Tag Archives: small business

06.10.14
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Microbusinesses: A Great First Step

Starting a microbusiness is an incredible first step in the business world. If you are completely new to business, starting a part-time microbusiness is smart. You won’t have to quit your current job if you don’t want to. You can also take jobs whenever you want. For example, you may have the equipment to DJ weddings. You might only DJ three weddings a year while keeping your current job. It will earn you an extra $3,000 to $4,000, and you won’t have to go ‘all or nothing’ with your DJ services unless you really have that desire. This is one of the biggest misconceptions I’ve encountered when talking with others about starting a business. They believe they have to build a big business and make it their full-time job immediately. In many cases, this couldn’t be further from the truth. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t make your business a full-time job. I grew my first microbusiness and made it my full-time job because I worked hard and was lucky enough to have a lot of clients. Yet if you already have a secure income, you can do whatever you want with your microbusiness.

Starting a microbusiness will also help you when you own a bigger business. Going straight into owning a medium-sized or big business without experience on a smaller scale may be detrimental to your success. It’s like going to college before you have even started high school. There are many intelligent people who could handle college before they start high school, but they are the exceptions. If you are definitely the exception, then by all means, do not waste your time with a microbusiness – you will probably be fine starting a bigger business. Let’s get real: Most of us need to learn the basics of business by experience in order to increase our chances of success when our business endeavors become bigger and more complex. Starting a microbusiness will give you this vital experience. 

06.09.14
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Stay the Course

Look at the wealthiest people in the world: most of them own a business or multiple businesses. They may not be the happiest people, but they do have a certain level of freedom that often is not attained by working an average or slightly above average employee position. As a result, they are usually pretty happy, too. Perhaps you have no interest in starting a business because of the risks and uncertainty. I understand that. An approach that seems to be a great fit for individuals who do not feel comfortable taking significant risks is to divide their savings and time. People in this situation often separate their savings into three or more categories. I have personally practiced putting savings into three funds:

  1. Ultra conservative funds earning basically no interest — usually cash in a lock box at the bank and in a savings account.
  2. Moderately conservative accounts such as index funds or mutual funds.
  3. Risky endeavors such as investing time and money in a microbusiness that may not turn a profit.

This approach allows employees to start a microbusiness or own a percentage of a business. Someone who has some extra savings they will not miss at all may hire a few app developers and own an app development company. It may not be profitable, which is why it is categorized as risky. However, if it is profitable, they have the chance of getting a high payout. Owning this kind of business is possible while keeping a day job. They are basically in charge of finding new clients and outsourcing the work to reliable app developers while they keep a percentage of the profits since they started the company and found the work. They may even know how to build apps themselves, giving them more funds for hiring a great marketing company to help them find new clients. Yet they may not want to find too many clients. Keeping the business at the microbusiness level and working their day job may really appeal to them. Their microbusiness is likely to make them an extra $5,000 to $20,000 a year. Not too bad for a side income.

If an endeavor like this is not successful, they will only have lost a small amount of money they did not absolutely need. This allows them to give it another shot. The time spent on the project was more than likely well spent as they probably learned from the experience. Perhaps they discovered another profitable endeavor and can pursue it with the extra money set aside in their risky fund. Whether a project works or not, they keep going and stay the course even if it takes them another six months or year to set aside some extra time and income for the next business.

We all know owning a business can provide us with an amazing lifestyle. So why do many individuals quit when they fail with their first effort? They probably think it is a waste of time and it won’t ever work. These people do not realize how businesses often differ from traditional jobs. As we know, when you get a job, you go to work, and you immediately get a paycheck after working for the company. Starting a business that makes you hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars a year often takes more time – time many of us simply do not have since we have to pay bills this month. That’s why staying the course may be easier with a secure employee position. Or it may be easier when you own a business that is in high demand but not necessarily your long-term goal.

You will more than likely be successful owning a microbusiness if you stick with it. It may take you a few years, and it might only provide you with an extra $15,000 a year. However, you will begin to think like an entrepreneur once you’re successful with a microbusiness. This is the thinking that could lead you to millions because you will have a better understanding of how businesses work. You will talk with several successful business owners and read books written by successful entrepreneurs. I have owned microbusinesses for nearly four years, and I have been starting to think more like an entrepreneur who is more comfortable with higher risks and higher returns. I’m starting to realize how business loans work and how to run a bigger business. I hope all of you interested in running your own microbusiness stay the course. It may take years to become truly wealthy as a bigger business owner, but let’s be honest: It is a realistic approach if you constantly do what you need to do in order to succeed and research other successful business owners.

12.05.13
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Priorities

One of the best things about owning a microbusiness is the ability to adjust your priorities to your current situation. Some priorities are locked in our top spot, but sometimes you will need to be more flexible. When you have a newborn baby to take care of, you need to be able to have a flexible schedule. Many jobs allow employees to take time off for such life events.

Owning a business also gives you this kind of flexibility – especially if you own a successful business that provides you with a residual income. Even if you do not own a business that provides you with a residual income, you still have so much control over your schedule. You will be able to change appointment times and work different hours. This year I got married and bought a house. The flexibility of owning a microbusiness helped make these exciting life events a success!

By Anthony Hilb

09.26.13
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Take it Easy

By Anthony Hilb

I noticed I was stressed when putting in long work days, so I decided to research relaxation techniques. I considered myself a Type-A kind of person when it came to work, and I noticed I wasn’t completely happy with the results. Feeling drained the majority of the time isn’t the goal of owning a business for me.

The Type-Z Guide to Success by Marc Allen has been a tremendous resource. Here are a couple of passages from the book I’ve enjoyed:

“I started to see – and then to believe – that not only was it possible to create success in an easy and relaxed manner, in a healthy and positive way, but that it’s the very best way to do it. All our stress doesn’t help us one bit; in fact it works against us. The more we relax, the more effectively we do any kind of task.” -Marc Allen

 

In and easy and relaxed manner, in a healthy and positive way....

In an easy and relaxed manner, in a healthy and positive way….

“Many people in our culture don’t believe that it’s even possible to succeed and still have a life of ease. Or they believe they need to work really hard, maybe even be Type-A workaholics, before they can succeed – and then they can relax and have a life of ease.

Many people even equate success with stress: There’s a deep core belief that success has to be stressful, that’s just the way it is, you have to be a Type-A to succeed. I absolutely disagree with this belief (and I’m not the only one!). There are many people who believe exactly the opposite: The more relaxed you are, the more at ease, the more you can and will succeed.

You make better decisions when you’ve considered everything in a relaxed state. (Everyone knows the value of “sleeping on” something – what can be perplexing in the afternoon is so often simple and clear the next morning.) The decisions we make in stressful states so often lead to more stress; it’s the plans we make and ideas we have when we’re relaxed that can take our success to a much higher level.” -Marc Allen

08.29.13
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Get Set Tech With Micro Business

By Arjun P.

In today’s world technology has only enhanced the businesses of both major and minor corporations all over the globe. Thanks to information technology the world has become a global market for micro businesses to find their footing without having to fear about the loss of investment. Technological advancement has given these businesses easy access by the general mass with the development of phone applications. Smart-phones are enabled with the necessary software application which allows micro businesses to communicate and correspond with the buyer directly. Social networking sites have become a utility tool for not only promoting business but also an excellent way to review and get access to commodities.

Like every drop of water contributes to the formation of an ocean, in the same way micro businesses are contributing to the growth of the global economy. With a few hundred and more upcoming and future micro enterprises being set up by the hour, there are more than a million people working towards a better economic development globally. With the increase and rapid growth in information technology there is a direct exponential growth in micro businesses.

Technology has become the backbone of micro businesses and is integral to the success of the global economic system, hence giving micro businesses the right leverage to ensure independence and self-sufficiency. With search stations flooding the world wide net, micro businesses can now launch and make them available to every nook and cranny of every country throughout. Websites, advertisements in web-pages, blogging, are just a few ways technology has aided micro businesses in making themselves accessible to people around the world.

07.28.13
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The Power of Small Businesses

By Sonny O’Steen

Atlanta, GA

Americans spend much of their time watching the news about large corporations and how their decisions may affect the local economy. Make no mistake about it, the small business holds the power to the livelihoods of millions of American households. Over 20 million Americans are employed by businesses with less than 20 employees, which is quite a lot of workers. Also, small businesses generate over 11 trillion dollars a year in receipts. They produce more than 13 times more patents per employee than large corporations! That is very significant.

Needless to say, if small business owners are unrestrained, they will continue year after year adding more to the American economy than ever before. Unfortunately in today’s economy, regulation and taxes present a considerable amount of roadblocks to small business owners.

Left to their entrepreneurial spirit, the small business owner will seek to find ways to improve receipts for their business. The more receipts, the more employees and the better the unemployment numbers will look quarterly for the nation as a whole.

The power of progress rests in the hands of small business owners, not large corporations. The patent count verifies that with certainty. No other environment fosters creativity like the small business environment. Large corporations are prone to stifle creativity as their board members look to the immediate bottom line rather than the future of the company they oversee. Government economists look to the large companies to drive the economy when in fact, the small businesses can accomplish this by delivering more tax revenue because of fewer tax loopholes. If you are a small business  owner, the power of progress holds clear implications for where to focus your efforts. It suggests that you have more influence as a manager than you may realize over your employees’ well being, motivation and creative output. Knowing what serves to motivate and nourish progress – and what does the opposite – turns out to be the key to effectively managing people and their output. The small business owner champions this output and creativity every day they unlock the door.

06.28.13
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Guerrilla Marketing – Remix!

9781599184227_p0_v2_s260x420Guerrilla Marketing Remix has been out for a couple of years, but if you haven’t read it, I strongly recommend it! It’s packed with practical information for all kinds of business owners, and it’s especially resourceful for microbusiness owners! Do yourself a favor and check it out!

Visit Amazon, your local library, or a nearby bookstore to pick up a copy.