Make A Business Plan At The Cheapest Cost You Can Ever Get

WHAT IS A BUSUNESS PLAN?

A business plan is a document which sets out in detail exactly how and why you will run your business, and includes everything from how you will promote it to how you plan to fund it and who your customers will be.

How You Can Be Successful With or Without a College Degree

There are many stories of success that we have all heard time and time again of people who didn’t finish college or in some cases, even start college.  These people went on to have massive success.  Steve Jobs the late founder of Apple and Bill Gates the founder of Microsoft are two that come to mind.

Pointers Every Young Entrepreneur Needs to Know

A young entrepreneur might run across a lot of articles offering advice for the new business owner. But how many articles are actually geared toward the young entrepreneur? Please read this......

Six Fundamentals Every Modern Entrepreneur Needs to Succeed

The road to being a true-blue entrepreneur is paved with spectacular stories of crash-and-burn. It requires a certain type of stamina that few possess and an insatiable desire to do better than the day before. Such a demanding lifestyle has no boundaries in place, except for those self-imposed. This alone can prove deadly for the half-serious startup hopeful.

Did You Notice These Reputable Companies Changed Their Logos This Year?

Last month, Airbnb changed its logo to a symbol it calls the "Bélo," meant to convey that Airbnb is not so much a company as it is a community of people who feel a sense of belonging when they stay with one another.

Basics for Building (or Repairing) Your Personal Brand

Oprah, Donald Trump and Jane Smith all have successful personal brands. Oprah is the empathetic advocate for entrepreneurism, women, overcoming challenge and education, epitomized in her “Live your best life” motto. Donald Trump is the often-disliked titan of real estate who has built a brand of luxury, ruthlessness and savvy business strategy

Six Things You Need To Know To Start A Business

As I hear from small businesses owners from all walks of life, I am constantly reminded of the things I wish I had known. Owning a small business is a challenge, but here are six tips that will make the road to success easier.

How Customer Service on Social Media Works

Social media has blown the traditional customer service protocol wide open. Though companies may still push people to customer service hotlines or emails, there’s now Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and countless other outlets for customers to share their voices. 

New Tip: Twenty Reasons to Start Your Own Business

If you’re an entrepreneur you have heard the million reasons not to go into business: It’s too risky, you might go into debt, you’ll probably lose sleep, your social life is kaput, and the list goes on. But even with all these uncertainties, people are still attracted to the startup world. There are just as many, if not more reasons to take the leap and go into business for yourself.  Here are just a few:

New Tip: 7 Tips for Hiring the Team Your Startup Needs to Succeed

 

When you set up your company, you are the developer, marketer, HR manager, finance director and CEO. To go the distance, you need to surround yourself with the top talent in your industry and create a team that feels like a family. Not to turn up the pressure but this is not a task to take lightly. The plus side is the opportunity to hand pick your team from scratch

Register For The Brandszevous Trainning Coming Up In July

This training is FREE and its tagged: KEYS TO ACHIEVING A STRONG PERSONAL BRAND

More info below

Are you struggling to find authenticity and relevance at work, home, school or play?

Are you not just getting along well in every sphere you find yourself?

Or are you looking for how to sharpen, market and sell your profound skills, talents and interests ?

This training is for you, the training is tagged: KEYS TO ACHIEVING A STRONG PERSONAL BRAND.

Authenticity Is Your Brand's Greatest Social Media Asset

Thought leadership on social media comes when your voice and input are helpful, real, verifiable and meaningful, which are all the elements of authenticity. Every brand that succeeds on social media achieves authenticity and a consistent voice. Their audiences recognize the brand’s voice as authentic and influential, shaping the opinions of people and driving action. 

New Tip: A Foolproof Guide to Raising Capital for Startups

We tackled the question for startups as well as public companies. We discussed the nine tests that entrepreneurs must pass in order to get a big check from a venture capitalist. These tests are used by investors to decide two broad questions: Is the venture targeting a market that's now small but expected to get big fast? Is the entrepreneur a great CEO?

Operating in a market poised to explode with growth. If your startup is pursuing a market that's already big, it will face lots of other rivals. And that means the venture capital firms will be competing with other such firms that have already invested in the market, thereby raising startup valuations and reducing their expected investment profits.

Venture capitalists want to invest in a company targeting a market that's small now but that will become big fast because that means they and the startup are likely to face less rivalry at the beginning. Therefore, the startup will be valued less and the venture capitalist will be able to boost potential returns.

Startups can be proactive when seeking capital by learning to think like the venture capitalist will.

To test whether your company will appear to a venture capitalist as being in a market poised to explode with growth, obtain objective data to answer the following questions:

1. Does your startup deliver so much benefit to customers that many of them would be willing to pay you more than it costs to produce and deliver the product?

2. Will rapidly growing technologies (such as smartphones or virtual reality machines), business models or social changes (like retirement of many baby boomers) boost demand for your product?

3. Will potential customers take a risk on doing business with your startup because they have a significant unmet need that no other companies are solving?

4. Are leading companies (such as Google or Facebook) already working to solve the problem?

Assessing if the startup is led by a great CEO. If your startup is going after such a market, the venture capital firm wants to know that your company can operate well enough to take a big share. To pass that test, you must be able to devise a great product and attract and motivate industry-leading talent. In short, if you are the head of your company, you must be a great startup CEO. Here are some additional questions to answer in this regard:

5. Do you have a winning track record (such as having been the captain of a successful sports team or having sold a previous startup at a huge profit) and the passion to keep winning?

6. Can you identify and manage business risks like growth outstripping your team's capabilities or a competitor stealing your great product idea?

7. Are you smart and curious and do you learn by doing lots of inexpensive tests of your guesses about which strategies and tactics will solve your pressing business problems?

8. Do you know more about your industry than your rivals and can you articulate a compelling vision for its future?

9. Do you have charisma, integrity and the ability to attract, hire and motivate top people?

If you can answer yes to all these questions, you should have no trouble raising millions in capital.

Chances are good that you're scratching your head and wondering how you could possibly come up with the answers in a way that would not come off as empty bragging. If you're in that camp, get out and talk to people who know the market and who have worked with you. 

Talk to customers and industry experts about your product idea. If customers think your product is a must-have-now item and industry experts are nervous about the potential competition, then you are on the right track.

And to settle the question of whether you're a great CEO, ask your colleagues if they consider you to be one and can provide compelling examples of positive answers to the last five questions.

My students were particularly daunted by the five tests of being a great startup CEO. I reassured them that the most important of these tests is the ability to hire and motivate an A team. If a startup CEO can do that, he or she can hire others who can excel in the other four areas.

My students are humble but I hope by the end of the semester to have helped them see that they can flap their wings and fly out of the nest to achieve startup success.

New: Three Design Tips for Creating Signs That Attract Customers

In this tech-centric, high-paced world, we’re often talking about advertising and marketing online and over mobile. But when it comes to really grabbing people’s attention, sometimes a good, old-fashioned sign can be your best bet. More than half of small-business owners find in-store signage and graphics effective in attracting customers, according to the results of a nationwide survey commissioned by FedEx Office.

To get the most out of your signage, Budev believes there are three important design principles all business owners need to keep in mind when designing banners, posters and other signage.

1. Compelling color. The choice of color plays a huge part in a well-designed sign. Think of “Coke red” or “McDonald’s yellow.” Often, color can help convey a brand’s identity.

“Studies have shown that 80 percent of the recognition of a trademark is due to its color,” Budev says.  

Another important consideration: trendy colors. Some business owners may feel compelled to convey their personality via signs that use current, modern colors. But “care should be taken to consider longevity when designing static signage,” Budev warns. “Today’s color of the year could be tomorrow’s eyesore.”

2. Contrast for readability. A sign’s contrast will usually determine its readability. Contrast, therefore, is a huge factor for any engaging sign.

“Most signs will include either text or graphics in the foreground, with a continuous background color,” Budev explains. “The contrast between these two items is critical to the viewer’s retention of the content.”

For example, you might consider a dark color on a very light background, or the opposite of that -- black on white or white on blue. Pairing similar colors can decrease a sign’s readability.

“However, a weak color contrast can be strengthened with an outline or drop shadow around the foreground lettering,” Budev says. “Adding a border around the text or graphic also increases reading speed

3. Yes, size matters. Simply put, the larger the letter, the easier it is to read. This is especially important if you’re creating roadside signage or signs that will be displayed at a significant distance -- at a conference, for instance.

“A good rule of thumb might be 10 feet per inch of letter height,” Budev says. “So lettering with 10 inches of height may have the best impact at 100 feet distance.”

Different typefaces also affect legibility, Budev says. While you may want a flowery script to convey a certain style, it may be difficult for people to read it over greater viewing distances.

New Tip: How To Give Your Business A Name

Seems its a day to focus on startups and potential entrepreneurs, our last article was on risks to consider when launching a startup, if you missed it click here.

...to this article's topic

What's in a name? A lot, when it comes to small-business success. The right name can make your company the talk of the town. The wrong one can doom it to obscurity and failure. Ideally, your name should convey the expertise, value and uniqueness of the product or service you have developed.

Some experts believe that the best names are abstract, a blank slate upon which to create an image. Others think that names should be informative so customers know immediately what your business is. Some believe that coined names (that come from made-up words) are more memorable than names that use real words. Others think they're forgettable.

In reality, any name can be effective if it's backed by the appropriate marketing strategy. Here's what you'll need to consider in order to give your small business the most appropriate and effective name.

Enlist Expert Help to Start

Coming up with a good business name can be a complicated process. You might consider consulting an expert, especially if you're in a field in which your company name may influence the success of your business. Naming firms have elaborate systems for creating new names and they know their way around the trademark laws. They can advise you against bad name choices and explain why others are good.

The downside is cost. A professional naming firm may charge as much as $80,000 to develop a name. That generally includes other identity work and graphic design as part of the package, according to Laurel Sutton, a principal with Catchword Brand Name Development. Naming services that charge as little as $50 do exist, but spending a reasonable amount of money early for quality expert advice can save you money in the long term.

What's in a Name?

Start by deciding what you want your name to communicate. It should reinforce the key elements of your business. Your work in developing a niche and a mission statement will help you pinpoint the elements you want to emphasize in your name.

The more your name communicates to consumers about your business, the less effort you must exert to explain it. According to naming experts, entrepreneurs should give priority to real words or combinations of words over fabricated words. People prefer words they can relate to and understand. That's why professional namers universally condemn strings of numbers or initials as a bad choice.

On the other hand, it is possible for a name to be too meaningful. Common pitfalls are geographic or generic names. A hypothetical example is "San Pablo Disk Drives." What if the company wants to expand beyond the city of San Pablo, California? What meaning will that name have for consumers in Chicago or Pittsburgh? And what if the company diversifies beyond disk drives into software or computer instruction manuals?

How can a name be both meaningful and broad? Descriptive names tell something concrete about a business -- what it does, where it's located and so on. Suggestive names are more abstract. They focus on what the business is about.

Consider "Italiatour," a name that was developed by one naming company to help promote package tours to Italy. Though it's not a real word, the name is meaningful and customers can recognize immediately what's being offered. Even better, "Italiatour" evokes the excitement of foreign travel.

When choosing a business name, keep the following tips in mind:

• Choose a name that appeals not only to you but also to the kind of customers you are trying to attract.
• Choose a comforting or familiar name that conjures up pleasant memories so customers respond to your business on an emotional level.
• Don't pick a name that is long or confusing.
• Stay away from cute puns that only you understand.
• Don't use the word “Inc.” after your name unless your company is actually incorporated.

Get Creative

At a time when almost every existing word in the language has been trademarked, the option of coining a name is becoming more popular. Some examples are Acura and Compaq, which were developed by naming firm NameLab.

Coined names can be more meaningful than existing words, says NameLab president Michael Barr. For example, "Acura" has no dictionary definition but the word suggests precision engineering, just as the company intended. NameLab's team created the name Acura from "Acu," a word segment that means "precise" in many languages. By working with meaningful word segments (what linguists call morphemes) like "Acu," Barr says the company produces new words that are both meaningful and unique.

Barr admits, however, that made-up words aren't the right solution for every situation. New words are complex and may create a perception that the product, service or company is complex, which may not be true. Plus, naming beginners might find this sort of coining beyond their capabilities.

An easier solution is to use new forms or spellings of existing words. For instance, NameLab created the name Compaq when a new computer company came to them touting its new portable computer. The team thought about the word "compact" and came up with Compaq, which they believed would be less generic and more noticeable.

Test Your Name

After you've narrowed the field to four or five names that are memorable and expressive, you are ready to do a trademark search. Not every business name needs to be trademarked, as long as your state government gives you the go-ahead and you aren't infringing on anyone else's trade name. But you should consider hiring a trademark attorney or at least a trademark search firm before to make sure your new name doesn't infringe on another business's trademark.

To illustrate the risk you run if you step on an existing trademark, consider this: You own a new manufacturing business that is about to ship its first orders when an obscure company in Ogunquit, Maine, considers the name of your business an infringement on their trademark. It engages you in a legal battle that bankrupts your business. This could have been avoided if sought out expert help. The extra money you spend now could save you countless hassles and expenses further down the road.

Final Analysis

If you're lucky, you'll end up with three to five names that pass all your tests. Now, how do you make your final decision?

Recall all your initial criteria. Which name best fits your objectives? Which name most accurately describes the company you have in mind?

Some entrepreneurs arrive at a final decision by going with their gut or by doing consumer research or testing with focus groups to see how the names are perceived. You can doodle an idea of what each name will look like on a sign or on business stationery. Read each name aloud, paying attention to the way it sounds if you foresee radio advertising or telemarketing in your future. Use any or all of these criteria.

Keep in mind that professional naming firms devote anywhere from six weeks to six months to the naming process. You probably won't have that much time, but plan to spend at least a few weeks on selecting a name.

Once your decision is made, start building your enthusiasm for the new name immediately. Your name is your first step toward building a strong company identity, one that should last as long as you're in business.