Small Business Information


Franchise Company Operations Manual Sample Outline


Many companies wish to expand and a few wish to use franchising as a method of expansion. Not a bad idea, but one must consider the importance of the fine details.

Business Owners - Do You Actually Own a Job?


How many hours do you work a week? When was the last time you took an uninterrupted holiday? Do your staff have a better job than you? Now ask yourself, Do I Own a Business or a Job- with Overheads? Are you happy about the answers to these questions? If not, read on.In Empower Business Solutions experience, too many owners, after investing their time and money, have not got a fair return from their business.

How to Find a Microenterprise Loan for Your Business


If you're looking for start-up capital for your business, but you don't have the credit, collateral or background needed by your bank to get a business loan, then microenterprise might be your best bet.Microenterprise Development programs have been around since the 1970s.

Outsourcing and Virtual Assistants: Small Business Saviors


Work smarter, not harderWhat is one of the best ways to work smarter without working harder? The answer is outsourcing. Whether you need occasional or ongoing assistance, outsourcing can save you money and time.

Grants vs. Contracts


Commonly folks have asked me what the technical difference is between a contract and a grant. The difference is not about the dollar value or who the buying entity is nor the kind of work being done.

FFP vs. CPFF Contracts


SBIR Corner: FFP vs. CPFF contracts:In the SBIR/STTR world, the single most important decision you need to make is whether you are going to bid a job as Firm Fixed Price (FFP) or as Cost plus Fixed Fee (CPFF).

SBIR vs STTR


SBIR vs. STTR: If you are participating in the SBIR program you may also want to consider participating in the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program.

10 Best Practices to Consider as Your SBIR Negotations Approach Contract Signature


10 Best Practices to consider as your SBIR negotiations approach contract signature:1. Draft your confirmation of negotiations, be sure to memorialize that this is an SBIR type contract along with the applicable data rights and SBIR related terms and conditions.

SBIR - A Nice Add-on Business


If you are a small business and qualify to participate in the SBIR program, it is a natural enhancer to your existing business. If you are small enough you may be able to start a company using SBIR funding, but you will soon come to realize that if your sources of income are not diversified (with SBIR being only one source) you might fall victim to funding cycles and no income.

Why You Need A Virtual Assistant


How much is your time really worth? Is it worth £50 an hour or £100 an hour? YOUR time is most valuable because it is your responsibility to generate new revenue for your business. Doing small and often trivial admin chores yourself does not really add value to your business and the sensible solution is to delegate those less profitable tasks by hiring someone more than capable of carrying them out, but who's hourly rate is somewhat less than your real financial worth.

Write An Effective Job Proposal


I am simply amazed at the problems some of my colleagues are experiencing regarding writing job proposals for customers. So often I hear that there has been some sort of disagreement between client and service provider, something that can and should be avoided before a project is started.

How to Start Home Based Travel Businesses


Home based travel businesses are no longer the wave of the future. Home travel businesses are the hot trend right now.

Australian Workplace Agreements - How They Work For You


The employer / employee relations environment has been constantly evolving during the last 25 years. In Australia, as in many western nations, the balance between employers and employees has shifted back and forwards usually in response to supply and demand.

Challenging the Gospel of Growth -- Must Business Grow to Survive?


A cherished business doctrine is that growth must be a primary business purpose: "grow or perish" is a mostly unquestioned truth. At South Mountain we favor certain kinds of growth, but not expansion for its own sake, which author Edward Abbey described as "the ideology of the cancer cell.

Market Makers Play a Significant Role in Reverse Mergers


One overlooked individual in the process of taking a company public through reverse merger is the market maker. The market marker is critical especially if the company is going to be listed on OTC Bulletin Board or the NQB.

Is Your Business Making Money?


Is your business making money? Would you know?Figuring out whether your business is actually making money is no easy task. Most small business owners have a pretty good idea of what their top line is (their revenues), but unless they're closely tracking and inputting all of their expenses, the bottom line can often come as a complete surprise.

Going Public: Now that You Have Successfully Made the Transition, What Do You Do?


Ok, you have successfully accomplished your dream of being the CEO of a public company. The stock of your company has a symbol and you are continually going to the computer to check the price, you tell all your relatives and friends and you even tried to encourage them to buy the stock.

In Home Daycare Businesses for Profit


To have one of the popular in home daycare businesses. Many people think all you have to do is love kids and have a home.

Small Business Survival


In today's economic climate, the first priority for the small business entrepreneur is survival. A glance at newspapers, business journals, or cable news channels reveals a succession of corporations striving to stay on top of their game, and often failing, to slow the growth of outsourcing or to show real growth within their market space.

Private Investigator Tactics


A Private Investigator is a professional trained in the art of investigations and surveillance. Otherwise known as Private eyes or, these professionals are for hire 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

A Gift Basket Home Business is an Easy Way to Wrap up Profits


You want to know more about making money with your own gift basket home business. You are a creative person and want a career that you can control and find rewarding at the same time.

Bringing Home the Bacon


In general, all of us know how to accomplish the task and get the work done. The problem is in how to actually 'get paid' for what we do.

Government Does Not Pay Its Bills on Time


Many small companies work very hard to get new accounts. Occasionally they try to get government contracts to supply products or services.

How Micro Loans Can Mean Macro Success for Your Business


"Inch by inch, row by row..

The Truth About Government Grants for Your Business


Free money! Receive up to $25,000 that never has to be paid back -- Guaranteed! Get a grant to start your own business today!If you're a small business owner, or you've always dreamed of starting your own business, you've probably run across ads like these. Companies that "guarantee" you'll get a grant to start your own business that never has to be paid back.

How to Get Started As A Government Contractor


Becoming a contractor or sub-contractor for the U.S.

How to Become Successful in the Field of Financial Consultants


Financial Consultants are one of the fastest growing industries today. More and more people are requiring the services of a finance consultant to get out of debt, and/or prepare for educational and retirement expenses.

Facts About Starting Elderly Group Home Businesses


There's been a recent rise in the number of elderly group home businesses springing up everywhere around the world, what with an estimated one in four families providing care for an elderly relative today. Before you decide to jump on the group home business bandwagon, though, you need to know as much as possible.

Credit Repair Business Opportunities - Huge Profit Potential!


In the world today, many people are further in debt than they realize. When they finally come to understand they need help, they are on the brink of bankruptcy.

How to Profit from a Concrete Roof Tile Business


Concrete Roof Tile Business:During the 2004 summer season, storms plagued the United States. Damages from the Hurricanes in Florida alone sent resources in the southern states scrambling.

S Corporation - What Is It?


For many small businesses, the "S" corporation is the business entity of choice. The "S" in S corporation refers to a tax designation.

Self-Employment: Managing Your Money: Tips for Living with a Fluctuating Cash Flow (Part One)


The way you manage your money is one of the first things you'll change when you move from employment to self-employment.You are moving from an environment where you received income in equal amounts at set intervals to one where your income fluctuates.

Recognizing Employees' Contributions Can Go a Long Way


Every employee would like to earn as high a salary as they can at their job but surprisingly it's not the number one motivating factor for them in the workplace. Human resource surveys indicate that wages are not even among the top five motivating factors for an employee.

City Wide Garage Sales: Hidden Riches!


Most of us remember going to at least one garage sale in our lives. It may have been called a yard sale, garage sale or flea market.

Corporate Shells


A corporate shell could be liken to a house that had been occupied by a family, prior to the family moving out it was a home. But now it is just shell, a skeleton a plain house with nobody in it, but if a family was to purchase the house and moves in, it becomes a home.

Franchising 101- What You Absolutely Need to Know


Franchising has made the world look really small. The well known flavors are now not just restricted to a single town or city but can be enjoyed world wide.

Hispanic Small Business Advantage


One thing I have noticed in my travels to different markets is that Hispanic Small Business Owners have a very distinct advantage. They are friendly and very involved in their communities.

Window Cleaning Business Start Up


Should you buy a business opportunity or Franchise if you want to get into the window cleaning business? Or just start your own and work hard; grow the business into a full-time profession and expand from there? Let us talk briefly about window cleaning franchises is in general.One could argue without too much difficulty that buying a window cleaning franchise is simply a waste of money, after all you could simply go down to be 99 cents store and by a bucket 3 towels and a squeegee and hey, you are in business right? Well one could argue that, since to really be in business, you probably need to get a business license, insurance, buy some business cards and make a few flyers.

Do You Need the Help of a Virtual Assistant?


Running a business, whether large, small or in your home, is full of challenges. Getting the day-to-day tasks completed, e-mail, faxes and telephones answered, bills and statements sent out, reports run, schedule updated, travel arrangements made, marketing pieces and website updated, as well as a plethora of other tasks, can be downright daunting.

6 Steps to a Successful Medical Spa Expansion


According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, since 1997, nonsurgical procedures have increased by 471 percent. Jeff Russell, CEO of MedSpa Financing, comments "Medical Spas are a natural progression of medical practice expansion, having a medical doctor run them gives them the credibility and public confidence needed for their success.


More Resources


Success & The Nature of Things
The story is told of a tiger chasing some goats to catch one for dinner. During the chase the tiger is injured and as she is dying, gives birth to a tiger cub.
Business Owner--Educate Thyself!
Remember the training programs, seminars, and workshops you had to attend when you were on the corporate side of the table? You were expected to complete course after course for professional development and skill enhancement. Well, where do you get your training now that you are on your own? Do you learn from your clients? Are they the best teachers? What about your competitors?Here are six ways to educate yourself and keep your professional edge:Learn from your clients.
7 Cash Flow Secrets Your Accountant Never Told You
Looking for ways to boost your cash flow? As a small business consultant, I make these recommendations to my cash strapped small business clients:1. Shoeboxes are for shoes, not business records.
How to Effectively Design Your Business Image
In many industries, image is one of the last things business owner looks at. If business is not booming, they assume there is something wrong with the sales method, as opposed to the image.
Its Spring - Time For A Compensation Program Tune Up
Now that winter has passed, the annual ritual of spring cleaning is in full swing. Spring cleaning is more than cleaning the windows and clearing the cobwebs that hid in the corners during the winter.
Reaping the Rewards of Cost Cutting
In these days of insecurity and uncertain futures, the tendency is to manage for survival but the smart business leaders are actively hunting for profits.And they are doing this without launching costly new initiatives or major capital investments.
Implementing an Internship Program
CONSIDERING COMPANY NEEDS: In identifying your needs for the internship, you need to examine the chief responsibilities of the position. And the broader they are, the more flexibility you will be giving yourself and the intern.
Doing Business With Friends: Five Tips for Preserving the Friendship... and Your Sanity!
My colleague, Jane, recently lamented to me an all too familiar story about mixing business and friendship. Jane subcontracted copywriting work out her friend, Joan.
Maintaining Your Carpet Extractor in Your Auto Detail Shop
Auto Detailing: Maintaining A Commercial Carpet ExtractorYou should drain your carpet extractor at the end of each use or at least by the end of the day. Do not dump the excess dirty water or soap into a storm drain.
Be Nice to Your Payroll Department
Ok, so next to the taxman, your company payroll department might well be the most criticised people on the planet. Of course, when your pay is accurate and on time then you love the payroll people with a passion but when things go wrong it is a completely different matter.
Grab Your Consumers Attention in a Cluttered World of Marketing Communications
A cluttered world of marketing communications diminishes the ordinary. The consumer can no longer be bother with the dull, trite and a boring hodgepodge of marketing communications that are pandered in front of them every day.
Starting a Tractor Washing Business
In the heavy equipment cleaning business you can make good money and provide an important service for your clientele. You can save them man-hours, chemical costs and free up time for more important needs such as preventative maintenance and repairs.
Getting Behind in Your Work? You Need a Virtual Assistant!
If you don't know what a Virtual Assistant (or VA) is, don't worry. I only came across the term myself about a year ago.
Packing Material Thats Cheap!
Shipping materials can be expensive! Even the styrofoam "peanuts" can cost a great deal. Here's a great idea for packing paterial that is bio-digradable, easy, and best of all.
Aircraft Washing Business Tip - Interior Private Jet Cleaning
Aircraft Interiors of personal and corporate jets have hundreds of thousands of dollars invested. We have had an opportunity to speak at length in Tucson, AZ recently about the special custom interiors the weight they cost in performance and the needs in cleaning.
Postcard Marketing Your Small Business
One of the best marketing strategies a business or organization can use is postcards. Even before the arrival of online postcard printing and mailing services, postcards had a good reputation amongst guerilla marketers because: They are fast, easy and relatively cheap - making them a boon to small business owners who are short on cash and time, yet need to build their brand and stay in front of their customers.
Make Your Business More Profitable
More sales and more profit. Isn't that what you want from your business? It's not hard to achieve if you follow these 4 simple tips.
How to Find Success in the Import Export Business
Take advantage of world politics today and start your own import export business. Are you organized, efficient, and ready to make your future in an opportunity all your own? Import Export Business Opportunities are expanding and there is room for you!In the early nineteen eighties, one of the most popular things in Soviet Russia was American made blue jeans.
Collection Agency Selection
Frankly, given the legal and regulatory requirements involved in attempting to collect a debt, it makes as much sense to do it yourself as it does to try to remove your own appendix. A collection agency is, on the whole, much cheaper than a doctors - and lawyers.
Financial Strategies for a Mobile Car Wash Business Plan
Writing a business plan for a mobile car wash is fairly easy, yet often operators fall down in understanding the financial strategies and costs. Bankers and Investors alike will want to see that you have a well thought out business plan to insure your start-up goes successfully.

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Related Articles


Bringing Home the Bacon
In general, all of us know how to accomplish the task and get the work done. The problem is in how to actually 'get paid' for what we do.
How to Start a Paper Shredding Business
Paper Shredding Business Opportunities are blossoming up everywhere because in recent years, privacy concerns and new policies have forced companies all over the country to invest in paper shredding services. Large corporations and small are in need of shredding services.
Comparing Boston Area for a mobile car wash business
The Boston suburbs seem to be rich with possible locations to wash cars and a mobile car wash would be well served in that market. The customers have good jobs, high paying salaries and indeed demand such personal car washing services.
Small Businesses with BIG NAMES: Protect Your Trademarks and Reap the Rewards
You're a small business owner with a hot new product or service and you're deciding what to name it. Perhaps you've even hired a graphic designer to create a flashy logo to go with it.
Small Home Business: Ad Copy Secrets
So it's time to invest some finances into advertising your business and you are considering producing a flyer to advertise your business. Rather than sweat all night on writing the perfect flyer, first take some time to consider what the experts have found to be effective.
Predicting Business Retirement Satisfaction for Business Owners
Most business owners do not think of selling their companies as "retiring". Instead, these vital entrepreneurs see selling their business as a "transition.
Small Business Marketing - Clarify Success
When you hear the word "success" does it bring on visions of fame and fortune for your business? Have you clarified and articulated what that success will look like for your business and how you'll know when you've achieved it?What's the definition of success for your business? Most small businesses are selling their time and expertise to deliver a service to their clients. So the question I want you to reflect upon is this? "What does success look like?"Now before you start answering with responses like, "I'll do $X Million in sales this year.
Tips and Tricks for Legal Debt Collections
If a customer owes your local business money, it's hard not to feel angry, like you want to do anything possible to get your money back. But the days of going all out to collect on a debt over.
The Misconceptions of the Value Of Disclosures in Franchising
Disclosure laws in franchising are suppose to help the consumer. They don't.
Five Facts and One Motivating Factor Behind a Successful Home Business
All legitimate home business entrepreneurs insist and announce loud and clear that a successful home business is not about an overnight thing. And that you cannot get rich overnight and so on.
Chamber Membership will BOOST your Business
When is the Chamber ideal for your business?Joining a Chamber of Commerce is likely the best thing any business or individual can do. Chambers provide many benefits to members.
You Are Invited
Business card size works well for invitations to special events.What do you visualize when you think about invitations? More than likely you are thinking about a wedding or a party.
Local Government Relations for Small Business
Most small businesses simply go about their daily business and serving customers without ever worrying about local government relations. For some it turns out okay but for others it can become a disaster.
Contract Cleaners - A Guide for Business Part 2
In the first part of this article I put forward 7 questions that I believed were important to ask of your potential cleaning company. In this article I will explain the relevance of the first two questions and the answers you get to you as a business.
Entrepreneurs Ask: What Can a Virtual Assistant Do For Me?
Great question!Freeing your time is an indisputably key element in growing your business! When you delegate tasks to the capable hands of a professional Virtual Assistant (VA), you can quickly and easily refocus your energies on other aspects of business directly linked to generating revenue.Partnering with a professional Virtual Assistant will:Increase your revenue.
Self-Employment: Managing Your Money: Tips for Living with a Fluctuating Cash Flow (Part One)
The way you manage your money is one of the first things you'll change when you move from employment to self-employment.You are moving from an environment where you received income in equal amounts at set intervals to one where your income fluctuates.
In Home Daycare Businesses for Profit
To have one of the popular in home daycare businesses. Many people think all you have to do is love kids and have a home.
Franchise Territories for Mobile Businesses; Why Limitations
In franchising an individual desirous of their own business will sign on with a franchising company and use their brand name, know how and expertise to make a living. The franchisor will generally assign an exclusive territory with limitations.
How to Protect Yourself & Your Business
As a business owner, you already know how important it is for your customers to feel safe about doing business with you. After all, if a customer even suspects he may not receive everything he was promised, then chances are he's taking his business elsewhere.
How to Use Graphs and Charts in Your Business Plan
Many people ask how many graphs or charts they should have in their business plans. As with most other business planning questions, the answer is "it depends.