3 Essential Tools for Starting and Maintaining a Small Business

We believe that there are 3 factors that drive the success of small businesses.


1) Acquiring start-up capital
2) Finding customers
3) Accounting for, budgeting and controlling sales and expenses



The following resources will help your small business achieve these success factors.

Acquiring Start-Up Capital


An adequate supply of capital is essential as many profitable businesses fail because they don't have enough cash to pay their employees and suppliers. But what is an adequate supply of capital? The only way to tell is by doing a significant amount of research on your potential market and formally documenting this in a business plan. I'm sure you know that a business plan is a very important document that is crucial to convincing your banker to lend you money.


There are two ways to obtain a business plan.


1) Do it yourself by amending a business plan template, or
2) Hire a professional to do it for you.


Obviously obtain 1) will be a great deal cheaper.


Our research led to a website that has over 60 high quality and free business plan templates. We also found a directory that you can use to easily find a business plan writer in your city — where ever you live in the world.


Finding Customers


Finding customers is a difficult and expensive task for service business owners such as accountants, lawyers and plumbers. We believe that a cost effective marketing strategy for service business owners is to simply give all their personal contacts a few business cards.


Our research led to a few websites that have pre-designed business card templates. We felt that the diversity and quality of these designs was outstanding. In addition, we found that you can obtain a significant saving by finding a printing service on the Internet. We found that you could get 2,000 full color business cards for as little as US $150.


Accounting For, Budgeting and Controlling Revenue and Expenses


Accurate accounting is very important for small business owners. It's essential that you have timely access to information that could make or break your business. If stocks are running low — you need to know about it. If a large proportion of your debtors haven't paid — you need to know about it. If you do not react to these situations quickly you may have a situation where you don't have enough money to pay your employees — or worse still someone is stealing cash out the till.


Our research led to a website that compares and reviews top accounting software for small businesses. The cheapest software cost US $89.99 and the most expensive software cost US $1,499. It was interesting to note that the top 3 ranked websites were not the most expensive and cost between US $250 - US $300.


Hopefully you now have an idea of some of the tools that you can use to grow and maintain your small business. If you would like to benefit from our research please visit our website. We do not charge for this research and offer the content freely on our website.


About the author:
http://www.best-quality-small-business-resources.com/

Ryan Hough is the webmaster of best quality small business resources.com, who's aim is to help you save time and money by finding reviews and case studies that will enable you to choose the best resources at the right price.

More Resources

Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 403, exiting

More Accounting Information:

Related Articles

Do You Need Accounting Software For Your Small Business
If you're anything like me then you dislike with a vengeance doing your accounts and taxes.
Do You Think That Your Workload Is Hampering Your Killer Marketing Activities?
You need an extra effort not the extra workload. Today when competition is high and consumers have many options to choose, an extra effort towards improvement of your product, managing your customers and taking care of other aspects of your business will give you advantage over your competition. You need to multiply your time may be you can keep your margin low, but will give you more volume and increase in your turnover.
Explode Your Consulting Income
Here are just a few ways to increase and diversify your income from your consulting business.
Five Leadership Secrets for Challenging Times
We consistently face new and ever growing challenges in the workplace such as reorganizing, downsizing, and "left out sizing." We are faced with the question, "How do we lead in this storm of change?" It may seem difficult at times and the decisions we make define our short-term and long-term outcomes. I will share with you five leadership techniques guaranteed to keep you on track during these difficult times.
Five Reasons to Incorporate a Company Offshore
When it comes to the term 'offshore' used in conjunction with company incorporation, the term 'offshore' generally refers to any jurisdiction other than one in which the company incorporated will conduct the majority of its activities.
Four Simple Steps To Better Results With Your Resume
Is every job description you read the same? No.
How to Choose the Right Accounting Software for Your Business
With any good luck and a good amount of hard work, you're having the same problem many business owners today are facing. Your business is growing rapidly and you're having problems controlling your finances. Time and time again, that Microsoft Excel spreadsheet you've been using just isn't getting the job done for you.
Bookkeeping
Bookkeeping is an essential skill which must be mastered before running a business of your own. It is not only important for tax returns and calculating the overall tax liability of your business each year, but it is also imperative for cash flow analysis and financial forecasting.
See Your Business Excel With Accounting Help
A known fact in the corporate or the business world is that the accountancy department of any firm or organization is the most vital department. When a business is set up, the person setting up the business thinks about the profits that the firm might make in the future.
Why Conventional Financial Statements Do Not Answer All Questions
An integrated understanding all of all the three components of a financial statement - Income statement, Balance sheet and a Cash flow statement is required to understand the operations of any business.
Check Out What A Cash Flow Statement Does Not Tell You
Cash flow statements alone do not tell you the whole story. Just knowing that cash has increased or decreased by X dollars does not tell us the whole story.
Spend Your Profit on Your Business
Businesses go under or go bankrupt, because of poor management and poor mapped out goals. You need to have a clear set of daily goals. Management should be in charge of making sure each set of goals is achieved. If management falls behind, so does the business.
Earn More With The Help Of Small Business Accounting
Handling accounts of any business is a Herculean task and requires quite a lot of expertise on the part of any accountant or bookkeeper. Due to the lack of time and hurry, many big or small organizations are approaching small business accounting firms, as these are more capable and also offer perfect solutions to any firm's accounting woes.
What Is GGAP And Why Is It So Important
GAAP is an acronym for generally accepted accounting principles. Financial statements are usually prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles that have been codified over a period of time. It is the responsibility of the management to prepare the financial statements.
How To Read Financial Statements - Understanding Cash Flows
Cash flows, both inflows and outflows are the heartbeat of any business. Various groups of people focus on this. Lenders and investors, business managers and last but not the least, investors.