Small Business Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Checklist’

What are the aspects of a productive company begin up?  Asking the difficult inquiries is crucial to offering your organization the finest chance to be successful.  When you think about that the majority of causes for enterprise failures are each identifiable and preventable, acquiring the solutions to the tough inquiries just before you commence a organization has to become a priority.  Just heading via the approach will assist you acquire self-assurance because you are possibly confirming that which you by now know or you are identifying these places you are going to will need to operate on.  Both way, figuring out is often much better.

Regardless of whether for a bank or one more institution or government system or just for your individual preparing purposes, your organization checklist needs to include a quantity of critical components.

1st, your business and its business. This section really should describe where you see your business fitting into the industry in which it will compete and describes why the company planned has an chance for success.

The 2nd consideration is what will set the business apart.  In describing why it will be effective, your start off up checklist should supply up the reasons that give you self-assurance in that chance.   These could be causes these kinds of as describing why there is a area of interest possibility or why this merchandise offered by your new company will be outstanding and consequently why the industry will embrace it.  These types of things will tell the party reading the enterprise program why this business will be competitive.

The up coming merchandise to offer with is identifying the a single time or start up bills.  These are this sort of points as the money fees that would go into a restaurant refurbishing or a onetime purchase of inventory if you had products to market.  Also objects like production products and the raw goods for the manufacturing of objects you are going to be selling. These onetime expenditures require to be exact and they are for the most aspect called the commence-up and money costs.

Additional checklist goods in a excellent business program contain a “Funding Plan” which would cover the equity and financial debt requirements and deals with budgets a “Pro-forma” which signifies projected, first year profit and reduction projection and a dollars movement also for twelve months a “Dollars Flow Projection” which demonstrates the cash as its coming in and heading out, on a month by month foundation a practical “Advertising Plan” that shows achievable targets “Management and Staffing requirements” and an “Operational Plan” which will present total ambitions and breaks down the timing strategies by period.

If you think your enterprise notion is well worth investing your funds in, it need to also be worth investing the time to get these solutions just before begin-up.  Acquiring the solutions in published kind not only assists clarify your prepare and what nevertheless needs to be completed on your checklist, it also serves as a reference manual to keep you on track.

If any of these leaves you with questions about your organization concept or principle, you can see a extensive explanation of the fifty-key places to assess just before starting up your organization and download everything you need at www.startingabusinesscoach.com

My aim is to aid you do well,

Bryan M. Fenske, Founder – The Online Enterprise Coach

Many people are thinking about starting a home based business because of the economic downturn and the fear that their jobs aren’t secure. Unfortunately, most people have no idea about starting a business and all it entails. If you’re considering a home business option, this checklist for home based business start-up may answer some questions.

It helps if you know what type of home based business you’re interested in. Most people know that choosing a business that they’re enthusiastic about will help them to succeed, so they may already have an idea of what they’d like to do.

1. When you have a business idea chosen it’s time to start working on a business plan. The old adage is true, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” This is definitely true in business. Do a search online for sample business plans and then develop one of your own.

2. Determine the form of your business. In other words, decide now if you will be a sole proprietorship, a partnership, or a corporation. Each one has their own advantages and disadvantages, so talk with an accountant to discuss which option would be best for you.

3. Get any required business licenses that you’ll need. Check with your city, county, and state to determine which licenses will be required for your type of business.

4. Check with the local zoning commission to see if there are any limitations to your running your business from your home. Even though it’s great to start a home based business, it would be terrible to have it shut down because of a zoning violation.

5. Depending upon the type of business you choose, there could be a number of types of insurance required. For instance, if you run a home inspection service from your home, you need to purchase Error, Omission, and Liability insurance. Some insurance types are expensive, so they could be a major portion of your start-up costs.

6. Decide upon a name and verify that it isn’t already registered with your state.

7. Having an internet presence is extremely important in this day and age. Purchasing a domain name is quite easy and inexpensive. Choose one that is easy to spell, easy to remember, and if at all possible, get a domain name with a dot com extension. While other extensions (.net, .us, and .org) are viable options, most people will inadvertently use dot com when typing a website address.

Every new business needs a small business start up checklist. This list will not only keep your business running smoothly, it will also help you have more organization in your company.

As an entrepreneur, you might want to do things your way, but it can’t hurt to learn a thing or two from the people who have already gone through the path you’re just about to embark on.

Below is the small business start up checklist compiled from different businesses.

1) Create a Business Plan.

A business plan is the heart and soul of every business. Before starting your business, you first have to know what you want to happen and how you can make that happen. Nothing spells disaster more than a business without a concrete plan.

2) Register Your Business Name.

One of the first things to tick off in your small business start up checklist would be the name of your business. You might not think that this is a big deal, but it is one of the first steps you have to take before you can start operations.

Once you have chosen a name, register it with the appropriate organization. Make sure to think of two or three more names just in case the name you want has already been chosen.

3) Meet Legal Requirements.

Starting a business as an adult is not the same as starting your own lemonade stand when you were in grade school. Included in the small business start up checklist is meeting legal requirements.

Now that you want to legally operate your business, you’re going to have to fill out a few documents and make whatever arrangements are necessary. This also includes obtaining the appropriate licenses and permits.

4) Choose a Bank for your Business.

When starting your own business, you naturally have to choose a bank to help you with your operations. You might need the bank when asking for a business loan or when you need to open a business account.

If you have your own accountants, it is also advisable that you consult with them regarding the bank they are most comfortable and familiar with.

5) Create Risk Management.

You have to be ready for emergencies. In case plan A doesn’t work, be sure to have plans B, C and even D lined up. What are you going to do when your business doesn’t skyrocket as you predicted? How are you going to deal with a security breach?

Risk management depends a lot on the type of business you want to have. However, be sure to consider insurance, backup systems and security systems, just to name a few.

A small business start up checklist is mainly composed of all these things. However, it is also important for you to be meticulous. Nothing is too small to take notice of when it comes to running your own business. Your business may still be small now; but given the right management, it will soon grow to be large and prosperous.

Read through this checklist and save yourself time and aggravation. A bit of due diligence will help you avoid eBay scams.

Only buy items with photos. The photograph is a good way to insure the seller actually has the item. No photo is a good indicator of a scam.

Check the photo against catalog photos. Many scammers use photos taken from other auctions or from online catalogs. Look for the background and lighting. Professionally taken photos have better lighting, and clearer backgrounds.

Check the seller’s user history. This is on the feedback page and will say something like this: “Member since: Saturday, Aug 13, 2001 Location: United States” New sellers or sellers who have been members for a long time, but not as active sellers are more likely to be committing auction scams.

Check the sellers eBay feedback. If the seller has few feedbacks or recent feedback as a buyer, but not as a seller this may be a clue. It’s easy to get feedback by buying cheap items. Check the items the seller has been buying and selling. There are links on the feedback page to the auction the feedback relates to on the right side of the page.

Do an eBay search for auctions by the seller including completed auctions. Check to see if he has sold the same thing before. If he has, ask the earlier buyer if they got theirs yet. Here’s a link to the search form.

Make sure the address you send payment to is the same as the seller’s registered eBay address. If it’s not the same address, it may be a tip off to a scam. Here’s the link to get the seller’s registered address.

If you are buying something expensive call the seller. You can get the telephone number with the link above. You have to bid on the item in order to get the contact information. This is a great way to avoid eBay scams. If you buy something and don’t feel comfortable, call the seller.

Ask for advice from knowledgeable sources. If you are buying antiques or collectibles, you should get an idea of the value and rarity before buying. Since most collectibles you see on eBay were mass produced, you will get the chance to buy others.

Educate yourself. Learn about the items you are interested in. Go to antiques stores and shows to see what is available. When you factor in shipping costs and uncertainty about the condition many items are cheaper to buy locally. You will make new friends who share your interests, and will not fall prey to eBay scams.

Have a friend go over and look at the item. I bought some trains last year out of Northern California. (I live in Arizona.) I had one of my friends drive over and look at them. He paid the seller and then mailed me the trains. I sent my friend a check to cover the purchase price and then gave him something for his trouble. This is a bit more work, but much safer than sending large sums of money to a stranger.

Search for information online. Use Google.com to find out more about the specific item you are interested in. You might discover it cheaper at a store, or find out the item is really common and be able to find one later from a less risky source.

Ask the seller questions. This will give you some information about the character of the seller. If you are unsure about the condition, ask for additional photos. The best way to avoid an eBay scam is by getting to know the seller.

Check the payment options. If the seller only takes money orders or wire transfers it might be an eBay scam. If you can pay with a credit card, this will give you additional protection. Almost any- I wanted to all, but am sure there are exceptions- credit card transaction can be reversed by calling the issuing bank. Some sellers only take money orders to avoid bounced checks. If a seller refuses to take anything but a wire transfer run.

Check the description and the tone of the ad. Does the person sound eager to sell? Does the person sound like they know what they are selling?

If the item is valuable because of its color, ask the seller for pictures with a common household item for contrast. My dad bought a rare maroon train car that was actually light red. The seller’s poor lighting caused the car to appear much darker in the photos. If my dad had asked for a picture of the car next to a can of Campbell’s soup he would have seen it was the picture making the car darker because the can would be darker.

Ask the seller about his return policy. Many sellers sell as is with no returns, some sell with returns only if the item is not described correctly. Saying the item is sold with no returns in the auction does not allow the seller to misrepresent the item, but will make it harder for you to press a claim.

Ask yourself “If I saw the item at a show, would I buy it?” Many times people bid on eBay auctions for items they would otherwise ignore . Some reasons for this are greed, ignorance, and impatience. Greed because “It’s a low price, and I can always resell it at a profit.” Ignorance is when you buy items without knowing enough about them. Impatience causes buyers to buy when they are ignorant.

Remember the seller is selling. Descriptive words like rare, uncommon, and unique are subjective and quite over used. Some items are hard to find, but most eBay auctions are for common or relatively common items. Unique is probably the most over used word in describing collectibles. Unique means there is only one. These descriptions are sales techniques to get higher bids by making you think the item is harder to find than it is. Ignore them.

Know in advance what you are willing to lose. I’ll buy any train auction for under a hundred dollars without checking the seller out because I won’t lose much sleep over a hundred dollars. You need to know your attitude and personality to answer this question.

Know when to cut your losses. If you get a eBay scam over a $50 auction, it’s not worth hundreds of hours of lost sleep. I know the scammers count on this attitude to allow them to continue ripping people off, but it’s really not worth the time to pursue a small loss. File a complaint with eBay, leave a negative feedback, then move on.

Don’t leave feedback until the item is received and you are satisfied with it. Feedback is your leverage to get a return if the item is not as described.

ALWAYS leave negative feedback when the seller is deceptive or unwilling to correct his mistakes. This is your way to warn other bidders. If you had been warned, you could have saved your money and time. The feedback system won’t work unless you are willing to leave negatives for bad transactions.

Use separate eBay accounts for buying and selling. This way your selling account won’t be damaged by retaliatory feedback when you leave negatives for others. You have to use accurate contact information when creating each account. EBay will remove feedback from accounts without accurate contact information.

Don’t fall in love with your eBay account. I use a buying account until it gets 30-40 feedbacks and then start a new one. This way no one knows what I am buying. Also, because I know I will be using a new account in a few months, I can be honest when leaving feedback.

If you have been ripped off do not threaten the seller. Ebay calls this “user to user threats” and will suspend you immediately. Some eBay scammers exploit this. They will provoke you into threatening them, then forward the e-mail to eBay and your account will be cancelled. If you have filed a fraud compliant with eBay it will be closed because “eBay does not investigate complaints from non-members.”

If you feel taken by a seller have a friend read your e-mails before you send them. Have your friend make sure they are polite and do not include accusations. Be polite and explain why you are unhappy. Name calling will not help. People make mistakes when listing items, and many sellers will make them right. When you open with an attack, you put the seller in a different frame of mind. For the same reason, don’t threaten the seller with negative feedback in the first email.

Don’t try to renegotiate the price after you receive your purchase. Explain clearly and politely why you are unhappy and tell the seller you would like to return it. I refund the purchase price and shipping both ways when I make a mistake. Sometimes I send the buyer the shipping money instead as a make good. I never do this when the buyer opens with a demand for a lower price.

In closing, remember, most items you see on eBay are common. You will see them again and again. Don’t jump to purchase something, but rather take your time and wait for the right seller and the right item.

EBay is a great forum for buying interesting items for your collection, and you can get some great deals. In the few instances I have felt ripped off, most of the time it was my greed that caused the problems. If I would have asked the seller some questions and gotten more information before bidding, I would have saved myself some grief. While there are eBay scams, a bit of prior prevention will protect you.

Have fun buying on eBay, but remember, a bit of caution will do more to protect you than anything else.

The very first thing to consider is to determine how long the MLM business opportunity has been operating. If it is a new business that has not been proven in the business market, you have no guarantee that it will work or not.

• Check if the MLM business opportunity has a permanent address and phone number? This may sound stupid but the fact is, many companies operate with nothing more than a website and an email address. Most of them are here today and gone tomorrow. So, make sure the MLM business opportunity you intend to join has a permanent address, physical location, and established phone number.

• Try if the MLM business opportunity can introduce you to some successful members you can talk to? Almost all the business opportunities will show you testimonials that are often unreal and fake. So, it is better to ask the business owner to provide you with the names of real people you can talk to. Call them; inquire about the MLM business opportunity and analyze the opportunity.

• Figure out the required initial investment. Mostly, a successful MLM business opportunity with a track record will require some kind of initial investment. Don’t assume that a free business opportunity is a better investment because such opportunities require other costs such as marketing and advertising fees. Always remember, “Opportunities never come free”.

• Figure out the realistic income potential of the MLM business opportunity. Clearly study the numbers, projections and earning potentials provided by the MLM business opportunity. Then talk with existing members who are using the opportunity to check if they have been able to turn those numbers into reality or not.

• Look if the MLM business opportunity allows you to build a profitable business of your own that will be a source of earning for coming years.

• Check if there are any hidden or extra fees such as yearly or monthly subscription fees, shipping costs, or minimum purchase requirements. Make certain to get a detailed list of all the fees involved in the MLM business opportunity.

Entry into the world of e-commerce requires that the site owner has there components planned:

- Products to sell

- Content to advertise the products

- A site host that will run scripts

These are essential before the site is set up. The first two offer direction to the web site, and give the tone for the whole project. The last one is the mechanism by which the e-commerce site will be set up. It will be used to store the content, and the framework, which serves the content, and provides an interface to the payment processing service provider.

The Content:

Every web site needs content. It is usually search engine optimized, added value information that persuades the visitor of the merits of the web site owner’ it is there to inform and build trust. It also needs to be able to be found by search engines, and linked in with the products for sale.

Many different content engines are available, and they each offer the possibility to integrate, with varying degree of flexibility and success, with e-commerce frameworks. However, it is often a good idea to choose an integrated solution, as it reduces the workload required to implement the site itself.

The product descriptions also become part of the content, and as such, there needs to be a way to access that content, and provide it to third parties. Typical mechanisms include XML (RSS) feeds, electronic press releases, and article repositories. All of which can be used to leverage editorial content and product information to drive visitors to the parts of the site managed by the e-commerce framework.

The Framework:

The e-commerce framework provides a container into which the content is placed. This includes the editorial as well as product specific content. The capabilities provided by the framework should include a decent template system, otherwise the site maintainer will spend a lot of time cutting and pasting code.

A full content management system might be out of reach for those starting out in business, but integration with the framework and any content management systems provided by the web space provider should be possible. What is important is that the framework:

- Provides reports

- Checks cards before requesting authorization

- Validates email addresses

- Retains customer data in a secure manner

The reports are important so that the site owner can keep track of the incoming funds, expected payments, and refund tracking. It is important that the card data is validated as far as possible before the authorization from the credit card processor is requested because each attempt is usually charged for. If the customer enters a wrong digit, it would be useful to pick this up before the charge is incurred.

The same is true of email addresses: each one is valuable, as it can be used to inform the customer of new products and site updates after the transaction has taken place. On the other hand, any information about the customer that is retained must be done in as secure a way as possible.

Summary:

The above should be enough to get started with an e-commerce framework, implementing a simple catalog of products. In essence, all that is required is a way to add items to a cart, accept payment for the cart, and track the fulfillment of the order.

Where care must be taken is in processing refunds, the manual work associated with keeping the site updated and fresh, and being careful to address issues with site navigation in a timely manner. There is nothing worse than making sure everything is in place, and then finding that none of the product pages are accessible due to a typo in the template providing the lookup URL.