Small Business Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Setting’

Are you ready to set up a business? You may be wondering what your options are. Read on to find out more about where you might want to set up your business structure.

When you’re planning to start a business, you could take the least formal route and just set it up locally as a sole proprietorship, or you can incorporate it and turn it into a formal business structure. The former might seem easier at first glance, but almost everyone would benefit a great deal from going the latter route. Here are a few considerations that will help you get started on your path to successful business ownership.

First of all, you do not have to set up your business where you live. There are a number of states that are generally seen as particularly good choices for setting up a business. For example, if you have a corporation and you plan to take it public at some point, you may want to set it up in Delaware. Delaware is typically considered a good state for setting up a company that’s going to be publicly traded.

If you’re planning a company that is going to be private, however, which is the case for the majority of companies, then there are other states such as Nevada that might be better suited to your needs.

On the other hand, some states, most notably California and New York, are known to be very anti-business. They have lots of regulations and are very difficult to do business in. In addition, it’s also very expensive to do business in those states, in part because of their high tax rates and in part because of the extra expense caused by their more stringent regulations.

Nevada, in comparison, is a state where it’s generally inexpensive to do business. The regulatory environment is much more pro-business, and it’s actually pretty easy to set up your own company. And there are no state taxes.

But how would you go about setting up a business in Nevada, especially if you don’t live there? You could have an attorney do it for you, but it’s not really necessary. Everything you need to do to set up a corporation or an LLC in Nevada is easily available. You can simply go to their website of the State of Nevada where you can find clear instructions on how to set the company up and what you need to do.

You may wonder if you need an address in Nevada if you wanted to set up an LLC in Nevada. Generally, you don’t. Usually, what you would do is get an agent that would represent you. They are easy enough to find — there are a number of places that will provide a suite number and an address in Nevada for you, and they will even send you your mail.

Why Set Up a Business in Singapore?

Many people consider relocating to Singapore because of its political climate, pro-business environment, cultural atmosphere, health and education system, public service and infrastructure, and natural environment.

Foreign investors and entrepreneurs are setting up businesses in Singapore because it is a doorway to almost all of the Asian markets.

Here is a checklist that will help you in your decision on setting up a business in Singapore:

Factors

What Singapore Has to Offer

Strategic Location

Singapore is easily accessible by air or by sea.  Singapore’s port is one of the busiest in the world.  The Changi Airport allows you to connect to over 180 cities worldwide.  Incorporating a Singapore business entity is a smart move since the location allows you an easy geographic access to all premier Asian markets.

Diverse Cultures

Setting up a business in Singapore allows you to cater to many cultures, and thus, a wider market.

Stable Legal System

Singapore has an efficient, transparent and sound legal system.

Good Governance

Singapore has a stable, pragmatic, rational and proactive government. You can be assured that setting up a Singapore business entity will not involve red-tape or bureaucratic delays.

Liberal Immigration Policies

The liberal Singapore immigration policies allow for an easy relocation of foreigners who want to set up their businesses in Singapore.

Pro-business atmosphere

Singapore is known for its attractive schemes for foreign entrepreneurs.  Setting up and doing business in Singapore is easy.  It will only take you 1 to 2 days to incorporate a business in Singapore.

Attractive Tax Schemes

Singapore offers low effective personal and corporate tax rates.  The Personal income tax has a tier system that starts from 3.5% and up to 20% for those with income above $S320,000.

Effective corporate tax rate for Singapore private limited companies with profits of up to S0,000 per annum is less than 9%.  While those with profits of up to S0,000 have a 17% tax rate.

Singapore’s single-tier tax policy provides that once the income has been taxed at the corporate level, the dividends can be dispersed to shareholders free of taxation.

Furthermore, Singapore has one of the lowest Goods and Services Tax (GST) rates, which is only 7%.

Infrastructure

The infrastructure of Singapore is highly advanced.  Singapore’s physical and research infrastructure helps make setting up your Singapore business uncomplicated.

Free Trade Agreements

FTA’s or Free Trade Agreements allows you and your business to enjoy benefits such as tariff concessions, exclusive access to certain sectors, speed market entry and Intellectual Property (IP) protection.

Work Force

The work-force of Singapore is competitive, productive and meets world-class standards.  Its work-force is known for its high educational level, excellent output, proficiency, industriousness, professionalism and technology-savvy culture.

To cater to people who wish to migrate, Singapore presents different options for migration.  These are:

1. Migration to Singapore using the Employment Pass (EP);

2. Migration to Singapore using the EntrePass (Entrepreneur Pass);

3. Migration to Singapore using the MAS Scheme; and

4. Migration to Singapore using the EDB Scheme.

We see personal development life coaches at seminars, authors in books and tape programs often talk about goal setting, but it can be hard to figure out how to apply that to your small business. In this article, we will look on where you can apply goal setting for small business.

In this article, you will discover:

* A Look At Goal Setting For Small Business And Personal Development Goal Setting

* The Processes – The Key To Goal Setting For Small Business

* How To Increase Your Bottom Line With Goal Setting For Small Business

* A Look At Goal Setting For Small Business And Personal Development Goal Setting

You have a small business. You go to a personal development seminar, and learn about goal setting. Now, you maybe apt to thinking that this applies only to long range goals, mixing your personal life into the equation. Though this is important in the broad sense, goal setting for small business needs you to focus for your business.

So, we can take this information, and consider our long range goals, such as a decade, few years or a year. Then we may look at more mid ranges of goal setting for small business, and consider 6 months, a quarter, and a month. Then we may consider smaller time frames such as a fortnight, week.

Finally this may come down to setting goals for a few days, few hours, even minutes at a time. This is generally done within our to do’s. You think about what you want to accomplish, and then write it down, then act, and check them off.

* The Processes – The Key To Goal Setting For Small Business

Goal setting for small business however does not simply rest on setting those kinds of time based goals. You now have an opportunity to delve a bit deeper. You can set goals for your sales and sales team.

You can set goals for your productivity, your customer retention rate, and many others. Goal setting programs in the main don’t offer customized information for the small business owner. There are simply not that many goal setting for small business programs.

Though goal setting systems are designed for multiple uses, i.e. that you can design your life or look at your daily goals, you have to adapt the goal system for your needs. This comes down to your small business, and knowing more about your business is the key to success here.

* How To Increase Your Bottom Line With Goal Setting For Small Business

You have many opportunities to increase your bottom line. Goal setting for your small business can make this a possibility. The first point to consider is everything about your business.

What kind of things can you measure? Ultimately you want to be able to measure something, to be able to know if you are making progress. As you know more about the processes of your business, and the parts, you can do goal setting for small business, and ultimately find that you are finding more opportunities to grow your bottom line.

There is a common misconception that an “online business” requires no investment…that you can make money online without spending any.

When we hear this from people who are desperately trying to build a successful online business it makes us angry!

We believe the misconception is primarily due to all of the hype and false promises that arrive daily in our inboxes. Emails promising us that we can make millions of dollars with no financial output while we sit at home and do nothing. It’s insane and it’s not the truth.

The truth is that you must treat an online business just as you would a business in the conventional world. You must plan on investing time, money and effort to ensure your success. The good news is that your investment in an online business will be MUCH, MUCH less than that of a business in the conventional world.

With an online business, there are essentials that you must have in order for your business to run smoothly and become successful. You can literally run an effective online business for $100-$200 a month. Later in this article, we will show you how you can access many of these ssentials

in one place for less than $10.00 a month!

But first…

Here are six essentials that you MUST have to run your online business.

1. Your Own Website

This includes a domain name and web hosting for your site. You must have a central place to send your customers, even if you are selling multiple products or services.

2. A Professional Autoresponder

An absolute MUST for any online business. If you’re not using an autoresponder, you’re losing money! That’s the bottom line. Your autoresponder should have the ability to create subscriptions via email and web form and should be a professional one with no ads! Free autoresponders look unprofessional and they are not reliable.

3. Ad Tracker

This is probably the most underused tool that we know of. Consider this – most people who are NOT making money on the Net have never used an Ad Tracker. Yet, ALL of the people that we know who ARE making money on the Net – use one daily. It makes no sense to spend money and time on advertising if you’re not going to be able to determine which ads are producing and which ones are not. An Ad Tracker will solve this problem and save you time and money in the long run.

4. Products or Services

You must have something to sell! This can be a service such as web or graphic design, an mlm/affiliate program or products, tangible or digital. If you don’t have a specific product or service in mind, there are thousands of profitable digital products that come with resell rights.

This means you can resell them and keep 100% of the profit! 5. You must know HOW and WHERE to advertise to bring targeted prospects to your Website!

5. You must know HOW and WHERE to advertise to bring targeted prospects to your Website!

You can save yourself a tremendous amount of time, money and frustration by learning the effective advertising methods that are available online. There are countless worthless ones that are simply a waste of time. If you’re new online, you won’t know this unless you find someone who is successful online and follow their lead. Find a mentor or a membership site that offers step by step Tutorials on online promotion. Make sure that the tutorials are updated frequently to keep up with the changing times of the Internet!

6. Leads

The lifeline of any online business! Just because you have a website and products to sell, that doesn’t mean you’re going to make money! To make money, you must drive targeted visitors to your website. There are THOUSANDS of companies on the web that sell Leads but if you just pick one out of the blue, its trial and error. Do some research and find a good source for leads. Again, you can achieve this by finding someone who is successful and following their lead. Or join a membership site that includes Leads as a part of their package.

We promised we’d tell you about a membership site that includes many of these essential items in one place. Have a look at http://www.viralprofits.com With your membership, you get a professional autoresponder, ad tracking, Leads, Digital Products with resell rights, step by step training tutorials AND you can earn money by referring others to the site. The tutorials are updated frequently and NEW products are added each month so that you always have something new to offer your customers! So there you have it. With these six essentials, you’ve got the foundation for a successful online business. Without them, it’s going to be a tough road ahead. Use them as a “checklist” and make sure your online business is armed for success!

More and more people are setting up home businesses these days. Some of them may have been laid off from work. Others may have found difficulty finding employment. Still others may have chosen to change careers midstream after finding their true passion and deciding to make a living out of it.

Setting up a home business gives you much more freedom than regular employment. You are now your own boss. It gives you more time with your family and for yourself. It eliminates the stresses of the workplace and the fatigue of commuting to and from work. This redounds to better physiological, psychological and emotional health and greater productivity. It is also a good way to start going into business because of the lower start up costs. You save a lot on overhead expenses by having your office in your own home.

Despite the low start up costs of a home business, it is not a free ride. You will definitely still need some additional capital as you go along. The good news is that you can start very small and, because of this, you need not approach those intimidating banks and financial institutions for small business loans. After all, it is common knowledge that not only is the process of applying for small business loans lengthy and complicated, but approval is also mostly withheld anyway.

What you should do is approach a merchant service, instead, and apply for credit card services. What has this got to do with your need for small business loans? A lot. Through the same merchant service from whom you get your credit card services, you can get cash advances that are just like small business loans, albeit with lower ceilings. That would not be a problem given your smaller capital needs.

But what are credit card services? Is this the same as applying for a credit card? No. It is actually the other end of the equation. Credit card services allow you to accept payments through credit or debit cards in person, through the internet, by phone and by fax. The merchant service provides you with terminal equipment for physically swiping the cards and the software and high speed IP solutions necessary for all kinds of transactions.

Having credit card services is actually necessary for practically any home business that is involved with sales. The ability to accept debit and credit card payments will boost your income. Having multiple payment options, such as person-to-person, online, phone and fax payments, will further attract more customers.

Most merchant services require only a short minimum period to determine your business’ capability to generate credit card and debit card sales. Your average monthly income through your credit card services will be the basis for the amount of cash advances you will be allowed to make. You will not be required to put up any collateral at all. It is like getting pre-approved small business loans. But there’s more good news. You need not scrimp and save to muster enough cash for loan repayment every month. All you need to do is attend to your business and its profitability. As your credit and debit card payments roll in every month, a certain percentage is automatically paid to the merchant service for your loan. You need not worry about it since you will always be able to afford your payments. Your customers will ensure that.

As your business grows and your sales multiply, you may qualify for bigger and bigger cash advances that you can use to further expand your home business. And you’re on your way to the big time.

If you are one of the many people who has planned to get into the Internet freelancing industry, there are some important things you must know. Outlined below are 4 necessary things you must have so that you can start your online freelancing business easier and be more successful when running the business.

1. Website

Even if you are just starting out with your online freelancing business or even if you simply wish to make use of bidding sites for freelancing, never forget the importance of having a website. Your freelancing website should contain information about yourself, what your credentials are, and what you are capable of doing. If you have a good website for your online freelancing business, it would be easier for potential customers to trust you with the work they require.

2. Portfolio

When starting a freelancing business over the internet, you would need to publish your own portfolio. If you already have a website, putting your information there is necessary. Potential clients will first be looking at this portfolio to get to know your skills as well as what your freelancing business has to offer. They would want to see your previous works in order for them to determine if your capabilities fit their needs. For this reason, you must be sure to publish your best works that exemplify exactly what you can offer to your clients.

3. Rates

Your website should contain all the pertinent information regarding what kind of services your online freelancing business can offer. Depending on whether or not you have standard rates for your services, you may choose to publish prices in your online freelancing website or advice your visitors to contact you so you can provide them with a quotation for the work they require. However, you must take into consideration that some people prefer to see rates and prices immediately rather than wait for a quote. If you do not have standard prices for your services, you can simply publish a price range for all the services you offer just to give your visitors an idea of what to expect. If the price range that you publish suits their budget, they will contact you for a more specific quotation.

4. Legitimacy

The World Wide Web is open to everyone and there are thousands of business websites that are not registered. However, it is better to have your business registered at least with your local government. Doing this will help you gain the trust of your potential customers. This will also allow you to advertise your freelancing services in your local newspaper. If you opt to do this for your online freelancing business, you will have more chances of gaining clients since more individuals would rather work with registered businesses especially for legal and accounting purposes. This will also help you develop a better reputation for your freelancing business and it will give your potential customers an impression that it is safe to do business with you.