Money Crashers » Entrepreneurship and Business http://www.moneycrashers.com personal finance blog Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:35:22 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 Kids and Money: The Teenage Years http://www.moneycrashers.com/kids-and-money-the-teenage-years/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=kids-and-money-the-teenage-years http://www.moneycrashers.com/kids-and-money-the-teenage-years/#comments Fri, 22 Aug 2008 01:38:12 +0000 Erik Folgate http://www.moneycrashers.com/?p=632 Kids and Money: The Teenage Years is a post from: Money Crashers

]]> This week we’ve been talking about kids and money. Don’t gloss over these articles, even if you don’t have kids, because you most likely will someday. Lack of financial education is the number one reason why we have so much credit card debt and outrageous foreclosure statistics as a nation. We don’t receive financial education as young children, as teenagers, or as college students. Schools figure that parents will teach their kids how to handle money, but the the problem is that many parents don’t know how to handle their own money. Parents figure that schools will teach kids how to handle money. So, there’s an obvious deficiet of financial education in our country, and the only organizations that do give out free financial education are credit card companies. Can you guess how they teach how to handle money? It starts and ends with a lot of plastic.

Teenagers are money hungry. They LOVE money, but they love DOING stuff that costs money even more. They’ll milk you for everything you’ve got if you aren’t careful. Here are four tips to help teenagers learn to handle money. If your children have not learned the concept of working to get more money, then this is the last chance you have to help learn about working hard to make money.

  1. Cash is King. I recommend not introducing plastic of any kind to teenagers, because they will immediatley start associating payinth plg for things with plastic. They’ll never experience the feeling of handing over their money to buy something they want or need. When you pay with plastic, whether its a debit card or a credit card, the experience numbs you to what it really feels like to pay with cash. Obviously, don’t let your kid walk around with a wad of cash like a drug dealer, but getting them a debit card could be detrimental to helping them learn the value of a dollar.
  2. Tell Them to Get a Job. Your teenagers want much more than they did two or three years ago. Not only do they want new clothes and new electronics, but they want to go out and have fun. They’re going to concerts, sporting events, and buying gifts for their friends. This comes at a premium price. If they want to do all of these things, they need to go and get a job. They can work 20 hours, do well in school, AND make enough money to support all of his or her entertainment desires. Driving and owning a car is another huge expense that should not be completely funded by the parent. If you want to pay for the insurance, that’s cool, but paying for their gas is a little overboard. If they want to drive all over the city, then they should pay for that luxury.
  3. Teach Them About Entrepreneurship. Once your teenager has shown interest in getting a job to make some extra money, introduce to them the concept of starting their own business to make extra money. Explai to them the benefits of owning a business such as schedule flexibility and limitless income. This will excite them, but give the good with the bad. Before they start their own business, explain to them that it’s a huge commitment and responsibility. Lawn care, selling crafts online, baby sitting, professionally organizing homes and garages, and computer technical support are all businesses that teenagers can start and make a great deal of money doing it.
  4. Teach Them To Be Givers. Teenagers start grasping the notion of doing good in society, and they often embrace the role of giving and doing good to others. If you can teach your child to be a strong giver in their adult years, you will help them develop a personality trait that they will cherish forever. Encourage your children to tithe their income if you are Christians and/or help them pick a charity to start giving to on a regular basis.

For those of you with teenagers, good luck. I was one myself just 8 years ago. I wish that my parents would have taught me to be an entrepreneur earlier in life and to stay away from credit cards. It took until my senior year of college to figure out how to handle money, so start early with your teenager. You’ll save them thousands of dollars in college and their early adult life.

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]]> http://www.moneycrashers.com/kids-and-money-the-teenage-years/feed/ 1 Coca-Cola: The Ultimate Brand http://www.moneycrashers.com/coca-cola-the-ultimate-brand-2/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=coca-cola-the-ultimate-brand-2 http://www.moneycrashers.com/coca-cola-the-ultimate-brand-2/#comments Fri, 16 May 2008 03:00:40 +0000 Erik Folgate http://www.moneycrashers.com/coca-cola-the-ultimate-brand-2/ Coca-Cola: The Ultimate Brand is a post from: Money Crashers

]]> This is a Coke. If you share my love of Coke, then you’re looking at it right now wishing you had a fountain Coke from Mcdonald’s. It’s Coca-Cola, but we all know it as a Coke. When you sit down at a restaurant, you say, “I’ll have a coke, please.” You don’t say, I’ll have a Pepsi. Even if you’re a Pepsi lover (May God have mercy on you), you don’t request a Pepsi. You ask for a Coke. And don’t tell me that you ask for a Cola. And for those of you in the North, asking for a “pop” is too generic. That could mean any kind of soft drink. What’s my point? My point is that Coke’s brand has become a word in the English dictionary. There are many brands out there that have infused themselves as a routine word, rather than just a brand. Q-Tip, Kleenex, Google (i.e. someone says to you, “just google it”), and pretty much every prescription and over-the-counter medicine you can think of. No one ever calls Tylenol by it’s generic name, Acetaminophin. This is your goal when starting a company. Whether it’s a product or a service that you are selling, you want your brand to become mainstream. You want it to be synonymous with the type of product or service you are offering.

When Tivo started producing Digital Video Recorders, you can bet that they were envisioning people saying the phrase, “Can you Tivo that show for me?” This is not a big deal if you actually own a Tivo device, but many people have their cable company’s DVR, yet they still say the word “Tivo”.

Branding must be a priority on your list when starting a company or taking your small business to the next level. Here are three things you can do to improve your brand.

  1. Invest in logo design. You need a distinctive logo that catches your customer’s eye. You want your logo to be burned into your customer’s memory. You don’t have to spend a fortune to have a logo designed. You can have it done by an online company or a freelancer on sites such as Elance or Site Point, but if you want them to provide other print media such as business card prototypes and flyers, you’ll need to spend some money to accomplish this.
  2. Be Distinctive. You must have something that separates you from your competition. What separates Coke is its beautiful fusion of carbonation and sweetness. There’s not too much carbonation and not too much sweetness. It has just the right amount. Whereas, Pepsi makes you feel like your teeth are dissolving the moment you drink it.
  3. Excel in customer service. People remember excellent customer service. They will remember it, and it will help you to develop your brand

Don’t neglect your brand. Even if your business is a computer repair business, you must stand out from the competition by developing your brand.
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]]> http://www.moneycrashers.com/coca-cola-the-ultimate-brand-2/feed/ 0 Five Real Ways To Make More Money This Year http://www.moneycrashers.com/five-real-ways-to-make-more-money-this-year/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=five-real-ways-to-make-more-money-this-year http://www.moneycrashers.com/five-real-ways-to-make-more-money-this-year/#comments Wed, 16 Jan 2008 23:17:17 +0000 Erik Folgate http://www.moneycrashers.com/five-real-ways-to-make-more-money-this-year/ Five Real Ways To Make More Money This Year is a post from: Money Crashers

]]> Is there anyone that doesn’t want to make more moneyw this year? I didn’t think so. I made $9,000 more income in 2007 than I did in 2006. This was due to a job promotion and income from a side business with very little expenses. I will propose five ways to make more money this year without having to sell your body on the street.

Schedule a Meeting With Your Boss. This is a tough one, but you can do it. You’ll be very surprised at the results when you sit down with your manager and discuss where your career path is headed and how that fits into your salary/commission structure. You need to sell yourself. You can’t just beg for a raise or better commissions. You need to defend your case for why you should be getting more money. The best way to do this is by showing your boss how much value you’ve added to the company this year. What projects did you complete, what accomplishments do you have?

Meet With a Fee-Only Financial Planner. You should meet with a financial planner to get advice about your investments. Go to a fee-only financial planner so that you get an unbiased opinion about your investment products. I don’t want you to keep throwing away mutual funds and ETFs whenever they have a bad year, but there may be a fund out there that’s never been good, and a good planner can help you find it. Tweaking your investments could result in bigger returns, which helps your bottom line.

Turn Your Hobby Into a Business. I’ve written quite a bit about starting a side business to make extra income, and you can do it, but I don’t want you taking out business loans or borrowing money from family to do it. Brainstorm a business idea that costs less than $1,000 to start, and make sure it doesn’t run your life. Blogging for profit is a great way to make money, except it won’t make anything for a long time. You need to be patient with any side business that you start. Have the mentality that it’s probably not going to make you rich, but it will pay for your vacations, clothes you want, or maybe that plasma TV you’ve been looking at for the past year. Check out Five ways to start your own business while working another job, and five businesses to start with $200.

Invest In A Rental Properrty. Some of you might be worried about the stock market and what it’s going to do in the near future. I wouldn’t be worried, but luckily you can always invest in real estate. Now is a great time to buy a rental property or a fixer-upper to flip. Regardless of the way the media portrays the real estate market, it’s not bad everywhere in the country. Don’t drink the Kool-Aid from infomercials about buying a house with no money down. Do it the smart way by putting a huge down payment into the house, and do your research if you plan to rent it out. Check to see what the rent is going for in that area, and see if you can make a profit after paying the mortgage, taxes, and insurance. If you can, then you have potential for owning a sweet income property. Real estate can make you go bankrupt, so don’t get into it without a ton of research and someone helping you that knows the market such as a real estate agent or broker.

Do Consulting Work. If you’re an IT professional, accountant, business manager with years of experience, or involved in a career where information and knowledge is king, then you can do independent consulting work for extra cash at an hourly rate. Check to see what other consultants in your field are making and start marketing yourself to anyone and everyone you come in contact with throughout your day.

Stop throwing your money away at lottery tickets and poker. Stop putting your vacations and electronic toys on credit cards, and just start making more money! The only real way to make extra money this year is the hard way. It’s not what you want to hear, but it works.

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]]> http://www.moneycrashers.com/five-real-ways-to-make-more-money-this-year/feed/ 2 Questions To Ask When Setting Up A Small Business http://www.moneycrashers.com/questions-to-ask-when-setting-up-a-small-business/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=questions-to-ask-when-setting-up-a-small-business http://www.moneycrashers.com/questions-to-ask-when-setting-up-a-small-business/#comments Wed, 07 Nov 2007 01:50:57 +0000 Erik Folgate http://www.moneycrashers.com/questions-to-ask-when-setting-up-a-small-business/ Questions To Ask When Setting Up A Small Business is a post from: Money Crashers

]]> You want to start up a small business, but you don’t know where to start. Join the club with the millions of other Americans who start up small businesses, but don’t set them up properly. Too many people are incorporating when they don’t need to, or vice versa. Here are three major questions you need to ask yourself when starting up a small business.

  1. Do you need to incorporate to start a business?
    No! Don’t believe the late-night television shows that keep trying to get you to start an LLC or other corporate form. You can start out as a sole proprietor. Just start doing business and comply with any city or state legal requirements such as getting a business license as necessary or filing for a “DBA” of “fictitious statement”. Basically, if you want a business with a name other than yourself, you’ll need to file for a “doing business as” statement, which identifies that you are John Smith, doing business as “Johnny Ace’s Sub Shop”. For your taxes, you file a schedule C on your personal income statement to report business income. It’s cheap and simple. Don’t incorporate until it’s necessary.
  2. When should I incorporate and what is the best corporate form? You should incorporate when the time is right. I know, that sounds like I didn't answer your question at all. The fact is that every business is different, and every business is at a different phase of its life. You need to consult with an attorney and an accountant to figure out when the best time for your business would be to incorporate based on your current revenue, projected revenue, and personal liability exposure from your business. The best thing about incorporating is that your business becomes its own entity. It's no longer directly attached to you. Someone can sue your business, but they can't sue you. Because of the legal ramifications, pay the money to consult an attorney before deciding to incorporate your business.

    You can form a “C” corporation, a “S” corporation, and an LLC (Limited Liability Corporation).

    “C” corporation: a “C” corporation is what most larger businesses are set up as, and the company files its own taxes. You should not look into this type of corporation until it has matured into a larger business with more employees and larger revenues. If you are the only shareholder, then you’ll be taxing yourself twice. You’ll pay taxes on the profit of the company, plus you’ll pay taxes on the salary that you pay yourself.

    “S” Corporation:     An “S” Corporation is a great way to shield yourself from personal liability without being taxed separately. An S- corp does not pay taxes on its own. It passes its tax liability through to its shareholders, and the shareholder claims the profits on his or her own income tax return. If you are the only shareholder, you’ll shield your personal liability from the company and pay only one tax.

    Limited Liability Company: This is the best option for those of you who are still a one-man show, but your business carries a lot of personal liability. It offers limited liability, but you won’t be taxed twice. It acts like a corporation, but it’s cheaper to set up and there is much less paperwork involved. You don’t have to hold a general assembly meeting for all of the shareholders, and there is no loss of power to a board of directors. I think this is the best option for those small operations that generate a bunch of income such as professional firms and high-powered home-based businesses.

  3. What’s a Federal Tax ID number, and do I need one?

    If your business has employees, is a corporation or LLC, you’ll need a federal tax identification number. It’s required in these situations to apply for one of these numbers. Think of it as a social security number for your business. After all, we’re all just a number to the government, right? If you’re a sole proprietor, you might want to apply for one of these numbers as well. Otherwise, you’re using your personal social security number as identification. Nowadays, you don’t want to be putting your SSN in more places than it needs to be. Plus, some wholesalers won’t sell to you without having an EIN. It’s easy and free to get an EIN. Go to www.irs.gov, put “EIN” in the keyword search box and follow the directions.

Be prepared to do some paperwork when making your business a legitimate one. If you’re not serious about following the steps necessary by your city and state to create a business, then you aren’t serious about the business. Set it up the right way from the start, and you’ll reap the benefits in the future. Related Posts:

Questions To Ask When Setting Up A Small Business is a post from: Money Crashers

]]> http://www.moneycrashers.com/questions-to-ask-when-setting-up-a-small-business/feed/ 1 The Top 25 Young Entrepreneurs in America http://www.moneycrashers.com/the-top-25-young-entrepreneurs-in-america/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-top-25-young-entrepreneurs-in-america http://www.moneycrashers.com/the-top-25-young-entrepreneurs-in-america/#comments Tue, 30 Oct 2007 01:51:22 +0000 Erik Folgate http://www.moneycrashers.com/the-top-25-young-entrepreneurs-in-america/ The Top 25 Young Entrepreneurs in America is a post from: Money Crashers

]]> Business Week Online put together their list of top 25 young entrepreneurs in America.

Reading this article and looking at the types of businesses started by young twentysomethings will either inspire you or frustrate you. I think it does a little bit of both for me. On one hand, I say to myself, “If they can do it, I can do it”. And on the other hand, I say, “Dang, why didn’t I think of that?”. The reason I shared this list with you is to inspire you. Instead of us mourning over the fact that we didn’t think of such a great idea, we should read about these stories of young people starting businesses and use it as inspiration to start our own businesses. You know my philosophy about easily starting your own business. Treat yourself as a business. Focus on the talents and skills that you possess, and use it to build a business around yourself. No, you might not ever go public or have a house in the Hamptons, but you’ll be doing something fulfilling, and your income potential will be limitless.

I am convinced that those who are not content with making a salary the rest of their life will be wealthy when they grow old. Those that makes a salary but continue to find other streams of income will grow wealthy in their older age. Those that are wealthy when they are older, will put themselves in a position to give to others and make a difference in this world.

So, are you ready to start your own business? Are you scared about doing it? Look at these 25 people that have made it a reality, and think to yourself, “If they can do it, I can do it, too”. Related Posts:

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]]> http://www.moneycrashers.com/the-top-25-young-entrepreneurs-in-america/feed/ 0 Five Tips For Effectively Flipping A House http://www.moneycrashers.com/five-tips-for-effectively-flipping-a-house/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=five-tips-for-effectively-flipping-a-house http://www.moneycrashers.com/five-tips-for-effectively-flipping-a-house/#comments Thu, 11 Oct 2007 23:35:45 +0000 Erik Folgate http://www.moneycrashers.com/five-tips-for-effectively-flipping-a-house/ Five Tips For Effectively Flipping A House is a post from: Money Crashers

]]> I’ve been watching a lot of the house flipping shows on TLC and HGTV lately. I’ve also been doing some reading about house flipping and how to do it the right way. It seems like everyone has their own opinion about house flipping, but I am still intrigued by it. I am intrigued, because you really can be just an average joe and make some decent cash from it, no matter what the housing market is like. I mean, if some of the idiots on these TV shows can make money doing it, surely we can too, right? Well, I don’t think it’s as easy as the TV shows make it look, but I think you can be successful with it if you use wise judgment and don’t get too greedy. Here are five tips that I have observed to be very important if you want to make a profit off of house flipping instead of going bankrupt.

  1. You make money when buying the house, not selling the house.You may have heard this real estate investing cliche before, but it has a mountain of truth to it. When you’re out to flip a house, you need to look for a BARGAIN in a nice neighborhood. You’ll find bargains in bad neighborhoods all day long, but that’s because no one wants to live there! If you can find a house that needs some major TLC in a nice neighborhood, then you’ve found the perfect flipper.
  2. Don’t sacrifiice quality for saving money. I think one of the biggest mistakes amateur flippers make is that they try to do the bare minimum possible to make the house look good for the cheapest price without regard to the quality of the restoration work. Savvy buyers will notice the poor craftsmanship, and it can result in your property sitting on the market for far too many months. Obviously, you want to keep your costs as low as possible, but try doing this by getting bargains on materials. Use professionals to do work, or make sure that you have enough skills to take on do-it-yourself project.
  3. Get a home inspection before you buy. If you think you’ve found a steal, there’s probably a reason why the asking price is so low. When you are looking for a bargain on a house, you are looking for a house that has horrible landscaping and horrible cosmetic problems on the interior and exterior. You want to stay away from houses with foundation problems, old roofs, plumbing problems, or zoning issues. Repair work for a foundation can be VERY pricey, and we all know that replacing a roof is not a drop in the bucket either. Get a professional home inspector to evaluate the home before you close on the house. You can probably get the seller to pay for this given the current market conditions.
  4. Stage your newly renovated house for potential buyers. This tip comes from the show, “Property Ladder” on TLC. The host always recommends that they stage their house with furniture to give each room a purpose and allow buyers to visualize their furniture in the house. It’s true that buyers like to see a nice, clean house with furniture in it rather than an empty, cold house. Some sellers get into trouble by having too much clutter in the house, but all you want to do is put enough furniture in it to give the buyer a nice, visual experience.
  5. Be realistic about your asking price and renovation budget. People always screw this up on the house-flipping TV shows. They think that they can spend $10,000 on the house, and list it for $100,000 more than the average market price. You need to be realistic about your renovation costs and determine which items can stay and which items need to be replaced. Kitchen cabinets are a big expense, so you need to figure out if you can restore them or if they’ll need to be replaced. Same goes with wood flooring, drywall, and bathroom vanities. Most flippers want to sell the house quickly, but they become greedy, so they try to sell at a higher price than what other houses in the area are selling for. Sure, you made the place look pretty, but did you increase the square footage? Did you add a bathroom or a bedroom? If not, you won’t be able to sell much higher than what the market brings. This is why you need to buy at a huge discount to make a decent profit!

I have one more thing to say. If you’re going to flip a house, do it with people you trust. Contractors are going to screw you over, casual friends are going to screw you over. Do it with a best friend, because if you guys are at your throats, you’ll still know that you love each other and the house flipping isn’t going to end the relationship. It might if the project really goes bad, but just make sure that you surround yourself with people you trust. Related Posts:

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]]> http://www.moneycrashers.com/five-tips-for-effectively-flipping-a-house/feed/ 3 Four Tips For Starting A Business With Low Risk and Big Success http://www.moneycrashers.com/four-tips-for-starting-a-business-with-low-risk-and-big-success/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=four-tips-for-starting-a-business-with-low-risk-and-big-success http://www.moneycrashers.com/four-tips-for-starting-a-business-with-low-risk-and-big-success/#comments Wed, 26 Sep 2007 19:18:20 +0000 Erik Folgate http://www.moneycrashers.com/four-tips-for-starting-a-business-with-low-risk-and-big-success/ Four Tips For Starting A Business With Low Risk and Big Success is a post from: Money Crashers

]]> I was reading this post on Career Ramblings, and it made me think about how our educational system has slowly taken away the importance of entrepreneurship and the ability to create jobs for others. Do you realize that when you launch a new business, you are adding value to your community and to the job market. The narrow-minded idea of going to GET a job riight out of college has diminished the value and importance of thinking like that of an entrepreneur. What about starting a business while you are in college? The main argument for having the mentality of going to work for someone else is that it’s easier to get a job rather than start a business, and it’s more risky to start a business than go and get a job. I don’t think that is always true if you are wise about the way you start a business. Here are four tips for launching a business at the start of your working life.

  • Launch a new business while your still in school or working another job. This is the ultimate way to get ahead of the game. If you’re still in college when you start a business, it won’t hurt you for the business not to be profitable at first because you were already a poor college student. Launching a business while working another job is the best to ensure that your business will be successful. You will need to put in a 14 hour day of work at your current job and workng on the business, but you will substantially lower the amount of risk in your life. Think about all of the business failures you’ve listened to your friends and co-workers talk about. Why do you think they failed? They probably failed in the first 6 to 18 months, because they tried to start big when they weren’t big. I can’t start a retail chain to compete with Wal-Mart just by opening up 500 mega stores and borrowing a billion dollars. It would fall flat on it’s butt, because I haven’t established any brand recognition or marketing reputation. Why should people just start going to my store when they already KNOW they can get what they want for cheap at Wal-Mart.
  • Keep Your Business Debt Free. So many business failures stem from bad financial decisions. One of the worst financial decisions that you can make is taking out a hefty business loan to start an unproven company. No matter how much market research you do, you really don’t know how well the market is going to respond to your product or service until you actually start doing business. Start out slowly by paying cash for things as you go. If you’re generating an income from another job, you can have the freedom to re-invest early profits to growing your company rather than using debt to grow your company. Again, you greatly minimize the risk in your life, and if you have a family, you’re not putting them in near as much jeopardy if your business is debt free. If you own a debt free business and it doesn’t work out, you can simply liquidate your assets and move on without a trace of that old company. The worst feeling is making payment for a business that already failed.
  • Be cautious when hiring your first employee. In a large company, a bad employee doesn’t hurt that company much, but a bad employee for a two or three person operation can greatly hurt the business. Try to screen who you hire as much as possible. I would not recommend hiring your friends, because then you are mixing business with pleasure, and if you have to fire them in the future, you may jeopardize the friendship. If anything, bring friends in as partners rather than employees. Spend the money to do a background check and credit check. It will pay for itself if you find out that person has a record or is horrible with money.
  • Be Resourceful and be a minimalist. My favorite pizza place is Satchel’s Pizza in Gainesville, Florida. Satchel, the owner, is a minimalist and a very wise business owner. He knew that if he was going to start ANOTHER pizza joint in a college town with dozens of options for eating pizza, he would have to make a great tasting product, have an original vibe, and keep his overhead low. He either bought or rented a building that is well outside the area of the university, he bought a bunch of thrift store furniture and dining ware, and he doesn’t do any radio, newspaper, or television marketing. Satchel used his gourmet pizzas, mouth watering calzones, and unbelievably tasty salads to be serve as his marketing campaign through the power of word-of-mouth advertising. Satchel’s was a hidden gem for about two years, but the pizza joint soon came to a turning point and now the wait time to get a table on a friday night at Satchel’s is never less than 2 hours long. If you are starting a business that requires a lot of equipment or a store front, don’t buy into the myths about location and flashy looks. You can still find nice things at garage sales, liquidation sales, and business auctions. Try to find an area with cheap rent and let our product or service be your marketing campaign. Pick up the book, Guerilla Marketing by Jay Levinson, for hundreds of great tips for how to market your business for free or almost free.

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]]> http://www.moneycrashers.com/four-tips-for-starting-a-business-with-low-risk-and-big-success/feed/ 1 Write A Successful Business Plan On Your Own http://www.moneycrashers.com/write-a-successful-business-plan-on-your-own/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=write-a-successful-business-plan-on-your-own http://www.moneycrashers.com/write-a-successful-business-plan-on-your-own/#comments Fri, 21 Sep 2007 01:12:38 +0000 Erik Folgate http://www.moneycrashers.com/write-a-successful-business-plan-on-your-own/ Write A Successful Business Plan On Your Own is a post from: Money Crashers

]]> Writing a business plan doesn’t have to be such a daunting task if you know what to include and what not to include in it. Some businesses don’t need a business plan. However, writing one out can be a good way to figure out if you really want to go through with the business. A business plan should include three major sections:

  • The BUSINESS CONCEPT section
  • The MARKTING PLAN section
  • The FINANCIAL section

Business concept: You want to answer the easy questions like, “What is your business?”, “What industry is it in?” and “What is your product?”. You want to describe in detail the product or service that you’ll be selling and explain how and why it’s going to be a success.

Marketing Plan: Here, you want to clearly define your target audience and how you will effectively market to them. Make sure you have a well-defined plan for ways to market to your target audience. Describe some of the media that you will use to market to your target audience. You also want to have a subsection about your competition. Identify the main players in the industry and how you will set yourself apart from others. This is a very important section. Investors will look at the marketing section as much as they will the financial section. They want to see that you have a clear vision about how your business will be different than the others out there.

Financials: This section can be frustrating, but realize that it’s a bunch of B.S. numbers. All you are doing is giving PROJECTIONS. No one expects the numbers to be accurate. You want to make sure that you give a worst case scenario and a best case scenario. Also, you want to make sure that you have a break-even analysis. How much cavier do you have to sell to break even? You can put together a mock income statement and a mock balance sheet, but remember that it’s worth as much as the paper that you wipe your ass with.

Here are the 7 headlines that you should have at the bare minimum. I took these from an article on entrepreneur.com.

  • Executive summary
  • Business description
  • Market strategies
  • Competitive analysis
  • Design and development plan
  • Operations and management plan
  • Financial factors

The first two sections are the “business concept” the next three are the marketing section, the operations and management plan is part of the business concept section and then there’s the financial section.

The operations and management section may only be you or you and a partner for now. But, make sure that you still clearly define each different position in the company even if these positions are split among two people. This is important, because hopefull you won’t be performing all of these functions forever.

Remember: Your business plan isn’t worth crap if you don’t show your enthusiasm for the business. If you are having trouble showing enthusiasm for it, then you may want to reconsider starting this type of business. Investors want to see that you are dedicated and sold out for your idea. If they see that coupled with a relatively coherent plan, then you’ll get the investment capital that you need. Related Posts:

Write A Successful Business Plan On Your Own is a post from: Money Crashers

]]> http://www.moneycrashers.com/write-a-successful-business-plan-on-your-own/feed/ 3 Weekend Update: Some Great Articles to Read Over the Weekend http://www.moneycrashers.com/weekend-update-some-great-articles-to-read-over-the-weekend/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=weekend-update-some-great-articles-to-read-over-the-weekend http://www.moneycrashers.com/weekend-update-some-great-articles-to-read-over-the-weekend/#comments Sat, 08 Sep 2007 15:28:05 +0000 Erik Folgate http://www.moneycrashers.com/weekend-update-some-great-articles-to-read-over-the-weekend/ Weekend Update: Some Great Articles to Read Over the Weekend is a post from: Money Crashers

]]> My colleague over at Lifespy wrote these two articles:

How To Make Money. A comprehensive tutorial about the most common ways to make money. My favorite parts were his insights about saving money with other monthly bills rather than cutting out life’s little luxuries and knowing when taking a second job is financially worth the extra income.

Protect Your Money After a Break-Up. Everyone needs to know how to protect themselves from the bitter ex-girlfriend or boyfriend!

Consumerist gives hope to those facing foreclosure

Lazy Man gives us Financial lessons from the NFL Related Posts:

Weekend Update: Some Great Articles to Read Over the Weekend is a post from: Money Crashers

]]> http://www.moneycrashers.com/weekend-update-some-great-articles-to-read-over-the-weekend/feed/ 0 Small Business: Do You Have a Blog? http://www.moneycrashers.com/small-business-do-you-have-a-blog/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=small-business-do-you-have-a-blog http://www.moneycrashers.com/small-business-do-you-have-a-blog/#comments Wed, 29 Aug 2007 22:57:21 +0000 Erik Folgate http://www.moneycrashers.com/small-business-do-you-have-a-blog/ Small Business: Do You Have a Blog? is a post from: Money Crashers

]]> If you’re currently running a small business or a home-based business, but you are not writing or managing a blog for your business, there is a problem. Blogs are probably the easiest self-publishing tool to create on the internet. If you already have a website for your smalll business, then you’re already paying for a domain name and a web hosting package to house the domain and its content.

How to Set it Up:


  1. Set up a subdomain name such as http://blog.yourdomain.com. If you don’t know how to do this, talk to the customer support of the company from which you purchased the web hosting package. Or, if you have someone who handles all of your web stuff, ask them to do it and I am sure they’ll know what you are talking about. If they don’t, then you should look to hiring a different web guru.
  2. Install Wordpressonto the subdomain. This is the best and easiest blogging software to work with that is available on the internet. The best part about it is that it is FREE! Wordpress comes with a plethora of free design templates. You can choose one of those, or you can get someone else to code the software to have the same look or feel as your main website.
  3. Link your blog to your website. Make sure you don’t forgot to put a link to your blog from your main homepage. When you first launch the blog, you might want to put a big announcement on your homepage letting your visitors know about the blog.

    4. The Benefits of Writing a Blog For Your Business

    • Your customers or potential customers will have access to the most up-to-date way of getting information out about your business. You can announce upcoming, new products or tell them about a fundraiser that you your business is taking part in for the community.
    • You can connect with your customers. Blogs allow visitors to comment on blog posts. You may never get the chance to talk to your customers in a more intimate setting. Blogs allow you to start a dialogue with your readers. There is no better marketing tool than having your customers tell you directly what they want!
    • Traditional websites are very static. It’s hard to update a traditional website quickly, especially if you are relying on someone else to do it. A Wordpress based blog allows you to write something out quickly and hit one button. Boom, it’s published on the web for your customers to read it. You may have a family emergency that doesn’t allow you to send out orders as quickly as normal. Write a little post about your situation and your customers will be more than happy to wait now that they know your situation.

      • In order for you to survive as a small business, you need to have customer service as your number one priority. Maintaining a blog is just one more added service to your customers that keeps them informed about your business. Get a business blog started today. You’ll thank yourself for doing it when you start seeing your sales go up. Related Posts:

      Small Business: Do You Have a Blog? is a post from: Money Crashers

      ]]> http://www.moneycrashers.com/small-business-do-you-have-a-blog/feed/ 1