Small Business Blog

Archive for March, 2010

How to get rich the smart way? Read what some creative people did:

1. Million Dollar Homepage

1000000 pixels, charge a dollar per pixel – that’s perhaps the dumbest idea for online business anyone could have possible come up with. Still, Alex Tew, a 21-year-old who came up with the idea, is now a millionaire. 

What is the idea? (from FAQ on the site)

The idea is simple: to try and make $1m (US) by selling 1,000,000 pixels for $1 each. Hence, ‘The Million Dollar Homepage”. The main motivation for doing this is to pay for my degree studies, because I don’t like the idea of graduating with a huge student debt. I know people who are paying off student loans 15-20 years after they graduated. Not a nice thought!
So, everyone is welcome to buy my pixels, which are available in 100-pixel ‘blocks’ (each measuring 10×10 pixels). You will see the homepage is divided into 10,000 of these 100-pixel blocks (hence there are 1,000,000 pixels in total). The reason for selling them in 100-pixel blocks is because anything smaller would be too small to display anything meaningful.
You can buy as many pixels as you like, as long as there are some available (see the live stats in the top right corner of the page). When you buy some pixels, you can then display an image/ad/logo of your choice in the space you have purchased. You can also have the image click through to your own website. However, no obscene or offensive images are allowed.
The pixels you buy will be displayed on the homepage permanently. The homepage will not change. Using some of the money I make from the site, I guarantee to keep it online for at least 5 years, but hopefully much longer. I want it to become a kind of internet time capsule. So, in the long run, I believe the pixels will offer good value. You will have a piece of internet history!

2. SantaMail

Ok, how’s that for a brilliant idea. Get a postal address at North Pole, Alaska, pretend you are Santa Claus and charge parents 10 bucks for every letter you send to their kids? Well, Byron Reese sent over 200000 letters since the start of the business in 2001, which makes him a couple million dollars richer.

About SantaMail from their site

Since 2002, Santa has been helping us write over 275,000 personalized Christmas letters. Santa makes sure that we use the finest heirloom-quality, acid-free linen paper so that his letters last a lifetime.

As Santa’s helpers, we help Santa print his letters and then mail them to him in North Pole, Alaska where he affixes a Christmas stamp on it and sends it on the way to your child. From there, the letter gets postmarked and mailed. (After December 16, he has us mail them directly from Austin, Texas so they reach the children in time!).

3. Doggles

Create goggles for dogs and sell them online? Boy, this IS the dumbest idea for a business. How in the world did they manage to become millionaires and have shops all over the world with that one? Beyond me. 

About Doggles from their site

We are famous for Doggles   goggles for dogs – the first and only eye protection designed and created just for dogs!  Seen on CNN, Regis and Kelly, The Today Show, Good Morning America and many others, they are quite a hit with everyone who has tried them! We are also an environmentally conscious organization, using as much “green” or recycled fabrics and materials in our products as possible, always keeping in mind that what is good for our planet is also good for our pets. Our standards are high, and you will see this in each and every one of our products. We are market leaders in the design and manufacture of tough and durable and yes, even “green”, dog toys. Please be sure to check our offerings in the toy category as you look through our site. Our outdoor line has won the praise of many an outdoor enthusiast as we continue to grow and improve the line. And of course, our fashion sense has never ended as we are always adding and improving to our fashion harness line. We have a wide range of products that are truly functional and have helped many pets over the years as we continue to innovate in the pet products field.  As always, keep an eye on us for more.

4. LaserMonks

LaserMonks.com is a for-profit subsidiary of the Cistercian Abbey of Our Lady of Spring Bank, an eight-monk monastery in the hills of Monroe County, 90 miles northwest of Madison. Yeah, real monks refilling your cartridges. Hallelujah! Their 2005 sales were $2.5 million! Praise the Lord.

5. AntennaBalls

You can’t sell antenna ball online. There is no way. And surely it wouldn’t make you rich. But this is exactly what Jason Wall did, and now he is now a millionaire.

6. FitDeck

Create a deck of cards featuring exercise routines, and sell it online for $18.95. Sounds like a disaster idea to me. But former Navy SEAL and fitness instructor Phil Black reported last year sales of $4.7 million. Surely beats what military pays.

7. PositivesDating.Com

How would you like to go on a date with an HIV positive person? Paul Graves and Brandon Koechlin thought that someone would, so they created a dating site for HIV positive folks last year. Projected 2006 sales are $110,000, and the two hope to have 50,000 members by their two-year mark.

8. Designer Diaper Bags

Christie Rein was tired of carrying diapers around in a freezer bag. The 34-year-old mother of three found herself constantly stuffing diapers for her infant son into freezer bags to keep them from getting scrunched up in her purse. Rein wanted something that was compact, sleek and stylish, so in November 2004, she sat down with her husband, Marcus, who helped her design a custom diaper bag that’s big enough to hold a travel pack of wipes and two to four diapers. With more than $180,000 in sales for 2005, Christie’s company, Diapees & Wipees, has bags in 22 different styles, available online and in 120 boutiques across the globe for $14.99.

9. PickyDomains

Hire another person to think of a cool domain name for you? No way people would pay for this. Actually, naming domain names for others turned out a thriving business, especially, when you make the entire process risk free. PickyDomains currently has a waiting list of people who want to PAY the service to come up with a snappy memorable domain name. PickyDomains is expected to hit six figures this year.

10. Lucky Wishbone Co.

Fake wishbones. Now, this stupid idea is just destined to flop. Who in the world needs FAKE PLASTIC wishbones? A lot of people, it turns out. Now producing 30,000 wishbones daily (they retail for 3 bucks a pop) Ken Ahroni, the company founder, expects 2006 sales to reach $1 million.

“Respect is important in sports and in business. You can not be successful without respect for the customer or the competitors. Respecting the rules means respect the referee”. Perluigi Collina, Retired International soccer referee, a respected figure among soccer referees in the world.

Collina says, both sports and business are similar when it comes the decision making, a wrong decision can be fatal for both business and soccer. If your decision is getting wrong-footed, you may be ended up in hot water, however if you take the decision under good judgment and the decision should be for the benefit of the business and for the sports, however the wrong decisions may lead to on field battle by the players and spectators and in business doubts created about the credibility of the manager. He says, there are things that could be very similar between his activity and the business world, as for a manger, he has to take decisions very quickly under pressure. Important decisions will have big consequences, if it goes wrong. Another key is that decisions are all about building relationships with players on the pitch and employees in the organizations. Sometimes, the decision the referee takes is accepted not only because it is correct but because the relationships are positive.

The final goal for the referee and for a manger that they are to be accepted even when they are wrong.  It means that the players trust the referee, as if someone trusts the business manger even if he is wrong. The referee is accepted not because of the role but because of what he does on the field.  This is similar the case of a manager. The manager can not be accepted because he is a CEO, but the manager is accepted because he has shown everybody that his way to run a company is correct.

Business leaders need to have an insight into coping under pressure could do worse that to follow the referees, who do not betray some nerves prior to the game probably should not be there. Like referees the manager needs to be little nervous just before taking a big decision. If a manager feels powerful more strong, but there is a limit. If he takes it too far, nerves reduce his performance. Everything which happens on a pitch that also happens round the table. Both the manager and referee face challenges and have to have criticisms, when something happens, the like the manager, referee has also to change the things what can be changed and look to the future and this what the referees and manager do. 

The vital and important key of a soccer referee is the instant and immediate decision making ability, that too in split seconds, there is some relief to the cricket umpires that in cricket matches, the umpire can refer to third umpire for decisions and let them decide, however in soccer no such assistance can be taken from the replays or third umpire, he has to take the decision instantly and immediately and we can see from the replays that 99% of the decisions were correct, in fact referees are not playing spoiling sport, he actually manage a business of 2.00 hours, he can not be partial, even if the spectators think so. They have nothing to do if a team win or loss, they are just managers of a soccer match and once the match is over, they go another assignment. In most of the decisions, though players and their coaches could still be argued the decision is wrong. It becomes more crucial for referee that when taking decisions in a match, which is being watched by millions of spectators around the globe.

If the referee wants to do his best i.e. to referee in big matches, from Arsenal vs Man United to world cup matches, even though it’s still just a game of football and nothing else. Making good decisions is essential even either in EPL matches or in the small matches. There’s been an explosion of exposure lately – every single incident gets noticed and analyzed. Like soccer, the managers are also watched by the directors and stake holders, then the decision should be correct to the great extent. If the referee, they had a couple of cameras at a game 10 years; nowadays for a live match there are numerous cameras, capturing every decision the referee is going to take. If a referee makes a mistake, millions of people are there to blame him, he should be affected only by his desire to do a good job, not adverse publicity. This is similar to the business managers, as these days the media closely watches all the decisions they take.

Both in the business and in sports, the respect is very important; giving and taking the respect, nobody can be successful without giving respect and getting respected for the customers, or the competitors and once you get the respect and trust of players and employees, you are successful and your decisions are respected by everybody. People may not instantly put a name to the face, but once they realize that this is the man who is credited with being the most outstanding referee/businessman, the penny drops. There is some dissimilarity too, in football it is mandatory to retire referee at the age of 45, irrespective of they mental and physical strength, but in business there is no such restrictions, he can perform till his health allows him to do. The qualities required for a good referee and good businessman are the same; they have to have;

To stick eyes on the “ball”

Both should focus on what is going on in the pitch in case soccer and organization or market and without watching following the ball (focus) no manager can take any decision for the benefit of the organization and this is also applicable for referees, once their eyes distract from the ball, wrongful decisions can be made, it may be fatal. It may attract the ire of the spectators and can lead to loss the job. Both should stick on the focus for taking a decision for the interest of the business and the game being played amidst pressure for both sides.

Coping under pressure: Soccer officials are routinely subjected to a wide range of potential stressors, like the businessmen, as both reveal a considerable mental and physical toll. Soccer referees identify spectators, players, coaches, trainers and other personnel as sources of aggression. Unlike the businessman, at the extreme, referees and their assistants have been pushed, punched, kicked, and even shot to death by players, managers, coaches and fans. Referees and their regulating bodies are well aware of these sources of threat, and some attempts have been made to provide psychological training to help them cope.

In addition, match-specific demands are extreme. The referee must have a thorough knowledge of the current laws of soccer and implement them while keeping constant vigilance over complex activities and interactions, whereas a manager should know the market trends, customer trend . Considerable amounts of time must also be spent on pre-match preparation, travel, and post-match reports.

A few studies have examined referee responses to stress, but little was found about the mechanisms which motivate officials to continue their involvement despite the variety of potential physical, social and cognitive factors which are regularly encountered. The present study was designed to allow referees to convey their perceptions, particularly with regard to their methods for coping with demands and abuse and their reasons for remaining referees.

To deal the negativity : Social psychologists have identified a number of cognitive strategies that help people explain and deal with negative experiences. Blaming others for failure while taking personal credit for success, distorting or ignoring unpleasant information, and interpreting one’s motives as principled and righteous, are among the variety of available methods of maintaining confidence in difficult circumstances. Misrepresenting reality with ‘positive illusions’ (Taylor & Brown, 1988, 1994) can ultimately be healthy and adaptive. Indeed, they serve a vital function of removing perceptions of self-blame, protecting from external censure, and providing palatable explanations for disturbing events. In the longer term, they may lead to more positive expectations about the future, greater persistence and self-efficacy. Taylor and Brown (1988) suggest that people who fail to use these strategies are more likely to be anxious or depressed.

To expect the unexpected: Sports performers and coaches often make use of self-serving attributions to explain their own disappointing results. External factors such as bad luck or other people’s incompetence are used to deal with unpleasant experiences, defeats, and rejection, while internal factors such as skill and effort are seen as responsible for victories and other successes. Some analysis showed that players and coaches were more likely to attribute their successes to internal factors, such as skill and determination and their losses to external factors, such as cheating opponents and poor weather. These factors are closely associated with the business managers in various situations.

To decide on personal strengths : Another potentially useful mechanism is ‘illusory superiority’ or self- elevation, where people adopt the view that they have more positive qualities than others and describe their personal strengths as above average compared with those of other people their age. Individuals made more flattering judgments about themselves than others made of them. Individuals also believe their personal relationships are of a higher quality than the relationships of others and remember experiences as more successful than they really were. These factors are also existing in the managers

The managers and the umpires are the connecting link between players and spectators, likewise a manager, who is a connecting link between the employees and the board of directors, stakeholders, the job of a referee and a manager are same in most of the scenarios, though there are indeed some deviations. The keys for success for both are almost all the same – and the most important is the INSTANT DECISION MAKING POWER. Therefore, one wishes to analyze the similarities and qualities of a manager and referee, similar factors impact their performance off and on the pitch/office are vitally required for success, to get respected and to get the reputation of a good referee or a good manager. 

Every business in America, no matter how big or small, must adhere to governmental rules and regulations on the state, local and federal level. However, the weight of being in compliance with federal, state and local regulations is heavier on small businesses than on the larger corporations, giving the larger companies an unfair financial edge.

Regulations have been put in place over the years to protect not only the worker, but the environment, and community. There are many different types of regulations that companies need to comply with in order to do business that include such things as paying taxes, retirement plans, labor laws, workplace safety issues, environmental impact issues, waste disposal and international commerce.

While larger companies have the funding to handle such compliance, a smaller company with less than 20 employees could quickly fold with the burden of having to keep up with these regulations, especially for companies that are just starting out. However, to compete with other businesses and become successful, it is important that all small businesses stay in compliance with federal, state and local regulations.

But at what cost? A small business can structure itself in many ways. A sole proprietorship does not have all the same regulations as a Limited Liability Company that has employees. However, not every company can be a sole proprietorship. In fact, most aren’t. Small businesses, which are considered companies that have less than 500 employees, make up 99% of all employer firms in the United States. However, companies with less than 20 employees pay over 25% of all compliance costs. That’s a heavy burden for the smaller companies to carry. Let’s look at the numbers.

To be compliant in the area of environmental, workplace safety, tax and economic regulations, the average cost per employee for a small business with less than 20 employees is $7,645. For a larger company that has 500 or more employees, the cost drops to $5,282, with companies between 20-499 coming somewhere in between that number. This is a staggering difference in cost in that statistically the revenues generated by larger companies and the tax benefits afforded them by the government are higher than those for smaller businesses. This leaves the small business owner needing to produce more revenue to keep up with its larger competitors while still fulfilling its obligations regarding federal, state and local regulations.

Another disadvantage is that it is more costly for smaller business to handle all the required paperwork to stay in compliance. Laws are changing all the time. Papers need to be filed and approved. Inspections need to be done. Because of this, it is easy for important details to fall the by the wayside during the normal course of business.

While a large company will have a dedicated person, team or department to deal with all the compliance regulations, a small business owner usually will either assume the role of contact for all federal, state and local agencies they need to work with or have a dedicated person within the company wearing two hats. One for their regular job and one for incremental activities to keep up with compliance issues. While some of the foundational tasks would be present for normal operation, the cost of hiring a dedicated employee to handle the incremental tasks (tasks that are put in place just to keep up with compliance) is not always possible without considerably eating into profits.

Many businesses don’t always know where to go to keep up with the changing laws regarding compliance. However, icancomply.com is a website dedicated to giving up to date information about current laws, regulations and forms needed to help comply with these regulations make compliance a little easier than it was years ago. Still, the process is both costly and time consuming for the small business owner.

The Small Business Regulatory Fairness Act of 1996 (SBREFA) was put in place to recognize the unfair advantage of larger corporations over small businesses and to help small businesses with reaching their goal of compliance. As a result, small businesses name a dedicated person within the company to act as liaison with the SBPRA.

Although systems have been put in place to help the small business owner with federal, state and local regulation compliance, the cost burden on small businesses has not changed and continues to be a hurdle that many small businesses must leap over to be successful. The very idea of not complying as a cost savings strategy might be tempting for some businesses, however, this is unwise and can have detrimental financial consequences.

Still, because of the high cost of compliance with federal, state and local regulations, many large companies are willing to take a “slap on the wrist” and pay a steep fine, sometimes as high as $200,000 for not being compliant with regulations because financially it is more profitable for the company. Without someone policing their every move on a regular basis, it may be easy to stay under the radar. Unfortunately, that same risk to small businesses could be financially devastating.

As long as programs are in place to help small business keep up with federal, state and local regulations and they continue to have a voice with OSHA, the EPA and other federal agencies by way of the SBREFA, small businesses will be able to thrive and remain a vital part of our economy.

For free small business regulations checklist, visit http://www.icancomply.com

I was asked the other day what personality traits I thought were important to entrepreneurial success. I immediately gave my preprogrammed reply about passion and dedication and hard work. After taking some time later to ponder the question a little deeper (I normally operate in shallow waters), I came up with a more detailed checklist for entrepreneurial success. This is by no means a definitive list, but I’d be willing to bet that if you don’t have at least a majority of these traits, your chances of business success will be greatly diminished.

You must be self motivated.

If you don’t have the wherewithal to bounce out of bed each day without your spouse drenching you with cold water, chances are you don’t have the self motivation or discipline required to be an entrepreneur. Business demands that you take action based solely on your own volition. You have to do a hundred things every day that will not get done unless you make yourself do them.

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You can’t be afraid of hard work.

If you think working for someone else is hard work, try starting your own business. You will be required to give every ounce of blood, sweat, and tears you can muster and then some. You will have to work long hours and be on call 24/7, at least in the beginning. If the mere thought of hard work makes you tired, maybe you should just keep your cushy day job.

You should have experience in the type of business you plan to start.

If you can’t locate your car’s engine you have no business buying an oil change franchise. The most successful business owners have prior experience in the industry in which they have set up shop. Consider working in an industry at least part time for a year before jumping in with both feet.

You must be able to climb back on the horse.

I always say: “If business was easy, everybody would do it.” Starting a business is hard work and the odds for failure are against you in the first few years. If you want to ride herd on your own business, you must be willing to fall off your horse and get back on a few times without giving up.

You need the support of your family.

When you start a business you may have to spend more time away from the family than you like. The business may also put a strain on you financially. You will have enough obstacles in your way without having to worry if you have the support of your family and those closest to you

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You must have a thick skin.

If your feelings are easily hurt, keep your non-threatening day job because business is not for you. Many days in business, rejection waits around every corner and you must be able to handle rejection without taking it personally.

You must interact well with others.

Being an entrepreneur requires interacting with a variety of people, from your own employees to vendors to customers to investors. You must have the ability to effectively manage people without offending them; the ability to accept good advice from mentors and politely discount the bad; the ability to overlook mistakes or quietly rectify them; and the one I have trouble with: the ability to tolerate incompetence without losing your cool (at least not on the outside).

The deeper your pockets the better.

The number one cause of business failure is a lack of money. Before you start your business you should have access to enough capital to see you through until the business can sustain itself.

You must be able to delegate.

Running a business requires the performance of dozens of simultaneous tasks and it’s foolish to try to handle them all yourself. You must learn to put your trust in others. If you can’t dish out responsibility without worrying over the result, your business growth will be limited.

Previous business ownership is a plus.

Prior business ownership is not a prerequisite, but it can’t hurt. Many successful entrepreneurs have the skeletons of past businesses rattling around in their closet.

Another of my sayings:

Business is a lot like marriage: you learn a lot from the first one that may come in handy the second or third time around.

With that kind of advice you can see why I didn’t go into marriage counseling.

Here’s to your success!

Tim Knox

A Home Business Opportunity is a great journey to embark on. While it can be a complicated task, having a handy checklist will help keep you on track. If you begin with a good working plan your Home Business Opportunity will get off the ground without a hitch.

The first step in starting a Home Business Opportunity is creating a business plan. It is essential that you have a plan to detail what you want the Home Business Opportunity to be and where you want it to go. Establish goals you intend to reach and when you want when you want to achieve them by. How much money do you have to invest in the Home Business Opportunity? What type of schedule will you be able to work i.e. how much time can you dedicate to your Home Business Opportunity every day? What is your launch date, don’t procrastinate? All of these things should be figured out before you actually put things into motion for your Home Business Opportunity.

What type of Home Business Opportunity are you starting? Will your Home Business Opportunity be based on a current hobby/interest or will you start as most do by being an affiliate marketer? This all depends on the money you have to put up and the type of business you will be starting. Make sure that you are realistic.

The laws regarding your Home Business Opportunity do vary from state to state and country to country. There are many tax benefits associated with operating your Home Business Opportunity that make the venture even more attractive, so make sure you maximize them.

Probably the most important part of starting a Home Business Opportunity is your reason Why I say this because as with any business online or offline you will most likely be spending more than what you earn in the first couple of months. You need to have very strong reasons for why your Home Business Opportunity is going to be successful because you will have times of frustration and doubt but to be successful you need to push past that.

In establishing your reasons why you want a successful Home Business Opportunity they need to be such that if you don’t make a success of it, what is going to be the result of that and are you prepared to accept that because again if the Why is not strong enough it is easy to give up and let someone else decide your fate. Not a good option I would have thought.

When looking through the myriad of Home Business Opportunity that are available today it is easy to become confused so you need to abide by certain criteria when making your selection.

Some of the things that I suggest in making the right choice for a Home Business Opportunity are;

If it sounds too good to be true then it most likely is, a Home Business Opportunity is like any other opportunity and that is the path to riches takes some time, a lot of work, a lot of learning, persistence and dedication.

The Home Business Opportunity has to offer excellent training, multiple streams of income in other words do not just get tied to one product.

You need to have a supportive upline if you are going into affiliate marketing and list building because both of these styles of business allow you to achieve leverage which is the secret of the rich. That famous quote of ” I’d rather have 1% of a 100 peoples efforts than a 100% of mine” is just as relevant today if not more so than when it was uttered some 100 years ago.

With a Home Business Opportunity that allows you to do that puts you on the path not only of wealth but wealth on auto pilot because once you understand that a Home Business Opportunity gives you the power to have that wealth keep increasing year after year. This is what is known as residual income,

Zig Ziglers well known quote of “If you help enough people get what they want you will get everything that you want”

So once again when you are deciding on which Home Business Opportunity you are going to start make sure that you are comfortable that the company or group you are going to be working with share that philosophy. Because if they don’t you are going to finish up like far too many people on what I call the Home Business Opportunity merry go round and just keep moving from one opportunity to the next.

Don’t let that happen to you, there are huge rewards to those who understand this, so approach your Home Business Opportunity with passion and commonsense and communicate.

I wish you every success and sincerely hope our paths cross some day.

Trevor Willoughby

Analyzing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) of a business is a well-established tool that is widely used by academics, consultants, and advisors. Although it is a simple concept, business owners often struggle when trying to use it because it is so broad. It is difficult to determine where to start, what questions to ask, and where to focus. The obvious problems get attention while many other important issues get overlooked. SWOT analysis is a great tool, but its effective use requires additional structure.

Strengths and weaknesses relate to internal factors, while opportunities and threats cover external ones. The internal factors can be divided into five categories: management, workforce, sales and marketing, operations, and financial. The external factors are also divided into five categories: threat of new entrants, bargaining power of suppliers, bargaining power of customers, threat of rivalry from competitors, and threat of substitution.

To approach the analysis in a structured way, prepare a checklist using the categories mentioned above. Identify factors within each category that are important to your business. Under management for example, a major weakness for virtually every small business is relying too heavily on the owner. What would happen to the business if something happened to the owner? In the workforce category a factor could be employee turnover and the availability of new hires. The threat of new entrants might include the possibility of a big box retailer opening near your business. The bargaining power of suppliers and customers categories should consider the possibility of losing a major supplier or customer. Come up with several factors for each category to complete the checklist. It is important that you do not try to rate or solve each issue as you identify them. If you do, you will get bogged down on each factor and never complete the analysis.

Once the checklist is complete, you should rate each factor based on its importance to your business. Use an alphabetical scale from A to E, where A = very important, B = important, C = some importance, D = little importance, and E = not important. Next rate each factor based on proficiency (internal) or vulnerability (external). Use a numerical scale from 1 to 5, where 1 = very proficient or not vulnerable, 2 = proficient or little vulnerability, 3 = average proficiency or some vulnerability, 4 = poor proficiency or vulnerable, and 5 = deficient or very vulnerable.

The factors with the lowest letter and highest number (A5) are the biggest weaknesses or threats. The ones with the lowest letter and lowest number (A1) are the biggest strengths or opportunities.

Using this structured approach makes a SWOT analysis possible and practical for any small business. To make this process worthwhile you must use this information to take action. Work to fix the worst problems first, prepare for the biggest risks, take advantage of the best opportunities, and build your secondary strengths.