Control Small Business Costs

A business plan is a necessity for obtaining business startup loans and funding for your business. Without one, most banks and investors will not even consider providing you with business startup loans or other funding for your new business. But a business plan provides more than just the opportunity to receive funding. Properly done it is also a blueprint for you to map out your future success in a written plan that you can stick to.

A business plan for the sole purpose of receiving a small business startup loan must contain several components. The first few pages include the Executive Summary and the Table of Contents. After this is the company description. This is one of the most important sections of a business plan. Your company description will give potential investors a short history of your small business along with the future you are planning for it. It describes plans you might have to expand your business. For purposes of getting small business startup loans, this is one of the sections that loan providers and investors are most interested in.

In the company description, you will want to avoid mentioning that your business is a startup business. Startup businesses are considered very risky investments by most investors. As an alternative, outline details of what you have contributed to the industry that you are currently in or plan on entering. Without sounding arrogant, mention some details or things that you have changed or something you have done differently than others in your market that has proved to be successful. Also, discuss how your business has grown in recent months or years and don’t be shy about your predicted growth. Your excitement and passion regarding your new business needs to be seen in the writing of your business plan to help increase your chances of getting a business startup loan.

One of the last parts of a well-written business plan, but certainly not the least important, is your marketing plan analysis. This is an explanation of your demographics using facts and figures and a study done about your new, potential customers and clients. This section also explains your advertising plans, especially your target market and how you intend to reach them. This section must show that you have done extensive research, appropriate with your market to ensure that your product or service has a large demand. In order to obtain small business startup loans, you will also need to include a sound financial plan, including pro-forma financial statements for your new business.

With the worries and frustrations of starting a small business, small business costs are generally the biggest worry. Thankfully, in today’s society entrepreneurs can obtain business startup loans and other forms of capital to carry them through the slow times and help them finance their small business. The professional and most effective way to acquire a small business loan will be to create a well-written, though out business plan. Without a plan, most investors and banks will not give your business a second look.

The Customer Experience is All Marketing

If you think about it, service (including everything from wait times, cleanliness and safety) is marketing.  Anything where you are interacting with a customer is marketing, because that customer has a choice about using your services again based on his/her experience.  So, I thought I would write a brief post about a recent trip to the car wash.

There is a car wash near my house but I will never go there again.  I now drive an extra 15 minutes to a different one.  I think of things I can do near that car wash and drive there. Why?  Because of my three previous experiences.  The first time I went to this car wash there were very few people there.  Everyone was nice.  It was a clean place.  They had a nice waiting area where you could watch TV or read.  It took 25 minutes to wash my car!  In my mind, I am thinking how can it possibly take this long, there is no one here.

I visited the car wash a second time, weeks later with about 30 minutes until I needed to leave … I thought plenty of time.  At 28 minutes, I see my car finally come out of the wash and start lining up to be cleaned inside.  I had to go outside, get my keys and come back later to clean the inside.

On the third visit (which was actually a return from the second visit) it took 45 minutes to wash and clean my car … seriously?  That is ridiculous.

So, they have lost my business because those are unacceptable times to expect someone to wait for a simple car wash.

You can take this logic and apply it to a web site.  If your site is ugly, doesn’t work right, hard to read or has long load times, you may lose customers before you have a chance to interact.

You can read more about marketing ideas, my internet marketing system and how I use social media strategy and web marketing expertise to create, implement and manage your online marketing and presence, on my local internet marketing experts web site.

 

Business Ideas For Women

There are many advantages for women if they go in for work at home jobs. The main advantage is that they come to know how business is normally done, learn the tactics of marketing, and also get to know how to communicate with people effectively. This experience may be counted in the future if they decide to step into the corporate world. For instance, if a small business women entrepreneur decides to do a job in a company, the experience that she gets when operating her own home based business can be used for this job position. Moreover, home based businesses also allow women to have the freedom to work whenever and however they desire.

Some Home Based Business Ideas for Women

Writing

If you have strong written communication skills, you can use it to write and earn money. There are several options available when it comes to writing. Writing for the web is a very good alternative that a majority of women are opting for. You can get into many writing fields such as article writing, content writing, freelance writing, resume writing, etc. This is a very good platform for you to express your views and also obtain knowledge of various things.

Catering

There is no doubt that women are experts in cooking. Along with cooking for the home, you can start a small catering business. You would simply need some extra cooking material and an effective marketing strategy. Initially, you would need to give free samples of the food that you can make. As people come to know about the food’s taste and quality, you can start charging, but at lower rates as compared to other established caterers. Once you start getting contracts and catering orders, you can even choose to increase your business by hiring cooks and assistants. Keep less specialties until you are well settled with your catering business. Remember, in this business, goodwill is a very important factor.

Yoga Teaching

You also have a very good option of starting a yoga teaching school, as many people do yoga to remain fit. You may need to undergo special training and a certification course for becoming a yoga teacher. After you become a certified yoga trainer, you can distribute handbills and brochures, or even advertise on the Internet. You can earn a respectable amount by teaching yoga to people.

Wedding Planning

This is a good choice for women who love planning, decorating, coordinating and making arrangements for weddings. If you have the knowledge of where to get the best wedding dress from, which is the best caterer in town, and which is the least expensive florist, then you are perfect for this job. If you want to become a wedding planner, you require strong social skills, as you need to interact with all kinds of people. You might earn a considerable amount if you are all set in the wedding planning business.

Patio and Gardening Designing

If you have a wide understanding of plants, gardens, patio decoration, and many similar things; you may choose to assist people in decorating their house gardens and patios. You would not find many people owning such a kind of business. This can be a reason for making your own identity as a gardening and patio designer. Moreover, you do not even need to complete any kind of formal training or course.

Interior Decorating

Some women are extremely good at decorating their house, keeping it clean, and making required modifications, so that their house looks neat, attractive, and well organized. If you wish, you can undergo the interior decoration training. You can offer you services to clients who need to decorate their house interiors in an attractive manner.

For more business ideas, visit us here.