Have you heard about the new Patriot Express Loan program from the Small Business Administrative? It’s for military personnel who are looking to create or grow a small business. While it is set aside for veterans and military personnel, it also stipulates the spouses of those military people are also entitled.
To learn more about this new initiative, you can read about it at SBA.gov here.
Who is going to work for you? Are you doing it all, or will you be hiring somebody? When you’re considering going into business, you have to consider the costs of labor. It’s easy to believe you can do it all by yourself, but there will come a time when you’ll need to grow your business, and having another person or two can make the difference.
If you go in and do all the work every day; basically you have a job. You are your own boss, but you’ve created a job for yourself. When you are able to delegate tasks to others, it then frees up some time for you to find ways to grow your business, expanding your intake. Do you want to go in everyday and have a job, or do you want a business that thrives and continues to expand? After you’ve asked yourself those questions, you need to start understanding the costs of labor.
Labor will be one of your most expensive sectors of your business, if not the most expensive. It depends on how labor intensive the type of work you do is. Here are some things to consider when working out the cost of labor.
If you’re a small business who does exporting, the Small Business Administration is hosting a chat on August 2nd that may interest you. Richard Ginsburg, the acting director for the Office of International Trade with the SBA will be speaking. He’ll be discussing and answering questions on the topic of international trade and your small business.
What you do to join the chat is go to the SBA.gov website, then choose the Online Business Chat icon.
The time will be from 1pm to 2pm (EST), and you can ask questions before hand via their website here.
The information came from a press release via SBA.gov.
Imagine the ability to learn programming that you’ve been wanting to learning, but don’t have time to fit in your schedule. That time is here, because with PrepLogic’s video courses, you can do it at home on your own time, and when it’s convenient for you. Whether that’s after dinner, before you head off to work, or on the weekend after cutting the grass.
PrepLogic offers multiple courses that can help you learn and get ahead. Whether you want to learn MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer) or you want to get your Cisco certification training. With the training videos, you can move as quickly or slowly as you need to. Whether you need training or just need to review, you’ll want to check out PrepLogic’s courses. Not only can you get video training, but you can also get practice exams, so you’ll be ready to pass your exam. They also offer audio training, so listen while you’re driving, or while you’re relaxing at home. Their printables offer you questions and answers, and offer you the ability to work on what you’ve been learning.
PrepLogic takes the guess work out, and lets you work towards advancing your career with the training you want and need, in a convenient method. This post has been brought to you by PrepLogic.
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Not only should you know about your own business, but you should know about your competition. Who is your competition first off, and how far are they located from where you’ll be? Do you offer something different or unique, or have something that makes you stand apart? How do you compare?
Let’s say that there are 3 similar stores within a 10 mile radius of my house. If store A and store B offer the same product, and you don’t offer a difference in price, value or selection…why do I need a store C? It’s those things that make you stand apart that will gain you new clients. If a customer or client is happy where they are, they won’t feel the need to try the new business in town. How are you different? Why should they try your business instead of where they’ve been going?
How can you become more valuable to that potential client or customer? If you’re just a little bit farther, what will get them to come to you? If you’re new, why should they trust you over the loyalty they have to the other business?
These are all questions to ask yourself…what makes you stand apart? Would you choose going to your business over the other ones nearby?
When you’re looking at links for SEO, there are certain things you want to keep in mind. First off, it’s important to know that all links don’t carry the same weight. People will sometimes trade links with everyone and every site, because they have the idea in their head that the more links you have the better. That’s not necessarily true, because all links hold different values to your site.
Links to a link farm are deemed bad, as are links that are aimed at adult sites and gambling sites. A niche directory however is something you can look at, because if all the links are of a certain category, this is a good thing.
Sometimes the amount of time a link has been up is a good indicator of a site that you may want to link to. If a site has been around for awhile, it’s a good chance it will remain around and is of good character.
Lastly, you’ll want to look at relevancy. If the site is relevant to your site, it makes for a better link. If you’re a site about business, and you’re linked into a poker or gambling site, is that really good business? On the the hand, links to other business sites, or business resources, being more relevant will be better choices.
A link is not just a link, so choose wisely, and the search engines will notice.
Have you heard about IcebergOnDemand.com? Oh my gosh, what a great product this is. What it does it lets you use a web based product to create code, by automating the process. Their product offers some free applications that can help everyone, and save you time. You don’t need code! Whether you’re looking at creating a roster, or looking for some help in the Human Resources department of your business. Maybe you’re trying to create time sheets or handle billing, or you’ve wanted to add a booking engine to your site, then IcebergOnDemand.com is a site you NEED to check out. Imagine not needing to understand the infrastructure to create those things you want and need like charts, calendars forms and other applications.
They use a process designer that makes the application so easy to use it’s incredible. I just had a 20 minute demo with one of the administrators at Iceberg On Demand, and the capabilities of this product is so user friendly, it’s something that will not only help businesses create those customized applications, but do it in such a quick process, it will blow your mind. The process is customizable, so you create what you need with the variables that work for you.
If you’re looking for an easy to use format that will not only meet but exceed your demands, and you’re tired of paying coders to do jobs that take awhile to do, just try IcebergOnDemand.com and you’ll see that you’ll be able to create those same forms without actually knowing the codes. Set variables to what your business needs. There’s no need to settle for a standard form, when there’s IcebergOnDemand.com.
This product is nothing less than awesome, and is extremely user friendly. Check them out at IcebergOnDemand.com.
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When it comes to opening a business, unless you buy a building, most chances are you’ll be renting or leasing the space. When it comes to leasing business space, it’s important to get everything in writing.
You’ll want to list things like the terms of the lease and how much rent will be, along with how the space will be used.
Who will handle the maintenance of the building, not only including things like plumbing issues, but also things like who will be out there shoveling the snow in the winter time. These things need to be in writing as well. Who is paying for utilities?
There may be strict rules of subletting, so if things don’t go so well, you’ll need to know if you can sublet the unit.
Inspection is another area that needs to be in writing. The property own should be able to come in and inspect the building and premises, but you may want it written that it can’t be during business hours.
There are so many details when it comes to leasing, and this just lists a few. Make sure you do your research before signing that lease agreement! What about tax increases by the city or county? Who will be paying the difference? Don’t overlook any details!
I was just introduced to Pinion Software, and let me tell you this is a brilliant product and service. They provide Information Security Management. It allows you to share your information with other people, but locks the ability to change things. Let’s be honest, the ability to share files is a growing want and need, especially where business is concerned, but when you don’t want your files altered, having protection to lock the software is a great concept. Let’s take the example of sharing a piece of work you’ve spent a lot of time on, and it has your name on it. Your name will remain in tact, and people won’t be able to compromise that, trying to make it their own.
One of the benefits is the ability to use the native program with which to open the file. You don’t have to use a special program, use what you’re familiar with. Pinion Secure CD works with programs like Excel, Word, Adobe and more. It supports applications that you use, making it easier for you to protect your work and files.
Pinion Software offers security solutions, so that you’re information stays protected. Why use anything else?
This post was brought to you by PinionSoftware.com.
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Have you looked at the kinds of insurance or liability you’ll need in business? There are many different kinds of insurance, and you may need more than one type of coverage.
Property insurance covers replacements. Prices vary based on the structure your in, emergency systems like sprinklers, extinguishers, alarms and more.
Business Owners can help cover you when you can’t run business. Say you need to do repairs after a flood, business owners insurance can help.
Occurrence Policies help cover you based on a date’s “occurrence”. You’ve now closed your business, but somebody takes a claim against you from 1 year ago, when you were in business.
With so many types of policies, it’s important for you to discuss your options with your insurance contact.
Let’s look at liability:
General liability and product liability are things to ask about. They cover your basic liabilities.
Professional liability covers the person performing or doing the job. If there is injury involved, this can cover the person. This can also be called malpractice insurance.
Are you covered?
While developing web site, don’t ignore a single option that can benefit you in the long run. Several of these options don’t require a web development degree, to implement, i.e. insurance. But a person with a web design degree can bring dramatic results in revenues with his website design. Actually an appealing web page design can turn your visitors into regular customers. That’s why a marketer with a professional approach always takes in to account his web site design.
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