financial demands of concrete enterprises. But the problem is not only in the manifestation of the demands of additional finances, but also in structural-problematical analysis of the  above mentioned and also in the manifestation of these small enterprises,  that require financial support most of all; afterwards, selecting the most long-range enterprises from the standpoint of future profitability.   (after getting financial support). The role of regional agencies in deciding these  problems will be shown in working out unavoidable systematic-analytical instruments, in leading proper date basis, creating informational guide and findings fulfilled by general as well as individual orders on the basis of their own estimation. Above mentioned  orders can be as   from enterprises themselves, as from authority and government organs and financial-crediting organizations. Other direction of activity of the above mentioned  agencies, according to the regional politics context of financial support of small industry, must be the research of possible sources of free funds in the region and in solving financial problems of small and average business or working out principal schemes of their usage in investments. Evaluation of regional politics structure for financial support of small industry. without the arrangement of systematic monitoring of this sphere, its constructive and in-time correction is impossible. During the time of special and regular researches of industries, regional agencies can evaluate  programmer realization results in small and average businesses – (for different level budgets and enterprises, which require assistance) in the concrete regions. Also, practical results of giving credits and establishment of regional taxation privileges for small industries. Thus, regional agencies can take part in the realization and formation of regional politics of financial support in small enterprises and play a mediator role and such a performer, who has to carry out a range of  the functions, which were not paid any proper attention by any kind of elements of regional  infrastructure in small and average businesses. With the help of all these, they would like to assist the growth of investment activity of this field. The Funkcions of Regional Agencies in the Development of Small and Average Businesses. Functions of above mentioned agencies, for small and average business support, enquire essential  analysis  in line with the development of progressive investment forms; and in the realization part of prioritative tendencies  of its state support. 1. The role of regional agencies in the development of leasing and franchise. In the development of these progressive forms of small and average business investment, participation forms of agencies can be absolutely different. There are united activities together with the organs of federal level, for getting normative acts and working out methodical  materials; forming statements about taxation privileges, establishment of specialized data banks etc; Parallel  activities at regional level, that supplement central authority actions (e. g. initiative of sentence study about getting privileges for local tax payment , also, independent steps for the development of leasing and franchising. Such steps represent the following: a) making contact to these firms in Georgia, which are potential organizations of leasing and franchise, working out typical documents jointly (contracts, methodic, checking procedures etc). b) organization of juridical, consulting and informational assistance. (Search and selection of partners, consultations, assistance in teaching and control, etc). c) organization of international cooperation (leaseholders and  franchisers ‘ search in Russia and abroad, assistance in market research, selection of potential clients, adaptation of foreign system of leasing and franchise to Russian conditions, assistance in arranging these technical questions, which include partners separation a long way off, corresponding. . service. . etc). d) Organization of leasing and franchise propaganda. (Conferences, Seminars, Symposiums, Coarses, Press and Televise etc. )  Participation in establishment of their supporting centers and also in the development of leasing and franchise association in regional departments. e) Participation in establishing those specialized mediatory  firms, which duty includes: selecting of partners, working of different tasks of leasing and franchise assistance and development on the commercial basis; f) organizational   assistance for the participants  of leasing and franchise system by transmitting buildings and constructions with preferential conditions. 2. The role of small and average business support agencies in the development of industry in innovative field. These agencies can play an important role in getting contact among innovative firms and their providing with necessary  information; They can render assistance to such industries, expressed by investment support. from the side of agencies, main directions of small industries support in innovative sphere are the following: information base development in innovative small enterprises, assistance to establish such data base, were advices about the publication are given in the proper scientific fields; notifications about introduction of distinct types of techniques, about perspective development of scientific-technical approaches. b) rendering assistance of preparing investment projects, in estimation of perspectives of offered scientific-technical projects, in creation and introduction of new techniques and risk determination connected to above mentioned factors. c) in assistance of providing small innovative enterprises  with industrial buildings and equipment and for scientific-research realized by them. d) ensuring of small innovative enterprises with consulting and teaching services and keeping intellectual questions: e) assistance in finding partners and making contact with those enterprises, which work in a joining fields. The  law on   “supporting the development of small enterprises”   adopted on  23  Jule   1999   is  considered to be the next step toward supporting  the  development  of country’s small and medium enterprises. The law helped to create “the center for supporting and developing small business”. The year 2002 was very important for providing Georgia’s business enviornment with legislative basis and adopting new normative acts. Much attention is presently given to the changes in the law on supporting small and medium enterprises. The law defines the status of small and medium enterprises according to workers’ requirement and annual turnover of their funds. In the same year small and medium business support program 2002-2004 was finished and adopted on president’s descreet. From then on the law has been improving,but the desirable result hasn’t been achieved yet. It is noteworthy that in 1991 there were 600 small enterprises registered . In 1994 their number increased to 12000,in 1995 to 17000 and in 2000 it increased by 20%, in the year 2006 the total number of small and medium enterprises amounted to 22000,thought 28% of the enterprises are inactive. [In Georgia, mastering new skills for industrial development  in small and average business fields, gives chance to make conclusion that, this field of economy gives vast possibilities for effective investment and its future progress. But it is essential to reveal and put into practice energetically, the most  effective ways of using these possibilities. In connection with this , it must be said, that state policy must be more flexible in the tasks of forming own financial sources of investment, which are the most important at present, for the small enterprises. These industries must be given free rein, while establishing amortization norms, which defines the structure of internal financial  sources of investment (in the job of using internal sources of investments, except the state legislative  support, the effective consultative assistance of small business support organs is also unavoidable). Active  state support is very important for the attraction of external financial sources of investment by small and average business enterprises. Small business characteristics, such as flexibility and mobility, implies that small industries must have ability to increase their financial resources  fast, in any proper time. Its realization is only possible at the expense of borrowed funds. On its side, it includes organizational state assistance in getting funds, guaranteeing commercial funds given to small industries and accomplishing other supporting activities . It is natural that, the progression of this support must be accompanying process of state control reinforcement from the view point of using investment sources and overall development of small and average businesses. Thuse, the analysis of current social- economic  conditions in Georgia and valuable experience gained from foreign countries show that during transitional period small and medium business must play on important role in forming national economy.    Small business representis one of the main structures of business, that must establish market economy provide the creation of private business as well as new social class- small and medium business managers and help to overcome the crisis in economy. Small and medium business proved its viability. Their exsistence encourages the mobilization of labour and material resourses creation of jobs,quickly reacts on investments and meets market needs and takes part in state and local budget fulfillment process.    We must hope that if we use the experience gained from foreign enterprises,we will be able to support small business. From this point of view the structure “Business incubations” is the most effective. Business incubations hasten the development of small business and reduce fail in business by 22%. This question deserved our particular attention because the conditions of small and medium business in Georgia are unfavorable. We approve the creation of business incubations for supporting the small enterprises that have been chosen for some reasons, and their support is exercised by providing them with machinery, services, consultanting and education. They act to establish contacts between other sectors of economy,grow innovative  activities of business that makes diversification of economy possible and on top of all encourages the growth of small and medium business and their viability.    Business incubations are flexible structures and merge with infrastructural complexes of region very well. The analysis of functioning business incubations based on world experience and especially of those,like Georgia  enables us to prevent negative consequences and over come current difficulties. Business incbations proved to be fruitful in Post Soviet area. In Russia,Azerbaijan,kazakhistan and Lithuania,but from this point of view Georgia has significanthy dropped behind. We have to do our best to introduce this progressive infrastructural elements in our economy. Our recomrndations:   Based on these recommendations we set the goals and main directions of small and medium business development in the following way:1.     To create a stable enviornment for business with the help of business incubations. 2.     To create  new highly  paid jobs in small and medium business. 3.     To introduce specialized multilateral business incubations. 4.     To provide small and medium business with informational,consulting and financial – credit means. 5.     To Supporing the increase of  independent traders’ number in small and medium business. 6.     To meet the consumers’ needs immediately. 7.     Formation of the enterpreuners’ class that should become the stable guarantee for economic security and overcoming poverty.

Many new business owners start a home business and don’t take the time to write out a business plan. By failing to write a business plan, you greatly decrease your chances of success. The following are some reasons why every business needs to put a business plan into writing. You have probably heard the old saying, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. ” That is very true when it comes to your business. The more planning you do in the beginning, the greater success you will see in the future. If you decide to take your home business to the next level, a business plan can help you secure financing. A financial institution will want to see, in writing, the reasons that they should loan you money. Simply walking in and telling them why you know you’ll be a success isn’t good enough. However, if you can hand your lender a document that states your business idea, your business goals, a list of steps you plan to take in order to reach your goals, as well as your estimated earnings, you will be seen as a professional and the lender will take you more seriously. Your business plan will also help you determine your action plan. Your action plan consists of the steps you plan on taking in order to achieve your goals. This is another task that people usually sidestep. Instead of “just kind of knowing” or “having the ideas in your head”, you should take the time to put them on paper. The reason this part of the business plan is so important is that it literally walks you from point A to point B. While your business plan, in general, serves as a map, your action plan is the “step-by-step directions. “ Having a business plan to present to your spouse can also help your spouse realize your business idea is more than just a passing amusement or hobby. This can really help you, especially if your spouse is skeptical. Your spouse can see that you are serious and will become more helpful and more encouraging. Having the support of your spouse can really motivate you and help you find success. A business plan maps out your future. If you have decided you are ready to start a business, your first step should be to write out your plans for what you want to do with the business and where you see the business going in the future. If you and your family were going to drive to your vacation destination, you wouldn’t just get in the car and start driving without knowing where you were going. Would you? You shouldn’t start a business without a map either. If you are planning to have a simple home business, built around the Internet, you may not think you need a business plan. You may think only high level businesses need them in order to secure corporate funding but that’s not true. Every business needs a business plan. When you sit down to write a business plan, you are literally mapping out the path you want to take in your business. Not only will your business plan help you define what you want to accomplish, it can help you streamline your business and create focus. You may be under the impression that business plans are huge documents that can be difficult to write. On the contrary, you do not have to create a huge document at all. Your business plan can consist of a single page outlining your basic goals. The point is to put your thoughts and ideas down in writing. When you take the time to think about your business, where you want your business to go, and estimate your costs as well as your profits, you are much more likely to succeed. Rather than working sporadically and blindly, you will be able to look at your business plan and know exactly what you need to be working on. This can serve as a great motivator and help you reach your business goals. A common myth is that a business plan is rigid. That once you write it, you have to stick to it. As your business grows, you can change your business plan to suit your needs. You may find certain aspects of your business growing at a faster pace than others and decide to focus more on those areas. For instance, you may have started out in your business strictly as a custom scrapbook artist creating completed albums. However, you found yourself creating more and more themed mini albums and may decide to add that stream of income to your portfolio. Having your business plan by your side can help you evaluate your decisions and decide what is going to add value to your business and what will take away from your business. Before you start a new project, take out your business plan and see if this new project will fit in with the plans you have already made. This can save you a lot of time, energy, and money.

24 Key Attitudes For Success In YOUR Business   What to take YOUR business to a whole new level? This article is designed for business owners who want to take their business to a whole new level and realize results beyond their wildest dreams.  The first of a three part business tips series, it deals with the 24 key attitudes that are fundamental to the success of your business.     The second article… The 5 Biggest Small Business Mistakes and How to Fix Them deals with the next most important area – Marketing. Without a solid foundation of who your target market is, what they want, how they want to deal with you, then you have no prospects, no customers and no basis for a company.   Finally, the third article in the series… The 5 Key Business Profit Factors  deals with how to make massive amounts of profit.   The Key to Business Success   What is the most important factors of a business’s success?   ·         A Unique Selling Proposition (USP)?   ·         Having the lowest prices?   ·         Great sales people?   ·         The best location?   ·         The best products?   ·         Good customer service?   ·         A strong local economy?   While these are all factors, based on our experience working with all kinds of different businesses, the most important determinant is YOU – the business owner.   History is riddled with examples of successful businesses that have failed with a new owner and lackluster businesses that have flourished under new ownership.   As a result, you are your most important business project.  As such, you should be investing significantly in yourself.   This includes reading books, examining your strengths and weaknesses, setting development goals for yourself, seeking outside advice, tracking your own personal development and getting a mentor to keep you on track.   You probably spend plenty developing and maintaining your business’s physical assets.   How much time and money do you spend on developing yourself?     The great motivator and speaker E. James Rohn advises: “Work harder on yourself than you do on your job”.     In my opinion, if you are serious about your business and what you want to get out of life, you simply must dedicate 5-10% of your time to self-development…   And, yes, you must set aside some money to pay for it.   Rest assured, this money will likely give you the highest ROI (return on investment) possible.   After all, you are the person that can increase your profits by 50% or more.   There is no better time than now to make a commitment to yourself.   Get out your calendar right now and block off 30-60 minutes every day for self development, for the next 12 months.   Next, write down specifically what you are going to do with this time for the next two weeks.   At the end of two weeks, you should be in a position to detail your development plan for the next month, then the next quarter.   Another great quote, also from Jim Rohn: “Never wish your job were easier, wish you were better”.     Think about it.   If you are better, you will get better results.   If you wish for it then you are more likely to find a way to make it happen.   If, on the other hand, your job were to be easier, then everyone would want to do it and you would be back to square one.   1.    The Winning Attitude   The journey towards extraordinary profits begins here. There is no greater factor responsible for success, or failure, than your own mental attitude!  As a result, it is imperative that you begin by preparing your mind with the attitudes and perspectives that will set you free to achieve your business goals.   I am not talking about psyching yourself with positive thoughts, although at times this can help.   What I am talking about is adopting ways of thinking that will free your mind to find the solutions to your business challenges.   How you think and what you believe to be true about how you do business is what brought you to where you are right now.   Before you can find a better way of doing business, you must learn a new way of thinking about business.   It is a simple truth that it does not matter if you think you can, or you think you cannot, either way you will be right!   Stop blaming, denying or making excuses and start taking ownership, being responsible and winning.   2.    In Business There Are No Mistakes   Did you know that Edison had tried over 500 times, unsuccessfully, to make a light bulb.   One day he got asked “you have failed 500 times, how can you go on?”  Edison quickly responded “I have not failed once!  I now know 500 ways not to make a light bulb. ”  The only failure is the failure to Participate.   If you want to be successful in business, you must be prepared to take calculated risks.   Many things you try will not work the first, or second, time.   You learned to walk by falling down.   It is the same in business.   You probably had parents or that gave you a safe environment in which to learn.   In business, you can seek out a mentor to help give you a safer environment.   3.    What if Contrary Information was “Interesting”?   Have you ever had an argument?  You knew you were right and the other person was wrong.   However, the argument was vigorous because the other person, who was also bright and articulate, was convinced they were right.   So, there you had it, two people both right and both wrong at the same time.   You argued but the other person would not relent.   Several days later, you still were thinking about it when you realised that you were wrong after all.     Brad Sugars, the remarkable entrepreneur has an approach which has enabled him to continually innovate.   When Brad hears an opinion that is contrary to his he says, “isn’t that interesting?”  This then opens his mind to the possibility that he will learn a new way.   You see if there is an up, then there must be a down, and a left and a right… If you have to prove yourself right, then you cut off all possibility that there may be a better way.     If you truly want to change the success of your business, you must be willing to change the way you think and the way you behave.   Isn’t that interesting?     4.    I Know – the 2 most dangerous impediments to Business Innovation   Teenagers KNOW everything. Just ask them. Now that you are a little older you realise that it is probably not polite to say, “I know” out loud to everyone.   So as an adult we listen politely, cross our arms, all the while in the back of our mind saying, “I know”.   Try this exercise.   Close both your fists tightly.   Now try to button your jacket or make a phone call or compose an e-mail.   Your mind is like those closed fists.   There are very few things it can do well when it is closed.   You need to forget the mindset that says “I know”.   It is what you learn when you think you know everything that counts    Open your mind up, it is not the major realizations that will make you a fortune, it is the fine distinctions that gives you the edge over the rest of the population.   The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little bit extra.   5.    Business is Fun!   You have decided to go into business for a number of reasons; more money, more control over your time, more free time.   Unfortunately, if you are like many business owners, you let the business take control of you.   It may even suck the life out of you… but life should be fun.   Since owning a business should give you more life, it only stands to reason that business should be fun!  To have fun, I suggest you treat it like a game.   First, learn the rules.   Second, keep score.   Finally, have fun   6.    Time is Your Most Valuable Asset   If you spend every penny you have you can go out and earn more money.   In this sense the amount of money we can have access-to is infinite. Unfortunately, we all have a finite amount of time on this earth.   If we waste a minute, we have lost it forever.   While this may seem intuitively obvious, amongst the business owners I meet, this one simple principle is the most important yet under appreciated principle of business.   Let me describe one conversation that is representative of conversations I have had time and time again with different business owners.   We will call the business owner Mark    Peter:  Tell me how your business is performing relative to your goals.   Mark:   Well we are doing OK but I know we can do better.   Peter:  If you know what to do, what is keeping you from doing it?   Mark:   I always get interrupted and I can never find the time to do the new things.   Peter:  Is your business profitable?   Mark:   Yes it is. But I know I could easily do better.   Peter:  How much would you like to make in the next twelve months?   Mark:   After all expenses £150,000.   Peter: Do you believe that this is a realistic objective   Mark:   Absolutely.   Peter:  How many hours a week would you like to work?   Mark:   50 hours per week and I would like to take 5 weeks vacation (including holidays).   Peter:  So Mark, that means you would like your business to earn about $64 for every hour that you work. (£150,000/(50 hours x 47 weeks)).     After an examination of Mark’s workweek, it was obvious that he was involved in a number of activities that were not worth £64 per hour.   If Mark spends 35% of his time working on tasks that could be handled by a £15/hour employee he is either going to have to work a lot more hours than he wants to, or he is going to have to get his business earning more like £90 per hour for the balance of the time he works.   Now, I am quick to advise owners to be careful with how they spend money.   But Mark’s penny pinching was not in his best interest.   Mark was trying to save paying more wages (about £17,000 per year).   But, by trying to save money it was costing him considerably more.   He was not having fun and he could have been implementing changes that would yield him more like £50,000 in additional profit (3 times what he thought he was saving).   As an owner, the most important decision you make is what you spend your time doing.   Owners that I meet who work too many hours and do not make as much as they want, often treat their time very causally.   Typically, they do not plan their day and tend to be reactive.   Often they do not even keep a calendar. Rarely can they tell you how they actually spent their time.   Conversely, successful owners plan and track their days and their week as carefully as they spend their money.     I recommend that you emulate the successful owners.   Think about what will give you the best long term ROI [Return On Investment] for your time.   Do not be distracted by saving a few short-term pounds if you have an opportunity to create something that will generate returns for you year after year.   7.    Questions are more important than answers   One night at dinner, a young man asked his wife, “Why do you cut the ends off the roast?” Her reply, “I am not sure.   It is what my mother used to do”.   Some time went by before they visited her mother for dinner, and when they did, they had roast for dinner. So he asked, “why do you cut the ends off the roast?” Her reply, “I’m not sure, my mother always did it that way”. So he made a phone call to his wife’s grandmother and asked, “why do you cut the ends off the roast?” Her reply, “well, I’ve only got a small baking tray”.   So, often we do things, just because it is the way we have always done them, having absolutely no idea why it was done that way to start with.   Ever notice how new people tend to question things?  As an owner you should question why your business runs the way it does.   The only way to perform substantially better than your competitors is to be substantially different from them.   In business, following the crowd will almost certainly lead you to slaughter.   Looking at it another way, have you ever seen a flock of eagles?   To succeed in business, you often have to depart from conventional wisdom.   For many people this will be difficult – especially those who did well in school.   After all, we were taught in school what we had to do to be successful – quite often it involved conforming.   In an increasingly competitive environment, you must distinguish yourself by more than just price. You do this by being different. Think about what makes you unique and then tell the world.     8.    Take a look in the Mirror   Ever notice that when you are having a good sales week that the next week just seems to get better and you keep closing more accounts with little or no effort.   Or maybe you have had a slow couple of weeks and all the prospects that you meet seem to have trouble deciding.   You have to make multiple sales calls, answer question, after question, after question.   The people you attract in your life are a mirror of where you are at.     Most businesses are a clear reflection of its owner. Some owners want to control everything and wonder why none of their team ever takes any initiative. Some hate selling and love paperwork, so they have always got their numbers done, but never really sell much.   When I look back at my life I can clearly see times when my successes lead to more successes.   Success follows success. This brings me back again to the key to success in business – you.   Make sure you invest in you.   9.    Business is a Self-fulfilling Prophecy   Remember the last time you bought a car.   You chose something that you thought was distinctive.   Then after you got it you started to notice that you were seeing the same car all over the place.   Or, another example, try right now to NOT picture a purple cow in your mind.   What happened…. You are seeing a purple cow… Your brain has an amazing power to create whatever you focus on. It is called your Reticular Activating System (RAS) and it is like your personal compass.   Your RAS will find proof that the earth is flat if you want it to. In fact, it will find proof that November is a slow month if you want it to. In other words, attention determines direction. Just like the last time you said to yourself; “Do not forget, do not forget, do not forget. . . ” And, what happened, you forgot. Change your wording to “remember” get rid of the negative ‘do not’.   Another example, if you were to ask a person how their day has been, and they answered, “Not bad”. What is their benchmark on life? BAD, and today is not that. Your RAS is an amazing tool and it will find whatever you ask it to find, so you had better ask for very positive things. Remember to ask for the things you want, NOT to push away what you do not want.   Every day your business meets your true expectations. In other words, if you believe you have to work hard to make money, then that will always be your reality. If you believe you can never get good people then that will be your reality.   You generally make true that which you believe to be so.   So, choose your beliefs carefully.   10.         Listen to the Taps on Your Shoulder   Traveling down the road of life, it is easy to be distracted, get off track and lose sight of the big picture. You have heard the old saying, “can’t see the forest for the trees”.   However, every day you are getting little taps on the shoulder, an idea that you should change what you are doing, a suggestion from someone, a hint.   These taps are just like the cats eyes in the center of the road and the small slits in the shoulder that serve as warnings.   You feel little taps if you stray too far one way or the other.   Either you learn to listen to the taps and adjust your course, or eventually you will run into the sign posts at the side of the road, or worse, oncoming traffic.   In business, we get taps all the time.   Unfortunately, they are a lot more subtle than the taps we get on the road.   They are however, just as important for the health of your business.   If you do not want your business to be run over by the proverbial ‘hit by a bus’, it is imperative that you become adept at listening to the taps.   The most successful business people are very perceptive.   They have perfected the craft of surrounding themselves with other people and then listening – really listening – to what they have to say.   So, be sure to listen for the taps and look for the signs. Sticking your head in the sand never helped anyone.   11.         Build a Business do not Buy a Job   From what I have found, people start their own business for one thing and one thing only: FREEDOM; whether that freedom comes from working for yourself, having more time to yourself, financial freedom, or just the freedom of knowing that you are in charge of your life.   With a successful business, this freedom is truly liberating.   Now your friends that have never had any interest in captaining their own ship (those who work for others) may argue that you are far from “in charge” when exposed to the volatility of owning a business.    What they do not realize is that if you have 100 different customers and you lose half of your customers you still have 50 left. Your friends on the other hand have only one customer – their boss. If they lose that “customer” then they are out on the street!   Unfortunately, most business owners never achieve the freedom they seek.   In fact, about 80 per cent of businesses started this year will be gone in 5 years time.   Moreover, for those businesses that are still operating, most of their owners seem to work harder than any of their people and many seem to make less income than they could make elsewhere. Most end up having the business run them, instead of them running the business. In fact, they end up with the very thing they did not want, a JOB.   And that job may even come with the worst boss they ever had – themselves!  In effect, they have taken great risks and expended vast energy and all they have done is bought employment.   12.          A business needs to be profitable and work without YOU!   If you want to achieve that freedom that all business owners seek, then you should adopt this definition of a business:   A business is – A commercial profitable enterprise that works without YOU!   Why build a job for yourself when you can build an income stream that keeps on growing whether you are there or not. Remember the business exists solely to serve you – the owner; not your customers, or your employees.   Yes, customers and staff are important, but the reason you start a business has nothing to do with them.   It is essential that you adopt this attitude.   13. The only reason you would ever start a business is to sell it.   If you want to achieve true success and freedom then you need to think of your business as your product.   It is what you are building and it is where you are ultimately going to make your profit – selling the business.   That is right; you start by thinking about how you can build your business so that lots of people will be competing with each other to buy your business.     Very few people ever make a fortune running their business, but many people make a fortune selling businesses.   Look at Bill Gates for instance. Yes, he has made a lot of money selling software, but he became the richest man in the world by selling his business – shares of Microsoft.   Are you too involved in your business? Ask yourself: could I pick up the phone in the morning and tell whoever answered, “you guys look after things, I am taking three months off”.   If you are like the vast majority of business owners out there, the answer is definitely NO.   14.          Working “ON” not “IN” the Business   Ultimately, you have to get yourself out of the day to day of the business. Stop working 9 till 5, doing the work of your business. Else be like most small builders…  they spend all day using a hammer and nails, working IN their business.   Imagine when you started your business that you built it in your mind, and then you put down that picture of what your business would be like when it was finished.   If you are going to sell a product, you must know when it is finished.   It is the same with a business.   You have to finish a business at some stage and have it ready for sale.   As an example, let us say you wanted to buy a new sofa.   How much would you pay a furniture shop for a partially completed sofa?  Likely, only a very small fraction of what a completed sofa would cost.   In fact, if you are like most people you would not even be interested in paying anything.   It is the same thing for a business.   When people try to sell a business that is not finished, at most they are really only selling a JOB.    As a result, these people only get a few people interested and they only ever get a fraction of the potential price.   When you have the finished picture of what your business will look like, then you go to work creating the business.   This way you are working ON the business, rather than just working IN the business.   You should be designing your business to run whether you are there or not.   If you do this then you have a choice, and choice gives you freedom.   You can work in the business or you can spend your time more creatively.   You can keep the business, or you can sell it.   I like good choices like these.   15.         You work hard because your business doesn’t   Imagine a business where you did not have to work there – would the business WORK? I mean, would it function properly?  Would all of the systems and the people integrate to get the result you wanted, the result the customer wanted?  Of course it would.   Almost every business owner I have ever met works so hard (too hard) for this exact reason. Their business does not work, they do. Everything about the business is in their head, and they are the only one who can do anything, so they are trapped.   Most are like this because the owners do not trust anyone else to do the job. For some reason they believe that no one can do it as well as they can. This need to be in control prevents them from growing their business.   Take the step, start to document how everything in your business gets done, put systems in place, teach other people and give them the responsibility to get the job done. (If you need more convincing, Read Michael Gerber’s book – The E-Myth Revisited.     16.         Assign Tasks.   Don’t Delegate Just To Abdicate   All great leaders are good at delegating so you must start off-loading tasks as soon as possible.   Remember, time is your most precious commodity.   Since delegation is so important, you must prepare properly for it.   You must make sure that the person that will be doing the task knows what to do.   The worst thing you can do is to abdicate a task to someone.   By this, I mean telling them to do something when they do not have the skills or the training to handle the task.   It is essential that you carefully explain what you want done, how you want it done and what you consider a successful outcome to be.     This may come as a shock, or at least seem like overkill, but you must document how you want your processes and tasks to be completed.   From my experience, most owners just give their staff a (quite often limited) set of verbal instructions.   The owner then assumes that the employee knows what to do and the employee then assumes what he thinks the owner wants done.   While well intentioned, this feeble attempt at delegation often does not produce the desired results.   You see, it is a simple but important fact about human learning that only about 20% of people are auditory learners – people that receive and easily comprehend verbal information.   The rest of us are either visual or kinaesthetic learners. That is, we need to see (a picture, diagram or read) what to do, or we need to actually do something before we fully understand.   (I have some simple, but effective tools that can help you successfully delegate. )   After you have properly prepared, trained and given your team member the job to do, then let them do it. Do not jump in and save them or they will never learn how to get the job done. If you do, they will “learn” that you are the only one who can fix things.   Guess what, they will be right.   You have to let them fall off the bike to learn how to stay on.   17.         Work for Yourself and go the extra mile   What if you do not own a business yet – that is, you work for someone else?  I suggest that you think like You Inc.   Treat your boss like he is your customer.   You want your customer to be thrilled with You Inc.   You want him to continue to buy more and higher value services from You Inc.   At a minimum, adopting this attitude will be great experience.   Think of your job as market research (for your business) that someone else is paying you to do.   But remember, what goes around comes around, so give it everything you have.   Your boss may even spot a future business partner in you.   Always go that little bit further than you are asked to, give a little extra and you will go far. If you are asked to stay until 5:00 PM, stay until 5. 30 PM, just do a little more than were asked.   18.         The key to success is laziness   Which would you prefer – 1% of 100 people’s income or 100 % of your own income.   I would prefer the former, not just because I am lazy, but also because with this attitude my income can be unlimited.   On my own, I can only earn 100% of my own income.   On the other hand, there is nothing stopping me from working with 101 people or 1000 people. (why stop there?)    If you have ever thought that you will succeed if you just work a little harder, put in some extra time, or just do more of what you are doing right now, then it is time you lifted your head and took a look around you.   You probably know several hundred people who work hard.   How many of them are really getting somewhere?   The aim of the game is not to work harder; it is to create better results with less effort – finding ways of achieving more with less. In other words, to continually leverage your time, your efforts, your money and your knowledge.   If you are paid an hourly wage, you will never earn more than the number of hours you work, but if you and your business are set up so that you are paid whether you work or not, then you have truly understood one of the key principles of success – Leverage.   Leverage is simply – the ability to do more with less. The aim of the game is to create an income stream that flows whether you work or not. Build assets that yield income.   There are numerous ways to create Leverage. You can leverage yourself through people, systems & processes, marketing and finance.     19.         Your Business is Like A Tree   It is important to view your businesses as a living organism – like a tree.   Your business is either growing or it is dying.   When does a tree stop growing – when it is dying.   The same is true for a business.   You see the world does not stand still.   New products, services and competitors are cropping up everyday.   If your business does not evolve, then it will die.   20.         Change – The Only Constant   It is important to consider your business in the context of the wider business community and the world economy.   Consider the Agrarian, Industrial, Information ages.   In the Agrarian age (which lasted until early in the 20th century) 95 per cent of the population worked the land and the wealthiest people were the landowners.     In the Industrial age (which lasted until about 1980) those that owned the factories created the most wealth.     In the Information age those that owned the computers and software production, the telecommunications and have the information and corresponding managing tools created the great wealth.   By considering just the length of time that these ages have lasted we can easily see that the pace of change continues to accelerate at an increasingly rapid rate. In the information age we are living through, it only takes about 18 months for the available information on the planet to double, where it took about 50 years a century ago.   Some would argue that we have already left the Information age.   With constant change, occurring at an increasingly rapid rate, it has never been more important for owners to:   1.       Work ON their business, rather than IN their business   2.       Work harder on themselves than their job   3.       Surround themselves with experts that can give them every competitive advantage   21.         How Do You Compete?   With information moving so fast, people can copy, reproduce and have ready for sale any product or service in a matter of weeks. In today’s economy, you cannot be cheaper than your competitors can for long.   Therefore, the 21st key is that you have to know what information is important for your business success.   The only way you can stay ahead of the market is to out-think, out-sell, out-market and out-maneuver your competitors. Your marketing, sales and customer service is crucial. You do not have to have the world’s best hamburger to sell billions of them.   The next time you have a group of people in a room ask them “who thinks McDonald’s have the best hamburgers in the world?” I will bet that not one person puts up their hand. Yet, who sells more hamburgers than anyone else does?   Then ask the same group, who thinks they can build a better sales, marketing and distribution system for hamburgers than McDonald’s. Once again, no one will put up his or her hand.   22.         Ask for more   If you are going to build a great business, if you are going to make your fortune through business then you have got to ask for a whole lot more than you do right now.   If you shoot for the stars, at least you will make it to the moon.    If you do not ask, the answer is always NO. If you start to ask for more, and be grateful for it, you just might start receiving. Just remember, those who are grateful always receive more than those who just complain about life.   Do not be afraid of someone saying NO. They are not rejecting you, it is just that your request may have come at a bad time or their goals are not quite aligned with yours. Do not take offence . . . every NO gets you closer to a YES.   23.         Abundance vs. Scarcity   For most people getting more means that someone else has to go without. As intuitive as this may seem, nothing could be further from the truth!  There is literally more than enough to go around.   To succeed in business, you often have to depart from conventional wisdom.   Because, as I mentioned earlier, the crowd is often wrong.   Scarcity was first espoused by English Preacher Thomas Malthus, who concluded that England would run out of food as there were too many people for the available food production.   Yet, even to this day we still produce more than enough food to feed the entire planet.   Because we believe in scarcity; or more commonly known as supply and demand, much of it gets thrown away.     In business, you have got to realize that there is always more than enough money to go around.   When will you go out and get your share?   Abundance is a mindset, a mindset that understands how technology has removed scarcity; how the old thoughts in economics are exactly that – old. (Read Paul Zane Pilzer’s book – Unlimited Wealth for more on this. )   24.         Work Smarter, not Harder   Just to prove that thinking differently is so important, write down how much money you earned last year. Now add a zero to the end of it. You have just increased your income tenfold.    To make that much money doing exactly what you are doing right now, how hard do you have to work?    You have to stop working harder and start working smarter.   Remember, people with jobs earn money while business owners and entrepreneurs make and create money.   Some final words   We have been discussing some key attitudinal concepts that will be fundamental to the success of your business.   Yes, there are a lot of other important concepts about Marketing, Sales, Customer Service, Operations, Employee Development, Finance, Cash Management and Administration.   There is a lot that can be done to help you develop your business in all these areas.   However, years of experience tell us that it is the fundamental attitude that you must embrace first.   Your attitude is the essence of who you must BE as a business owner if you are to get what you truly want from your business.     This experience is also consistent with the simple BE-DO-HAVE goal attainment philosophy.   This philosophy says that in order to HAVE the things you want in life you must DO the right things.   Before you can do those things, you must BE the person that is capable of doing the right things.   A Complete Waste of Time!   Now let me be brutally honest with you.   Most of the people reading this article will gain absolutely no lasting benefit from having done so. It will have been a complete waste of time!   Why would I say that?  Do I not believe that what we have written has benefit?  Absolutely it does…. but then again, there are many great business books.   Most of them have a lasting impact for only a few people.     In order for you to get any lasting benefit from the information I have presented, you must take some action.   Otherwise, nothing will have changed for you.   If you do not change anything, you will get the same result that you are already getting.       Peter Cantelo (Copyright 2008) www. vivavi. co. uk

Soon you will find yourself deeply involved in reaching your marketplace, analyzing customer needs and imagining attention-getting promotional ideas. But first there are a number of basic organizational steps you should complete.  There are just enough stories in newspapers and magazines about successful new business that were started on a “shoestring” to make you believe you do it also. In fact, several monthly magazines are devoted to presenting low-cost home business ideas that are “guaranteed winners”.  In our experience, very few viable new businesses ran be started with less than $1000. 00. A recent survey by Home Office Computing magazine revealed that the average reader spent around $5,000 to start his business. It should be apparent that shoestring businesses run out of cash fast – often just when the sales start to come in.  Assessing Your Financial Readiness  The first step in examining your financial preparedness is to sit down with your family and analyze where the money goes each month. Start with the major expenses first, such as mortgage or rent, car payments, utilities, insurance, food and school expenses. These categories probably represent over 60% of your total family spending each month.  Next add in important but postponeable expenses, such as new clothing or furniture, a vacation or going to the movies or out to eat. By the time you are done you will probably have 15 to 20 key expenses in the family budget. Put the total by category on one piece of paper and add them for a grand total. Make sure every family member understands where the money has been going each month.  Lastly, see what you can cut out of the budget. But beware, quitting a job (or losing one) and then starting a business will put your family under tremendous mental stress. Don’t expect them to endure too much further pain in order to cut the family budget.  Most of us would be lucky to cut 5% out of the budget. Once you have some agreement on a monthly budget, it is time to review what sources of income the family has. The most common are: spouse’s salary and bonus, investment interest and dividends and rental income if you own property. Ask yourself a tough question: How reliable are these streams of income? Has your spouse’s employer announced layoffs? Is the return on your investments likely to go up or down over the next twelve months?  Subtracting all the family income other than your income (you’ll he quitting remember) from the monthly expenses results in what I call the “business burden”. This is the dollar amount that vour economic activity must eventually create if the family budget is to continue at its agreed-upon level. Every month that your sales are not enough to cover this burden you must borrow – from yourself, your credit cards, your home equity loan or from your relatives. This gets old fast.  The second area of personal finance you must carefully evaluate is your debt. Who do you owe? How much? What percentage of debt could be paid off in on more than one year? Remember, you won’t be working a regular job. Be realistic; if you credit card debt is $400 per month minimum payment, you will have a very hard time paying your business phone bill and buying gas for your car.  Examine also what you own that you might turn into cash or use as collateral for a loan. The house is the most commonly used personal collateral, but remember what you are risking when you use a home equity loan.  Estimating Startup Costs  Startup costs are one-time expenses for equipment, furniture, computers, rent deposits, stationery; telephone hookup, insurance premiums, office supplies, and initial advertising. Be cautious here, it is very easy to spend a couple of thousand dollars before you realize it. Before you buy anything ask yourself: Can I get it used? Do I already have something that will work? Can I trade something for it? If you are starting with a home office you of course save on rent deposits and moving expenses.  If you will be opening a retail store, it is critical that you research what inventory you will need, who supplies it and what is the lowest price you can get. You may also be facing a serious investment in renovation construction, fixtures and carpeting and painting. The average startup costs for a retail store, including inventory, run around $75,000.  If you plan to make a product for sale you will need to buy raw materials. Do the same kind of investigation as the retail business owner does. Calculate the minimum material investment to produce the desired sales for the first few months. In addition, examine what additional tools, equipment or vehicles our business may require. A typical manufacturing startup can cost over $100,000.  Exploring Business Expenses  For most small businesses, the owners personal compensation is far and away the largest operating expense for the business. This is your contribution toward the “business burden”. But there are potentially many other business expenses you will face. Among the most common are: Rent, utilities, telephone and telefax charges, supplies, computer software and repair, insurance, bookkeeping fees, auto expenses, dues and subscriptions, travel and entertainment and sales promotion expenses. Some new business need an employee right from the beginning, so you would have to add in wages and withholding taxes.  You find out what expenses your business will have to pay by talking with owners of similar businesses, through magazine and newspaper articles and from trade associations, just to mention a few. Also apply some common sense: ask yourself what expenses seem normal for my type of business? I suggest that you add 20% to your estimate of monthly business expenses.  To discover what magnitude of starting capital your business will need, take your “business burden” and multiply by three. Add in the one-time startup costs. Multiply the monthly business expenses by three and add to the other two groups of costs. The total is known as “initial capitalization” — the money you had better have access to before you open the door of your new business, Don’t kid yourself; new businesses are very hungry — for money. Try to starve them and they perish!  Picking A Business Name  Up to this point, you have probably only spoken about your new business to your family and yourself. But now it is time to prepare to talk to the outside world. The first step in communicating all the wonderful things your business can provide is to create an identity for it by carefully selecting a business name and address.  I have long believed that there is no such thing as the perfect name for a new business. After all your customers are largely buying you in the beginning. But a cleverly selected business name goes a long way toward making your new company more memorable. Here are some tips for selecting a business name:  Keep it Short – no more than four words Make sure It can be easily pronounced Use either your own name or one that says what your business does Look in the Yellow Pages to avoid a name that is confusingly similar to an existing business Make sure that is looks as good on a business card as it does on a piece of letterhead. A way to do this is to use a graphic artist to sketch the name business card size.    Be aware that some businesses not only legally register their business names but also trademark them. Trademarking is a legal technique made available by states and the federal government to give you the right to a particular name if you can prove you publicly used it before anyone else, To receive national protection you must file for a trademark through the U. S. Trademark Office (part of the Commence Department). This is much more expensive and time consuming. See an attorney before taking this step.  Selecting a Business Address  You now need a business address to go along with your legal business name. While you have been researching your startup costs you should have thought about where you will locate your business office. Will it be in your den? In a local office building? A retail store? Or in an industrial building?  The simplest and least expensive way is to use your home address as your business address also. But before you decide to do this remember the following tips about selecting an address.  Analyze who you want to sell. Would they think you are less professional if they see a residential address on your business card? Are there potential zoning problems if your city or town finds out about your home business? Will your suppliers or customers be corning regularly to your house? is there enough parking space so as to not annoy your neighbors? Can you easily receive UPS, Federal Express, etc. at your home?   If you don’t locate at home, what are your other options? There are three basic alternatives:  #1 Post office box. I don’t like them because they are used by scam artists, Also, you can’t get to your box 24 hours per day and customer service at the Post Office is less than great.  #2: Private mail box store: A little more expensive than P. O. boxes but offer many more business services such as shipping of all kinds, telefax, photocopying, passport photos, office supplies, to mention a few. The largest number of stores are the Mail Boxes Etc. outlets springing up all over. Costs start at $12-$16 per month for a mailbox.  #3: Shared service office suites: Many traditional office buildings are setting up areas with small offices which share services, such as the receptionist, mail room, telefax, photocopy and a conference room. Rents start at $400 per month, but some buildings offer an abbreviated version, known as identity programs where you keep your office at home, but rent their address for your mail, have their receptionist answer your business phone line and meet with clients in their conference room. Costs start at $75 per month.  Picking A Legal Form of Organization  When you open a business, your life becomes more formalized because you are now subject to more laws and regulations. One of the first legal requirements you will face is deciding how to organize the business from a legal point of view. There are three major ways to do this:  #1: Sole Proprietorship — Single owner or husband and wife. All business profit goes on your personal tax return. You are personally liable for all business debts and legal disputes. Very little regulation by the government. Over 70% of all small businesses are proprietorships, often because it is the easiest, fastest and cheapest way to legally organize.  #2: Partnership — Two or more owners joining together to invest in and to run a small business. Similar legally to a proprietorship in that each partner is personally liable for business debts and disputes. In addition, each partner is bound by the business actions of the other partners, even if they don’t know about them. In our experience it is hard to hold together a partnership because it is rare that two (or more) people share the same values, grow at the same rate or see risk the same way. We strongly urge that you review a written partnership agreement (sold at office supply stores) before you talk seriously about joining together.  #3: Corporation – A lot of new entrepreneurs think that they need to be a corporation. But in reality, few new businesses need to be incorporated. The first step is to realize that your life becomes more regulated if you incorporate. We also estimate that it will cost you $700-$1000 more per year in accounting and legal bills to be a corporation. However, there are many potential tax savings for corporations. The second step is to decide with whom you will organize the corporation (incorporators). The third step is to decide if you want to operate as “plain vanilla” corporation (”C” corporation) or as a “S” corporation (requires approval of the IRS). For the next steps see “How to Register” which follows.  No matter what legal form your new business takes, some branch of government (or several) wants to know about it, But note: before you attempt to legally register, you must have selected a business name and address.  How to Register Your Company  Proprietorships and Partnerships Most proprietorships and partnerships use a business name other than the name on the owner’s birth certificate. This business name is known legally as a fictitious name, assumed name or as a DBA (Doing Business As). The county in which you live requires you to register this assumed name. The procedure usually goes as follows:  Call your County Clerk’s Office and request an Assumed Name Registration form and ask the fee. Fill in all forms with the legal name of the business, its official address, your real name arid your home address. One of the forms may have to be notarized, so see the accompanying instructions. Usually you send back one form, the longer one, and keep the shorter form. Include a check made our to the County Clerk for the registration fee. Take the shorter form to any newspaper in your county (call first to get their rate for an assumed name ad) and place an ad for three consecutive weeks. The newspaper will give you proof that the ad ran. Send proof of ad placement back to your County Clerk, right away. In three to four weeks you wilt receive a registration certificate.    Corporations Registering a corporation is more involved than the assumed name registration. Here is the procedure commonly found. It may vary in your state:  Call your Secretary of State and ask for Corporate Name Registration. Have two or three name choices written down by the phone. Ask if the first name is available. If not, go to the next, and the next. Hopefully one of the three is available. While you have them on the phone, request two copies of the registration paperwork known as the Articles of Incorporation (or similar name). Use an attorney or one of the Small Business Development Centers for help in filling out the Articles of incorporation. They are pretty easy, but the section on issuing stock can be a little tricky. Check the form for how to calculate the incorporation fee. Send two copies of the Articles with a certified check or money order for the incorporation fee made out to the Secretary of State at the address in the instructions. In a few weeks you will receive the official notice of incorporation. After this time whenever you use your business name it must be ended by one of four suffixes: “Inc. “, “Corp. “, “LTD”, or “Co. “. Place the certificate in a safe place. You will need it for a number of purposes but most importantly you must show it in order to open a corporate checking account. <p><b><a onClick=”javascript:pageTracker. _trackPageview(’/outgoing/article_exit_link’);” href=”http://www. bizstarters. com/pages/ultimate. html”>Learn how to become the master of your own business, in just a few short weeks</a></b></p>

Finding a business that matches your personality is the most crucial step in becoming self-employed. It makes no sense to leave an unfulfilling job to go into an equally unrewarding business enterprise.  The strength of successful small businesses comes from the unique combination of the entrepreneur’s personality and a great product or service. While many aspiring business owners seem to understand their interests and abilities, they don’t have the slightest notion of what business idea might be an appropriate match. Yet it’s not as difficult as you might think to come up with a workable business idea.  To help assure that you find a good match, you should candidly consider your lifestyle, interests and experience, A good place to start is to ask yourself if you like working with people or prefer to work more by yourself. If you are shy and will be uncomfortable around new people, you’d be best advised to stay away from a high-profile selling scenario.  On the other hand, if you thrive on the energy of other people, you probably won’t he happy in a manufacturing business. It’s easy to overlook these natural tendencies when you allow yourself to get carried away with fads or with the opinions of your friends and relatives. Remember, if you try a business that is a poor fit and you fail, you will be the one who is left with the debts, not your friends.  Review the things you like to do best. For example, if you love to go camping and hiking, a business in outdoor recreation might be a good fit for you. But what form should it take? Sporting goods store? Expedition leader? Equipment manufacturer? Newsletter publisher? You can quickly see that one idea can develop into many forms. Although you may eventually try them all in your business, you need to focus on one at the beginning. How do you go about doing that?  Take Advantage of What You Know  It’s generally advisable to start with something you have done before and are good at. Ask yourself what basic skills are required by this activity. For example, are you good with your hands? Do you speak well to groups? Can you write well? Are you well-organized? If your don’t have all the necessary skills, can you learn those you need? Another good way to learn the pros and cons of a business you’re considering is to seek out people in the same or similar businesses and talk with them. Ask them first for their advice. Observe how they function in their work.  Read books on the subject-but be careful not to try starting a business on the basis of a book’s advice alone – you will be getting information from only the most optimistic viewpoint. The best source for learning is to actually work in the business. In the ferociously competitive world of small business, this is not always possible. Still, it’s worth trying to find a mentor who can describe the pitfalls, frustrations and potential disasters as well as the successes.  Identifying Legitimate Opportunities  Even after thinking about their interests and abilities, people can find it difficult to focus on a business idea. They make the mistake of thinking that the process is very complex, and it’s true that it can be confusing when faced with the deluge of money-making opportunities advertised everywhere. Every day, dozens of newspaper ads offer businesses for sale. Every month, at least three magazines trumpet their “astounding” business opportunities. More than 2,000 companies offer franchises. Direct selling organizations aim to recruit you.  How do you identify the legitimate opportunities? The secret is simple: Remember that the best business ideas come from the combination of your interests, abilities and past experiences, matched to a set of definable needs in the marketplace. Don’t be fooled by promises of quick wealth – it takes hard work to start and run a business.  A good business idea is likely in be straightforward and simple. The more exotic your idea, the more you must spend — in time and money – just to explain your idea to potential buyers. Many of the most successful new businesses are based on commonly known business ideas executed uncommonly well.  Determine If Your Idea Will Work  After some exploration and deliberation, you will have come up with a business idea, or perhaps two. But you know that every day thousands of new business ideas are talked about. How do you determine if your carefully crafted idea will work? At this point, you must take a cold, calculating look at all aspects of your idea. Compare each of your ideas to each other by asking the following questions:  What are the three most important things I must do to turn this idea into a business? Do I know how to do them? Is the market for my idea large enough to provide growth? Is there a way that I can reach my potential customers with my sales message? . Can the idea he expanded into additional products or services? Is anyone else in my area doing this business? How many competitors are there, and how close are they to me?  You must also carefully estimate how much money you need to get your idea off the ground and how much profit you can realistically expect it to return.  Start by writing down every expense necessary to get your business going. Common expenses include: office equipment, machinery; tools, supplies, vehicles, licenses, space rental consultants, franchise fees or royalties, advertising, insurance and employee wages.  Next, use library research, interviews with business owners, trade associations, government reports and magazine articles to determine what level or profit an average business in your chosen field generates. Keep in mind that if the return on you investment is no better than you can earn on a certificate of deposit. You might as well keep your money in the bank.  What Sacrifices Will Your Business Demand?  You should honestly consider the sacrifices you and your family may have to make to allow you to start your own business. Will your spouse have to continue working at a less-than-inspiring job to keep the budget in shape? Will you have to start at home until you can afford to move out?  Once you’ve decided upon your business, expect to hear a lot of reasons why it won’t work. For some reason, your friends and family members will typically view your plans with alarm. Because it’s difficult to ignore the opinions of those close to us, these naysayers can destroy a terrific business idea before it ever has a chance to see the light of day. If you truly believe in your idea, you can override the negative feedback you’re likely to get. Remember that there are few opportunities in life more exciting than thinking up your own business idea and bringing it to life.  Seven Ways to Come Up With A Dynamite Business Concept  Look for Opportunities at Work. Corporations are eliminating operations, thus creating gaps in service. If you can deliver this service, you may be able to start in business with several substantial customers. Become a Better Observer. Carry around a notebook and jot down products and services you can’t find. Note when you don’t get good service or when a product doesn’t deliver what it promises. Can you do better? Re-establish Something That Has Disappeared. There is a tremendous nostalgia boom in America because consumers are basically dissatisfied with today’s level of service. Is there something you enjoyed in the past but which is no longer available in your area? See if others share your interest. Give New Life to the Ordinary. Imagine the perfect setting for a routine service, such as shoe repair or dry cleaning. See if you can bring it to life and still make a profit. Study Trends. TV news programs, magazines and newspapers all report stories that reflect changes in values and lifestyles. Current examples include difficulty in coordinating family schedules, a more conservative investment outlook and an aging population. Uncover a Business within a Business. Some businesses have become so overblown that its essential service has almost been ignored. Resurrect it and create a new demand for an old need. Look Back to your Childhood. Your old hobbies can grow into a business. You can start out with the advantage of an area you already know a lot about. <p><b><a onClick=”javascript:pageTracker. _trackPageview(’/outgoing/article_exit_link’);” href=”http://www. bizstarters. com/pages/ultimate. html”>Learn how to become the master of your own business, in just a few short weeks</a></b></p>

If you have effectively analyzed your target markets, put into place an attention getting promotional plan and learned how to demonstrate the benefits of dealing with your company, you will start to receive money in return for providing satisfaction.  When people see that you keep your promises they will develop a loyalty to you and your business which will result in repeat sales. But a word of warning: earning money by selling to someone is only theoretical until you collect it! There are a million reasons why someone can delay paying you. And if you are not careful you can lose control of where the money goes once it arrives on your desk.  There are five parts to an effective financial management system for your small business: estimating costs and living by a budget; making frequent projections of profit and cash; developing a reliable collection technique and expense control program maintaining a dependable accounting system; and managing your tax situation. We will discuss the first strategy in this column.  There are many more people with good ideas than there are people who also demonstrate discipline in handling their business’s money. Some say that one of the main reasons businesses fail is because of lack of money.  We believe that it is because of lack of control of money. Don’t be overwhelmed. There are many convenient ways to learn how to manage your money–seminars at local colleges and Small Business Development Centers, do-it-yourself books, computer programs and government tax classes to mention just a few. In only a few hours per week you can create a sound system for managing your money.  Let’s take a look at the first step in setting up a reliable financial management system: financial estimates.  Checking Your Personal Financial Situation  Not starting with enough cash, known technically as being “undercapitalized”, is probably second only to not researching your business concept as a major cause of small business failure. This outcome is usually the result of inadequate advance planning during the pre-launch phase.  First and foremost you must estimate what your family expenses are and how you will assure that your business income is sufficient to pay them. You should sit down with your family and honestly discuss the minimum amount of money the household must have each month to provide security. Ask each member of the family to offer one or two areas where some expense can be reduced.  In addition to knowing your living costs, you must also be brutally honest about your current debt situation. During the 1980’s many families found themselves taking on increased debt in order to just get by. If you family is one of them, you should be realistic about your ability to take on more financial responsibility. New businesses almost always require more money to keep them running than the new owners estimate before starting. Remember: every dollar you must pay each month for credit card payments is a dollar not available to invest in marketing your new company.  To help you calculate your current personal financial situation you can use the My Current Financial Situation Worksheet below.  My Current Financial Situation Monthly IncomeAssets My Paycheck Cash On HandSpouse’s PayCarUnemployment PayementsPropertyOtherFurnishingsTotal IncomeOther AssetsFixed Monthly ExpensesTotal AssetsCarLiabilitiesMortgage/RentBank LoansUtilitiesCredit CardsGroceriesOther DebtOtherTotal LiabilitiesVariable Monthly ExpenseAssets Minus iabilities(Networth)Clothes Entertainment Gas/Oil Other Other Expenses Insurance Day Care Other Total Expenses Income Minus Expenses * “The Business Burden”  When you look at your monthly family income, you should consider what will happen financially if you quit your job to pursue your business full-time. Your expenses will not decrease much, but your income sure will. The difference between the family expenses and the family income other than yours can be called the “business burden. ” What this means is that unless you want your family’s lifestyle to change dramatically, you must produce enough revenue from the business to cover the shortfall between expenses and the other household income. Every month that you do not produce enough sales to cover this amount, you must borrow to keep the family going.  Estimating Business Start-up Costs  In addition to providing enough money to pay your family living expenses for two-three months, you will need money to pay for a variety of one-time expenditures necessary to set up your business. Let’s take a look at typical expense categories required in setting up a new business:  Office Space As locating one’s business at home becomes more acceptable, larger numbers of new businesses are able to save a major start-up expenses–rent. Renting an outside office, retail store, or warehouse space results in some significant startup expenses. Included among these are:  Rent deposits, usually one full month’s rent, which can range from $300 to over $ 1 000.  Utility deposits, averaging $ 100 per utility.  Insurance, costing from $500 to $2000 per year — retail stores must often have plate glass insurance in addition to general business insurance.  Phone line installation, starting at $85 per line, without any inside wire location work included.  Redecorating & renovation, which you sometimes can negotiate with the landlord to include this in your base rent. You usually must sign a multi-year lease to receive this however. This expense runs from $100 (you do the painting) to several thousand if you must build walls and add doors and windows.  Furnishings are needed whether you locate your office at home or in outside space. Most offices will require at a minimum a desk, chair, lamp, file cabinet and a bookcase or bookshelves. Additionally, you may wish to have a separate computer table. If you give yourself several months to search, you can often find used furnishings at house sales, bankruptcy auctions, and furniture resellers. A little touch-up paint and cleaning and used furniture can work quite well. You had better plan for $100 – $600 for furnishings.  Equipment  Wise use of electronic equipment can allow you to run your one-person business as professionally as your larger competitors. This is one category of expenditure where it pays to shop as the prices are continually dropping.  Telephones. Can be found in discount stores and catalogs, as well as direct from the phone companies. Plan on spending $40. 00 for a reliable one-line phone and $60. 00 for a good two-line phone. Telefax. Increasingly just having a phone is not enough. Your customers expect to be able to send you something immediately by fax. Coated paper faxes run about $225. 00 and plain paper faxes cost around $500. 00 Computer. Take your pick! What a variety is available today. Currently some of the best deals are from Compaq and Apple. Learn what the main computer words mean and how a particular feature affects speed or ease of use. Then go around to both computer and discount stores to compare. And don’t forget catalog sellers such as Dell and Gateway, both of which make excellent computers. There are networks for buying used computers and a new chain of franchises sellers of used computers called Computer Renaissance, but it is probably not smart for a new small business computer user to buy a used computer. Copiers. Rarely needed by a new business and are really an expensive luxury because of their tendency to break down. Rebuilt copiers with many high-speed features can be bought for under $2,000. 00.  Inventory  Retail stores require stock before they can open for business. Often the initial stock to fill a 500 square foot store (25′x 20′) costs over $20,000. 00. Manufacturers are well advised to have a supply of raw materials on hand when they start so that they can keep up with orders. Industrial supply and material suppliers often insist on selling in minimum quantities which are larger than you need in the beginning, but which you must buy in order to get any materials. This often results in significant costs to you.  Telecommunications  At a minimum your business will require one telephone line and a telephone to attach to it. You may be able to get by for some time with your existing residential phone line, thereby avoiding a connect charge. If, however, one line is not enough to take all of the calls or if you wish a second line to transmit and receive telefaxes, it will cost you a minimum of $80 to connect the line. Any inside installation is extra. Local phone companies bill their inside installation time at $60/hour.  Consider also your needs for: phone message handling, cans made outside of your office and paging. An answering machine may be sufficient to handle calls when you are not in. But perhaps you feel that your customers demand a real live person to answer your phone. This increases your start-up costs to hire a receptionist or a live answering service, which charge around $50/month. Special phone features, such as call waiting, call forwarding or caller ID carry installation charges of $30 – $40 apiece. Keep an eye open for occasional deals that combine features for one, low cost. Cellular phones often run over $ 1 00 to install and set-up and pagers often require a $200 deposit. These costs should be figured into your start-up cost estimates.  Licenses, Fees and Permits  Common start-up costs in this category include: assumed name registration fees, ranging from $30 to $50, incorporation fees of $ 100 and up, business licenses starting at $30, health permits sometimes costing several hundred dollars, and state-issued licenses such cosmetology licenses, which can cost up to $ 1000 per year.  Insurance  If you are starting a typical home-based service business, your renters or homeowners insurance may cover your business equipment, supplies and inventory. But it may not, so be cautious and call your home insurance agent before you open for business to check the policy coverage. Often a small additional fee, known as a rider, will increase your home insurance to cover equipment such as a business computer, telephone and fax machine. If you need a rider, figure on adding $50 to your start-up costs.  Stationery  To promote a professional, established image for your business, have well-designed and printed letterhead, envelopes and business cards done. Quick printers and office supply warehouse stores, such as Office Max and Office Depot, offer very attractive prices on packages. For example, Office Max in Chicago offers 500 letterhead, 500 envelopes, 500 business cards and 200 invoices for $49. 95. You have limited ink colors, paper styles and typefaces to choose from, but this type of package can start you off with a sharp look to your business.  Recently introduced are software programs that present miniature outlines of letterhead, envelopes, business cards, brochures, etc. on your computer screen to guide you in inserting your own selling text. The paper is pre-printed with 34 colors at the factory and you add the black text on your computer printer.  Professional Fees  If your are considering incorporating your business, need contract forms setup, will deal with import/export, want to set up distributors or require any other legal guidance, you had better budget 5-7 hours of a lawyers time. Good business attorneys charge between $95 and $125 per hour, so you would need to set aside $500 to $ 1 000 in start-up investment for legal help.  If you are going to open a retail store, a wholesale company or a manufacturing company you would be wise to consult an accountant before you launch. The accounting systems to support these types of businesses can be complicated. You can expect yourself to understand all of the details. Better yet, budget $500- $1000 in start-up investment to cover accountant’s fees.  Promotional Costs  The previous start-up expense categories discussed in this article are important to prepare the operation of your new company. The last category, promotional costs, includes investments in gaining critically important sales for your new venture. We recommend, at a minimum, that you invest in designing, printing and mailing of flyer to announce that you are in business, what you offer, where you will offer it and how to get hold of you. If you are experienced in using a word processing or desktop publishing program, you can design, layout and typeset your own flyer. Taking the original copy to a photocopy store and having several hundred run on eye-catching paper will cost you- less then $15. Add in $30-$50 for postage and you will have your initial promotion underway.  You can, of course, plan and execute much more elaborate initial promotion, everything from a grand opening party for your retail store to a 10-city seminar series for your consulting company. Budgets for this type of promotion can run well over $5,000. The key to successful cash management here is to plan ahead. Allow 2-3 months before your official opening to research promotional alternatives and their costs.  Summing It Up  When you total up all of the categories of start-up expense, you may be amazed at the total. If you include a computer, start-up costs can easily run over $7000, without any cash contribution toward your personal living expenses. Advance planning is the key, because you should try to avoid borrowing the money to pay start-up costs. You will need to borrow later to stay in business. Borrowing before you start puts you in the credit hole before you have started to market your company. <p><b><a onClick=”javascript:pageTracker. _trackPageview(’/outgoing/article_exit_link’);” href=”http://www. bizstarters. com/pages/ultimate. html”>Learn how to become the master of your own business, in just a few short weeks</a></b></p>

There is no guarantee when buying a business that it comes with a sound set of financial information or that you will be able to make a success of it. In a small to medium business, financial information is often a record of what the previous owner did, and consequently may not be a valid indicator of how you will perform in the same business. For example, unless you have experience in the hospitality business don’t buy a this type of business. If you have no experience in customer servicing, computer technology or a baking don’t buy these types of businesses just because the current or previous owner was profitable or successful. Here are a few rules you reasonably follow when deciding what business to buy: Selecting a business Try to select a business where you have some level experience and or expertise. Business tends to be highly competitive; being at least as good as your opposition, will give the best advantage for staying in business and being successful. Select an occupation in which you enjoy the tasks and daily activities. Owning and operating a business requires long hours, as well as great enthusiasm. Motivating your staff, and dealing successfully with clients for some can be quite a burden and may become tedious if you do not enjoy or do not have the propensity for these types of tasks. Validate the sellers need to sell Validate as best as you can, the owner’s reason for selling. While there are many legitimate reasons for selling a perfectly good business such as: Retirement Life changes such as marriage or additions to a family Business “burn-out” Sometimes, other reasons such as upcoming lease renewal issues, increased competition as well as many other negative factors may be the primary influence(s) of the pending sale. Having someone with experience working on your side will be advantageous to selecting the appropriate business for you to purchase. Many businesses have problems; the trick is to know what they are, and create a strategy for dealing with them. Financial Considerations and Implications Try to understand and prepare for all financial implications of the business. This includes and is not limited to: Capital required to run the business Cost of purchasing the business Capital to finance stock Debts Overheads. Working capital requirements vary greatly between different business types: The financial requirements for a retail business are vastly different than those of a wholesaling business. The cash flow characteristics of a business as well as any seasonality are of paramount concern. Profits shown in end of year accounts do not necessarily mean cash is available at critical times. Necessary costs such as taxes, living expenses or advertising costs may produce a negative cash flow during a slow season. Try to leave enough financial reserves at start up for unforeseen expenditures and living expenses. Some businesses may experience a downturn at change of ownership due to various reasons. Negotiating the previous owners limited continued involvement may help to lessen some of the impacts of new management/ownership issues. Having the previous owner available until you “hit your stride” in running the business and/or the public/customers become “comfortable” with you as the new owner/manager may help lessen these impacts. This does not imply avoiding the go ahead purchase of the business, but having plans and contingencies in dealing with these types of events may help in the success of the business. Funding for the purchase, operation of the business, as well as any planned growth or development of the business should all be considered and qualified prior to making an offer for a business. Staff Considerations Meet any and all key employees prior to purchase. Knowing whether they intend to stay, or if there will be major personality clashes will give you additional insight on your start up issues. In some cases, sellers may not allow you to speak with employees until the purchase negotiations have advanced to contract signing. To avoid this obstacle have your agent add appropriate provisions/contingencies in the purchase agreement. Making Changes Once purchased, new owners begin planning and making significant changes to the business. Try to avoid any major changes to the business during this period, unless you are 100% sure of what the outcome will be. Minimizing or implementing business changes slowly, will often effect a smoother transition and lessen the impact to your customers and your businesses success. When purchasing an existing business, you are not only purchasing a physical location and inventory, but also the customers, good name and reputation of that business. Following the previous owner’s proven success methods, will offer you a significant advantage in making the business “Yours”. Summary Using qualified help, such as a commercial real estate agent or business broker during your search, investigation and purchase for a business will help to minimize many of the negative impacts of your purchase. When buying a business, it is of great value to be diligent and honest with yourself in your assessments of the financial responsibilities as well as your own ability and areas of experience in running the business. © Copyright 2008 Jennifer MacKay.

Business consultancy and Business consultants are as varied and dynamic as their client requirements. Business Consultants can be individuals or organisations in the public, private or non-profit sectors and provide professional business consultancy services, skills and in-depth knowledge to solve client problems or meet specific business goals. The expertise of business consultants and business consultancies across many disciplines delivers enhanced economic performance, and in many cases, may have a global impact. Organizations and companies, big and small, can and should hire services of business consultants for many reasons, including getting external and objective advice, access to the business consultants expertise, or simply as extra one-time temporary assistance during a project, where hiring of permanent and salaried employees is not essential. Due to their exposure to different situations and problems and their relationships with numerous companies and organizations, business consultancies are more aware of an industry’s “Best Practices”. Many management and business consultants or business consultancy may be selected by a company or organization to fulfill certain business requirements that cannot be successfully undertaken by the company due to lack of time and or resources. The company may have more functional expertise than the business consultant, but the consultant or consultancy can provide a powerful benefit and improve their performance. Business Consultants can also use their independence to manage difficult or political situations on behalf of the company or organization, often using expertise in change management and deep knowledge of human resource. In many cases, business consultants or business consultancies may be hired by a company for their technical expertise or to gain independent and innovative overviews to identify areas of improvement and development. Business consultants or a Business Consultancy provides services across a variety of industries and industrial sectors, with advice in strategy, programme management, operations, human resources, change management. Business Consultants may work within business consultancy firms that specialize in business consulting or may be a part of larger organizations that provide wider services such as accountancy, auditing, and IT development. Services can range from existing business support and development to skills assessment. Whether you are an existing company, organization, or small business, or an entrepreneur thinking of starting a business, a business consultant or a business consultancy is an invaluable asset. It’s not difficult to find an individual business consultant or a business consultancy firm, you just have to search online and you will find many business consultancy firms, providing a number of services and offering varied expertise. If you are starting a new business or enterprise and require expert advice with cost as a major factor, then an individual business consultant is what you should be looking for. But an established company or organization can afford to hire a business consultancy firm with multiple advisers. There are many sites and companies online which assist you in finding the right business consultancy at the right price – no obligations. If you require Business Services or require assistance in finding a Manufacturing Consultant Leeds in your area, please do visit our site. Our service is FREE for business owners and Managers.

T in the Park Festival is a major music festival that has been held annually in Scotland since 1994. It was originally held at Strathclyde Park, but since 1997 has been held at in Balado, in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. As usual T in the park ticket will be bought on the official site or organizer or even on the seatwave or viogogo. The reason that people don’t want to queue make the official provide the seatwave to solve the problem. It can make people easier and flexible to but ticket online from home or even wherever they are. The important info about ticket for T in the park Festival is about the age restriction which children under 5^th are not permitted, and the children about 16^th have to pay full-price ticket. And the ticket can be buying in the official site.  Seatwave sell the guarantee ticket. Seatwave will give you the best tickets and guarantee. Because when you see the live music festival, you will get the satisfied more than you only watch it in the television. Your desire and your passion will complete when you join with T in the park festival seatwave 2010, because you can get everything inside there.

Insurance are help us to many way especially for business peoples. Because I ties offering amount while attending loss in his business. This is the one of the leasing business insurance group on the internet. It will offer many insurance policies like Group Benefits Hartford, CT, Workers Comp Hartford and Commercial Property Middleton. Group benefits Hartford plan is suitable for group members especially for family, because some family containing only few members likes father, mother, son and daughter. But some family may have grandfather and mother sand relatives.

Workers Comp Hartford, CT is suitable for company employees. This plan is introduced especially for employees and has more benefits compare than other plans. Whoever having own lands and properities can choose the Commercial Property Middleton, CT insurance plan .it is offering more advantaged to your property. It is offering full security to the human’s life. If have any queries can contact through telephone or through chat.

In spite of the universal pessimism of the worst recession since before World War II, the landscape for beginning a new enterprise is better than one might think. In fact, the UK has experienced a swell in start-ups recently.

Since many professionals are predicting that the economy across the world and in Britain is beginning to gradually expand again, there are plenty of chances for those who decide to start a business now. The recession drives down costs on offices, retail locations, and other enterprise expenses. Normally it takes about six months to get a new venture going full steam by which time consumers should be spending normally again.

Begin with a venture plan

The first step to beginning your successful new enterprise is map out your ideas in a way that you have flexible objectives over the period that it will take to get the enterprise up and running.

According to Ray Gaines, the writer of Start Your Own Business, people who plan to start off their own business on their own should thoroughly consider all aspects of the plan before taking any concrete action. Among the things that you will need to consider are:

• Financing – Make a list of all possible sources of capital for your new project. Start off with those closest around you like family and friends. Once you have some seed cash it is easier to get loans and other investments from more standard business sources. Basically the more resources you already possess, the easier it is to get new financing. Try to forecast how many rounds of financing you will require to get you on your feet. As your enterprise develops, you should be able to access more resources.

• Examining the competition – Unless you have a totally ground-breaking product or service, there is already competition out there waiting for your potential business. Even if you have a highly original patented concept, it will not be long before contenders rise out of the woodwork. Make as rational and unprejudiced assessment of the competition as possible. Also attempt to appreciate what others who have successful businesses similar to yours are doing well. You will want to imitate what they do right, but avoid any errors that you observe as well. Gaines notes that you should attempt to produce your own niche market. Make your product or service at least a little different than anything else offered in the same marketplace.

• Marketing – For any enterprise to thrive, it must first be noticed. Advertising and marketing are crucial for most businesses to get off the ground. The exception may be cases where you already have an existing clientele. Honestly appraise the viability of any business ideas.

We all should care about our health before the intake of any new medicine. Because this may cause a harmful effects sometimes. So before taking the new drugs we should tell about allergic reaction of the particular drug to the physician while consulting. Because you only care you better. In medical department many number of new drugs introduced day by day. Reglan attorney in new york is a famous drug which contains high amount of metoclopramide. If we take it as a too much amount it cause a severe effects like neurological disorders sometimes. So we have treated with Reglan and Protonix for gastroparesis, which is the only combination we have found that prevents vomiting. It dangers for all the age group persons. From premature infants to the elders it affects a lot. I is a type of diagnosing agent used for intestinal disorders. Blood problems, asthma, serious kidney disease etc., occurred because of the extreme usage of reglan. If you suffered any of the previous mentioned problem because of the reglan usage, you must contact the reglan lawyer in new york for getting the settlement for reglan act. The Service Smoked Fish Corporation, located in Brooklyn, New York made the announcement after testing of the salmon produced positive results. They are well-talented in this case dealing. They will take care of you. Consult them and get a good, perfect legal advice, They will inform each and every updates of your cases. This will help you a lot.

Most of us willing to get the degrees for business focus. A business is a plan of working in which one proceed a set of business rules to achieve a goal. It contributes a number of techniques and achievement to attain the goal of our life. As market complexity increases, many developed as well as developing countries have come under pressure to keep up with the developments in the field. In this contemporary world many of the people are getting a status and the position by their business development. This is a major reason for liking of the business by many people. Many working people are taking online classes now aiming for an online distance education degree as additional qualifications they acquire to enhance their employability in the modern business world. Angle of business man thinking something wonder. We all wait to gain these knowledge and status. Is there any way to get this?. Of course, we can. Business online degrees can teach all to develop your skills to solve the problem by thinking in a different angle. To get a leading point and earn more money by choose a business online degrees through established university. The enhanced internet technology has made it possible for you to earn your credential with a degree online and convert your hobbies to lucrative careers. They assist you for better career. Concentrate on your future by developed business online degrees. A MBA Degree in Accounting is basically a Masters in Business Administration Degree where you major in Accounting.

Are you aware that the company that you work for is legally responsible for your health and safety? That’s right, they have to make sure that they have a health and safety compliance software to help them with this. Not necessarily a specific software, but one that would help ensure the workers’ safety.

Even for visitors who come to visit, or who have an appointment in their work places, should also be safe. There are federal and state laws that this accountability is met.

With the right software your organization chooses, this will help you in explaining the health and safety regulations. Country laws differ, as well as state laws, so what might be mandatory for one could be different to another. So when an employee joins a company from another country or state, said employee has to be properly explained and justified about the changes, should there be any, about the health and safety management software compliance.

The software program also offers guidance. One thing that is given emphasis on is about the fire safety. If you think about insurance, one thing that is being given weight is about fire safety. Fire is an unprecedented, and although you can say it is caused by man, it is more often than now, considered an accident. Ensuring that there is sufficient fire safety plan, and protective equipment is also another thing that the software program has in place. First aid procedure, keeping the records and properly documented, these are but a few of what the software program can do.

When it comes to travelling, there are many things that a traveler should prepare. This is especially true through air travel because one needs to adjust with the arrangements of different airline companies before he can travel from one place to another. This kind of situation is not ideal for a businessperson who is always on the go. But to help solve this dilemma, an aircraft charter can be of help.
Businesspeople and other important personalities are always on their feet to go to different places. However, the means of transportation somehow stops them from freely following their schedule. If the event allows enough time to prepare the necessary arrangements, there would be no problems with commercial flights. They can just go on the trip without worrying too much. However, if the occasion is an urgent one, then it would be so bothersome to depend on the schedule of airline companies.
In this case, aircraft charters are of great help. These agencies can arrange a schedule with a private aviation company. At the same time, all other necessary things are also being considered to ensure the safety of their clients. There are even added features that some of these charters can provide. For example, some of these charters can provide on-ground transportation once the client reaches his destination. With this, there are more reasons why a private plane is a better option for traveling to another place.
Lastly, the most important aspect that these aircraft charters can provide is the convenience and comfort of their customers.

We had formed an organization that aids in helping the deprived to get medical check-ups for free especially those who are old and aged. Many people cannot afford to receive and get medical check-ups necessary to sustain their health, most of all, those who are bed-ridden and unable to walk. Nowadays, it is very expensive to have yourself examined by a specialist and it is rather costly if you are already maintaining a daily dose of medication. Some of the deprived people do not have enough money to pay and meet the expenses of some medications. That is why our group usually conducts medical missions to the unfortunate areas and poverty stricken locations to help aid these poor people and benefit their health. As we ask volunteer doctors to deliver our aim we usually lack sponsors and other helper to assist us in our goal. One of our group mates decided to make use of website to create a facility in endorsing our cause to the public. The site builder itself was handy and very impressive. We cannot help but give praises for its unique platform and the good thing about it is, it is absolutely for free. The use of its navigation keys are so easy that we can update and add information regarding our medical missions anytime. The drag and drop facility was simple and effective. From the time that we have published our website many volunteers have help us to aid the concerns and needs of the deprived and our mission in bringing good health is achieved.

My previous articles about PokerStars Marketing Code calculators were not included information about poker prophecy, because in essence it is not an online poker odds calculator. However, it is not something as valuable in that it shows your opponents overall win rate at the poker play. Whether you play on Party Poker, Poker Stars, Ultimate Bet, or a selection of other, Poker Prophecy sit still and go on your record, whether at the table or not and you could also try playing Roulette Online. Is it useful? Yes, absolutely. If you play sit and go tables or once in a while, it is one online poker program that can pay for itself in the same day. In an ideal world you would like to use a PokerStars Code calculator Poker next prophecy. Now, if you’re curious as to know the opponent’s victory course will help you, read on.

In fact, you can your opponent’s win rate against them. Although you can change the classification level for Poker Prophecy rather use the provided categorization win rate – as seems right on. To sit down and go win the tournament in a few hands along the way, which are critical to play through. In that they would want to make your opponent to someone that you’ve never played against, or regular, you’ve played hundreds or even thousands of times?

Win rate is determined by adding all the 1, 2 and 3 site ends and dividing matches. These rates are created 3 players category. Here are some strategies for use against all of them.

37% or more – Professional: Anyone with a win rate that knows how to play tight / aggressive, and does so with incredible patience and discipline. Not bluffing early, and will almost always have the best hand, when all in. Their weakness lies in the very essence, which are the easiest players at the table to fool the pot. If you try it often, they trap you, but if you selectively lose the top in style, these players will not call an upper hand or the middle pair, draws an average or flop plates that have a lot of chemistry. Stay away from them when they come in early position increases. Fold AJ, KQ, 66, 33, and similarly, if they are short stacked, then across the top is your only game. At this level, players are proud of their victory of peace and absolutely hate to go first, or early in the tournament. If you threaten to cut their funding, they will pause and pass into an aggressive re-raising.

20.01% to 36.9% – Average: These players are the most dangerous in that they can tend to be stiff and weak, many of them in the learning stages of poker, which can well be improving. I find the reason why these on-line players caught in this area is that they can’t let draws, even if the pot odds justify the obvious times. The procedure here is basically straight up, if you have any further indication of their games. If the river is a brick to add a small bet on the cap it off, and hope to re-raise. When playing the game, they are the ones most follow to help build identity.

Now a day’s many more TV channels are available. All the DIRECTV channels are serviced through satellite. This DIRECTV service having more packages each one having variety of channel and different cost. You can free quote within fifteen minutes, normally it is having six steps. First one is TV plan then next step s what type package, third one is how many rooms are available fourth one is your email id and final step is get quote now.lot of satellite TV provider available over the world, but each service will be operate at different bandwidth no one can interact with other. If anyone interest to get this TV service just click the customer care link will get all the things like what is DIRECTTV, free installation and more. Satellite TV having more benefits compare to cable device.such benefits are more TV less money, setup is easy and affordable, every channel is digital quality and more.