How to start a Small Business

Image via Wikipedia

Starting a small business comes with many risks involved.  It's not easy to start any business, large or small. It involves a lot of hard work.  As you are about to become an owner of a small business, it's important to realize the various challenges you'll face in different aspects of the start up process.  A small business no matter the products or services offered needs to plan accordingly while achieving the goals needed to exist within the market.

You must network

This is one of the most important steps in starting a new small business.  Networking means that you are expanding your network of businesses as well as friends who could end up aiding you in starting your small business.  You can join the Chamber of Commerce within your region.  Anyone could benefit greatly from the advice of other business professionals. Join professional networking websites.  These websites can make you more aware of the business world as well as opportunities, which do exist locally to your small business.  Embrace your family and friends.  Inform them about your new small business while seeking their advice. There may be people in your immediate circle that can provide more insight and experience than you realize.

Research and understand what you are getting into

A lot of planning, knowing your competition as well as a thorough study of the market is necessary in starting your small business. One of the best ways to start is by doing a S.W.O.T analysis, in which you examine your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Strengths and weaknesses are internal factors and opportunities and threats are external factors that have an impact on the success of your business.  These are very important points you should keep in mind in starting your small business.  Select the best opportunities among the many, which do exist for beginning business owners.  You can create or add to an existing business idea.  Prepare a business plan.  Finalize the plans on what kinds of business you want to have or do currently have.  Gain complete knowledge about the market as well as investment opportunities with your company while preparing this business plan.  Keep in mind that strategic consultants can prepare these for you but with an ironclad contract and they charge hourly for their services.

Family and friends

You might want to consider being funded through family and friends, financial institutions or banks.  Each of these options needs some degree of authority over the money, which they lend to you for your small business.

How should I list my small business?

Choose a legal structure for your small business.  Run your business as a sole proprietor or you can enter into a partnership.  Register the business, which is when you will find out the rules and regulations of commencing your business.  Keep a back up for your business by opting for small business insurance.

Do not forget Accounting and bookkeeping.  From the beginning, you or someone you hire should keep the books on a regular basis.  This will aid you in avoiding any type of future financial difficulty.

You have various options when searching for ways to finance your business.  After the business plan is prepared, the next step should be arranging for the funds for your small business.  Calculate how much capital will be needed while looking for the many options available.  Remember you want to start a small business first look within your own personal savings.  Other options to consider are banks and investors.  Financial institutions and investors however will always ask for a share in the management as well as profits.  You may need to also submit collateral as a backup for money given by these institutions.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Business Plan Help - Financial, Marketing Strategic Development (business-resources.suite101.com)
• Visa Enhances Visa Business Network With New Capabilities for Small Businesses (eon.businesswire.com)
• What to Consider Before Starting a Small Business (entrepreneurs.suite101.com)

Cutting your Utility Bill

Image via Wikipedia

Few things suck worse than high utility bills. So, what can you do to cut energy costs?

Obviously, the best way to cut your utility bill is to go with a non-utility company source of energy. Solar power can be used to warm your house, while geothermal can be used to cool and heat the home. While these are great choices, there are other simple steps you can take to cut that monstrous utility bill.

Vent Covers – In most homes, there are rooms that rarely get used. A very simple and very cheap way to cut your heating costs is to isolate those rooms from the rest of your home. To do this, you should close the vents in the room. The vents, however, rarely close well. To make the strategy effective, you should buy vent covers and place them over the vents. The covers are a form of plastic and keep heat from coming out of the vents. Next, close the door to the room in question and leave it. By using this strategy, you can effectively make your home smaller by excluding the square footage that has to be heated. The smaller the area, the smaller the amount of money to heat the home.

Windows – Windows are the single biggest energy wasters in your home. Your windows must seal tightly. If they don’t, heat will escape out of them causing your heater to fire up over and over. If you make sure your window fit tightly into the frame when closed, you can significantly cut the utility bill. It sounds like a small thing, but it really adds up over the course of a month/year.

Programmable Thermostat – Heating your home accounts for fifty percent of your utility bill. While a warm home is necessary for basic living in the winter, the home doesn’t need to be heated all of the time. If there are periods during the day where nobody is home because of work or school, a programmable thermostat can be used to slash your heating costs. Simply program the thermostat to turn off during the relevant time and turn back on before anyone gets home. Cutting four to eight hours off of your heating needs each day will add up quickly on your utility bill.

If your utility bills are completely out of control, there is something fundamentally wrong with your home. You need to go ahead and get an Energy Audit. An auditor will come out and inspect your home. They can then identify the problem, what should be done and provide other tips to slash your bill. Depending on how bad your situation is, an energy audit can cut your utility bill by 50 percent or more.

Power costs are high and expected to continue to increase for the foreseeable future. Take steps to cut your utility bill now and you’ll reap the benefits for years.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Save Money on Home Heating Costs in the Winter (homerenorepair.suite101.com)
• Hybrid Electric Water Heaters (brighthub.com)
• Save Money on Home Cooling Costs in the Summer (homerenorepair.suite101.com)

Common Money mistakes . . .

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

If you feel as though you keep making the same mistakes when it comes to money, there's good news.

By making a few small, practical changes in your behavior, you can often correct financial mistakes and make some positive changes that are likely to last. Here are four examples.

• Eliminate emotional spending: Before you head off to the mall, take a minute to note what you are feeling. In a recent study by moneycentral.msn.com, people who had just watched a sad movie clip were willing to spend more than those who had just watched other types of movies.

Remember, if you are feeling sad or frustrated, there are ways other than shopping to make yourself feel better.

• Pay off credit card debt as soon as possible: Take a long look at how much you are paying to borrow money from your creditors. Think about consolidating debt with a single loan that has a lower interest rate that's fixed.

• Start planning for retirement now: If you are not saving money for retirement, you should be. A recent study in USA Today showed that currently, 53 percent of people in the workforce have no pension and 32 percent have nothing set aside for retirement. If you're planning on relying just on Social Security, you probably should think again. The current average payout is just $955, or $11,460 annually-and could be even less, depending on your work history. You should consider working with a financial professional and completing a personalized financial profile. This can help determine how much you need to start saving in order to reach your financial goals, such as retirement, education savings for your children and other goals.

• Prepare for the unexpected: Don't use the "it would never happen to me" excuse when dealing with something as critical as your family's financial future. Sudden accidents or unexpected critical health problems happen every day to those who least expect it. If you are the breadwinner of a young family, according to the experts at Kiplinger's, life insurance protection of eight to 12 times your annual income is recommended. Most experts agree that the most affordable form of insurance is term insurance. According to Kiplinger's, "Dollar for dollar, term life insurance gives you the most protection for your money. Period."

Related articles by Zemanta

• Suze Orman: Top Money Mistakes Women Make (lifescript.com)
• Best places for business and to find jobs (e1evation.com)
• Student Credit Cards: If You're Going to Do it, Do it Smart. (distance-education.org)

Five Penny Pinching Tips

Image by shainelee via Flickr

So many people dream of being a millionaire and retiring with a healthy bank account, but how many people will actually achieve it? Very very few. This is mostly due to lack of discipline in building up their retirement fund and poor spending habits. While building a retirement fund requires time, you can accelerate the process by making incremental but positive changes in your spending habits. Here are fice ways that you can change your daily lifestyle for more positive results in your spending habits:

1. Have you ever noticed how much time you spend sitting in front of the television?  Besides, the time you free up can be used for more useful tasks such as teaching your kids or learning a new skill. Turn the television off and unplug it when you aren't using it. In fact, all household appliances should be unplugged when they aren't in use. Its the best way to keep your electric bill low and save energy.

2. If you are an avid reader, use the public library whenever possible. There is no need to buy the latest books from bookstores like Borders unless it is in a category that does not fit into a public library. The public library will usually acquire popular titles after some times. Learn to be patient. If you aren't into the public library, try an online merchant that has used books available for literally pennies on the dollar, like Biblio.com.

3. Use a bicycle if the destination is within 30 minutes by car. If you can reach your destination within ten minutes by car, consider leaving the car behind and walk instead. You will save money on gasoline and parking fees. This can easily add up to a few thousand dollars a year. Obviously one of the other benefits of this is health and fitness! This helps promote blood circulation in your body and also reduces environmental pollution. You can also save on gasoline and parking fees.

4. Dine at home more frequently. You can experiment with different recipes and save some money at the same time. In addition, you are honing your cooking skills and this could be very useful for the home dining experience. Remember, the money you spend eating out daily adds up over time. If you eat out 2-3 times a day at $7 or so per meal, you'll spending $14-$21 PER DAY! Can you afford it?

5. How much does your daily coffee at Starbucks cost? Bring your own coffee to office. Many people like to drop by a Starbucks or similar coffee outlet and end up spending a few dollars or more on a cup of coffee. You can potentially save many dollars each week just by making your own coffee at home and bringing it to your work place in a Thermos. Besides, who knows, it may taste better than the coffee from Starbucks! If you really cannot live without Starbucks coffee, consider getting a Starbucks rebate card. You can use the rebates to redeem free Starbucks coffee after you have accumulated enough points.

These five ways are a good start for changing unhealthy spending habits. However, you should continue to research and incorporate more healthy habits that contribute to the building of your retirement fund. By re-investing the money saved from using these tips, you will be many steps ahead of your peers and closer to your retirement goals.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Recession-battered consumers play it safe (theglobeandmail.com)
• How to Be a Savvy Cheapskate (usnews.com)

How to set up an Emergency Fund

Image by Myles! via Flickr

None of us have the ability to foresee the future or predict the obstacles/hurdles ahead. This makes building an emergency fund an absolute necessity. Building an emergency fund is healthy for your financial well being, since you’re rarely given advance notice of a setback or an accident which will keep you out of work for an extended period. It is also a safety net that can save you from bankruptcy or severe financial hardships in the event of your expenses or income quickly shifting in the wrong direction.

Housing a small rainy day fund should be an essential component of an individual’s financial goals. This is of high importance if you don’t already have readily available funds in your account for covering any unanticipated expenses. They provide financial security because they give you funds to fall back on if you become ill, or if you or your spouse loses their job, you incur large medical bills, or have an unexpected large bill such as a major car or home repair. You do not want to end up in a situation where you have to buy daily necessities on credit and end up payments on groceries you bought two years back on credit, with a further 10-18% interest on it.

Saving your money in a small account for emergencies is definitely a better alternative to taking a loan or cashing in your long-term investments. If you take a loan, there is the additional burden of paying interest. Liquidation of your investments before maturity means not only will you lose out the interest, but also some part of the original investment. This will also be a major setback in your overall financial plan.

Successfully building an emergency fund depends on the consistency of your saving habits, and resisting the urge to dip into this rainy day fund for non-emergencies. This money should be kept separate from the general savings account. Otherwise you will be tempted to dip into these monies even if you simply run over your budget at a certain point. A substantial part of this emergency fund account should be invested in low risk funds. This ensures that your investment does not lose its value in case you need the money. Also, it should be extremely liquid, to give you access to the cash easily and quickly if you need it.

The size of the special savings account will depend on your personal situation. People often keep three to six months’ salary in the reserve. But you will have to decide on an appropriate amount based factors such as your dependents and fixed monthly expenses.

If you are single with no obligations, and have a reliable support system of friends or relatives during a financial crisis, you might not need a substantial amount stashed in this fund. This is opposed to someone who needs to pay nursing costs for his aging parents and supporting a young family. The more people you support, the more likely you are to have unexpected or unplanned costs. This doesn't mean that you shouldn't have that rainy day stash. You're just afforded a little more than others.

While making a decision about an emergency fund, you should also take into account the degree of difficulty you'd have in finding a new job if you lost the present one. In case of a two-income household, the contribution of both parties should be weighed while calculating how much you should keep aside.

You may not be able to gather your emergency fund money together at once. Treat it as a financial goal and add to it over time. If you get a tax refund, put it in your special rainy day account. Maybe a part of the bonus at work! That may sound foreign to many of you, people view that as extra spending money, but in order to achieve financial goals and stability it takes discipline and tough decisions.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Oh, you wanted a budget with, like, numbers and stuff? (politics.nashvillepost.com)
• Multiple Savings Accounts, Multiple Goals (bucks.blogs.nytimes.com)
• 10 Ways to Be Debt-Defying (lifescript.com)

Watch your Spending Costs closely

Image via Wikipedia

Have you ever noticed that the things you buy every week at the grocery and hardware stores go up a few cents between shopping trips from time to time? Not by much…just by a little each week, But they continue to creep up and up.

All it takes for the price to jump up by a lot is a little hiccup in the world wide market, note the price of gasoline as it relates to world affairs.

There is a way that we can keep these price increases from impacting our personal finances so much and that is by buying in quantity and finding the best possible prices for the things we use and will continue to use everyday… things that will keep just as well on the shelves in our homes as it does on the shelves at the grocery store or hardware store.

For instance, dog food and cat food costs about 10% less when bought by the case than it does when bought at the single can price and if you wait for close out prices you save a lot more than that.

Set aside some space in your home and make a list of things that you use regularly which will not spoil. Any grain or grain products will need to be stored in airtight containers that rats can’t get into so keep that in mind.

Then set out to find the best prices you can get on quantity purchases of such things as bathroom items and dry and canned food.

You will be surprised at how much you can save by buying a twenty pound bag of rice as opposed to a one pound bag but don’t forget that it must be kept in a rat proof container.

You can buy some clothing items such as men’s socks and underwear because those styles don’t change, avoid buying children’s and women’s clothing, those styles change and sizes change too drastically.

Related articles by Zemanta

• GDP Out Of Control...Take Back Control of Your Life...Prepare for the Worst and Hope (and Pray) For the Best (totallyready.com)

Why is making a Budget so important?

Image via Wikipedia

Yesterday I introduced the basics of a budget, today I discuss why you should absolutely make one. You say you know where your money goes and you don’t need it all written down to keep up with it? I issue you this challenge. Keep track of every penny you spend for one month and I do mean every penny.
You will be shocked at what the tiniest of expenses add up to. Take the total you spent on just one unnecessary item for the month, multiply it by 12 for months in a year and multiply the result by 5 to represent 5 years.

That is how much you could have saved AND drawn interest on in just five years. That, my friend, is the very reason all of us need a budget.

If we can get control of the small expenses that really don’t matter to the overall scheme of our lives, we can enjoy financial success.

The little things really do count. Cutting what you spend on lunch from five dollars a day to three dollars a day on every work day in a five day work week saves $10 a week… $40 a month… $480 a year… $2400 in five years….plus interest.

See what I mean… it really is the little things. You still get to eat lunch everyday and that was only one place to save money in your daily living without doing without one thing you really need. There are a lot of other places to cut expenses if you look for them. Distinguishing

Set some specific long term and short term goals. There are no wrong answers here. If it’s important to you, then it’s important period. This is your money, your life, YOU need to be in control. Don't be at the mercy of your spending habits.

If you want to be able to make a down payment on a house, start a college fund for your kids, buy a new car, take a vacation… anything… then that is your goal and your reason to get a handle on your financial situation now.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Money Saving Tips and Ideas For Everybody (personalbudgeting.suite101.com)
• How to Save Money - Three Simple Steps (building-personal-savings.suite101.com)
• Ways to Save Without Regret (youngmoney.com)