Why your Business Needs to have a Website

As a small business owner if you have not yet created a website then you have been leaving in cave for some time or just don’t care about improving your business and sales. The internet revolution of the last decade has enabled all kinds of businesses to develop web presence. It is becoming easier to create and operate websites to the point where even 10 year old can do it within hours. It used to cost thousands of dollars several years ago to create a presence on the web. That is not the case anymore. You can setup and operate a website for as little as hundred dollars now. So why do you need to have a website?

There are many advantages of creating a website to advertise and promote your business.  Businesses are more successful when they reach as much of their target audience as possible. The internet has made it simple to achieve this goal, with people all over the world being able to access any website or web page online. Sites such as Web Eden help users create and design their own website using a step-by-step guide and clear tutorials.

The first advantage to having a website is that it is considerably cheaper compared to print advertising. Besides, you can change details or information quickly at no extra cost. Obviously it is in your interest to advertise in as many ways and places as possible. With a website, everything is easily accessible and altered with the click of a button. This means your customers and clients are constantly kept up to date with new information and progress of your business. This makes it easy to launch and advertise new products and services.

Website is also a valuable tool for improving customer service. Businesses close their doors at a certain time which means people can’t access information 24/7. With a website, clients can access all of your information in one place any time of the day. They can also easily find out the best way to contact you. This translates into higher sales and profit. Sites such as Web Eden ensure your website is featured on over 100 search engines, including Google and Yahoo. They also guarantee that your rankings will improve on the sites, which is a great benefit for your business as potential customers looking for services on search engines can find your business easily.

Websites are also a great way to get customer feedback. People can score or comment on your products and services. This helps you find out the market needs and trends and develop products or services that meet those needs. Website consultants allow you to personally create each web page. This means you can have a feedback page or a contact page so that customers can provide their feedback. Creating a website has never been easier and there is no excuse to do it and reap the benefits.

How Can You Prevent Your Business Website Being Hacked

Cyber and internet security is now more important than ever. With organisations such as Anonymous continually targeting government websites, it really does seem like nobody is safe. Of course, it’s highly unlikely that your business and its website will be targeted to this extent, it is best to be prepared for the worst case scenario. In order to make sure your website is safe, and in order to see whether it would be able to withstand being ‘hacked’, you can get it tested. But what is this testing and how can it help you? Here, we explain in detail.

Why Does Your Website Need to be Safe?

Your website needs to be safe so that it can’t be hacked by people who are looking to steal information. If you’re the owner of an e-commerce website this is particularly the case as it’s likely that your website will be strong the information of all of your clients. This could mean that, if your site is hacked, the hackers can take credit card information. This recently happened with TalkTalk, and they’re facing big fines.

How Do You Know if Your Site is Safe?

There are lots of little plug-ins and pieces of software that you can download in order to make your website safer. However, unless you’re a website developer or someone who is incredibly internet savvy, it’s more than likely that you’ll be unsure how vulnerable your website is. Downloading anti-virus software, anti-malware software and installing firewalls are all helpful ways to boost your site’s security, making it a trustworthy source. However, even then you’ll still be unsure of exactly how safe it is. Thankfully, specialists can help with penetration testing. This shows you just how safe your site is.

Penetration testing shows how vulnerable your website is to attacks, meaning that you can ‘plug the gaps’ to make sure it’s safe. It shows how simple it is for a potential hacker to gain access to a website and its data. This includes testing whether employees from within the company can hack the data through the internal firewall.

There are two types of testing, one known as internal testing (more focused on the company and its employees) and one known as external testing (more focused on hackers and people outside the organisation).

To conclude, internet security is highly important, especially with the rise of internet shopping and cyber-attacks. So up your site’s security and install penetration testing to your security system to make sure your site could withstand an attack.

4 Reasons Your Online Sales Are Falling (And How to Reverse It)

Having overcome obstacles to build a business, there’s nothing worse than seeing those sales figures fall.

If you find yourself in this situation, it’s essential that you find the root cause of those problems. More importantly, you must rectify them immediately. No online company can afford to go too long without making the desired impact. If you’re already losing customers, there’s probably a good reason. Leaving it untreated will only make matters worse.

But with these top tricks, you’ll be firing on all cylinders again in no time.

1. Website Feels Outdated
The online environment is evolving at a rapid rate. Quite frankly, what worked three years ago might not cut the mustard in 2016. As such, ensuring that your platform is ready to perform in the current arena is vital.
A modern ecommerce site requires various features to achieve the best results. Customers need to trust your store while a fresh appearance is equally vital too. Unfortunately, and outdated website can have the complete opposite impact.
Whether it’s adding those new features or revamping the esthetic doesn’t matter. Those positive steps will ensure that your site creates a far greater impression. That could go a long way to rebuilding those sales figures.

2. Website Has Lost Its Presence
As you know from the initial construction, a website alone is futile. It’s equally crucial that people are actively visiting. If they cannot find it, then they aren’t going to buy items.
New customers are never going to find the site if it has lost it’s Google visibility. Penalty recover audits will determine whether your SEO strategies need freshening up. Apart from acquiring new traffic, the familiarity should increase repeat business from existing clients.
Furthermore, it will provide the business with a more credible and professional image.

3. Business Has Lost Touch with Customers
One of the worst mistakes that a business can make is trying to slice itself too thin. You can’t please everyone, and attempting to do this can often alienate the key demographic. Considering these are the people most likely to complete sales, this is the last thing you need.
Rediscovering the personality that generated initial success is a must. This can be achieved through rebranding. Turning to social media marketing can be the perfect way to repair any damage and reestablish those positive vibes.
And when you show your commitment to the target customer, it should lead to a sharp increase too.

4. Customers Have No Reason to Buy
Sometimes in business, you need to do something special to encourage increased sales. If you’ve hit a temporary blip, running promotions may be the answer.
All customers love feeling like they’re getting more for their money. Special deals can bring an instant sales boost. Meanwhile, running loyalty schemes can promote your chances of seeing them spend more. Another top trick for doing this is to offer free delivery on orders over a certain value.

Consumers shop on emotional instincts. Give them an extra reason to complete a transaction, and they will. It really is that simple.

Buhari’s administration met economic recession – Ngige

ABUJA – MINISTER of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Nwabueze Ngige has said that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressives Congress, APC, on assumption of office a year ago met economic recession which has affected its programmes.

Senator Ngige who disclosed this in his text to mark the nation’s democracy day and one year in office of the present administration at the federal level also said that his ministry was liaising with the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development for the conversion of countless illegal mining going on in many parts of the country into legal business.

Besides, the minister said that as an important step in protecting the national interest, his ministry was matching efforts with the Ministry of Interior to look at the expatriate quota provision to make sure that expatriates do not displace qualified Nigerians.

To that effect, he explained that already his ministry has a working relationship over the strict observance of this, so that jobs meant for Nigerians would not be lost to expatriates for any reason.

He said: “Since assuming office, I have quietly but relentlessly been active in dialoguing with all social partners to ensure conducive atmosphere for national productivity. “I have unambiguously placed government intentions, positions and challenges on the table for all partners to appreciate and make necessary adjustments in their expectations in the over all interest of the nation.

 “The tenor of last week’s general strike, carried out only by a section of the labour community and its decision to call it off in matter of days speak a lot of our persuasive mechanism and openness which no patriotic organization could ignore.”

Speaking further he said that the government had put in place measures to kick-start self reliance and job loses, which he said had yielded positive results.

According to him: “Notwithstanding the prevailing economic down turn, government is doing its best in the provision of jobs, with emphasis though on blue-collar.

“The main agency of job creation is the National Directorate of Employment, which is under my ministry.

“The NDE has over one hundred skills acquisition centres across Nigeria, apart from the ones owned by some Federal ministries, agencies and states.

“Since I came in, we have embarked on the rehabilitation and re-equipping of these NDE skills centres to enhance their training capacity. We are establishing a liaison with other skill centres owned by other ministries, agencies and state governments so as synchronize and standardize their operations.

“We are working to institutionalize them as training centres whose certificates – Trade Test 1, Trade Test 2 and Trade Test 3 can be recognized internationally just like the City and Guild certificate of the old.

“Trade graduates of these centres such as in tiling, mechatronics, metal works, welding, plumbing, mason, POP production and laying, Info-technology technics among others will primarily find opportunities in the formal and informal sectors and arrest a situation where a dominant percentage of such low cadre skills are provided for us by Ghananians, Togolese and citizens of other west African countries.

“Besides, our liaison with the International labour Migration of the European Union will soon enable this category of Nigerians export their skills as legal migrants to other countries. Our target is to train not less than 300,000 per year and trainings are already on-going in most of our centres.”

On the economic situation that the government met on assumption of office, Senator Ngige said, “It is my firm conviction that the general over view of the polity, especially the extant economic situation is important for us to clearly situate and achieve an unbiased review of the efforts of the present administration in the last 12 months.

“At present, our OPEC production quota is 2.2 million barrels per day but the reality is that we are far away from meeting this target. As we speak, the nation produces between 1.4 – 1.5 barrels per day, meaning that about 800, 000 barrels per day of the quota allocated to us by OPEC is lost.

“So, where other countries battle with over production and being sanctioned by OPEC, we are under-producing, unable to meet our quota. Unfortunate, you may say. This means that when we assumed office, we already had economic recession, crude oil being the major revenue earner for the country.

“Without enough money to take care of the needs and welfare of the citizen, which is the primary purpose of government, the prospect of swiftly fulfilling campaign promises faces serious challenge. Nevertheless, the administration trudged on and has recorded immense successes in many areas. “In the Ministry of Labour and Employment where I have been in service as the Minister since November 11, 2015, a period of about seven months, we have taken significant steps and achieved quite a lot.”

5 Ways Businesses Can Help Each Other Grow

Collaborating with other passionate, driven businesses is a fantastic way for organisations to expand their reach and become more successful. Here are five brilliant ways businesses can help each other to grow.

1. Passing on opportunities

If you come across an opportunity that is not quite the right fit for your business, consider passing on the details to another company instead. In future, that business may do the very same for you and open the doors to new opportunities which could have a huge impact on your firm. Sharing opportunities is a great way to let other businesses know that you support them, and to get their support in return.

2. Sharing resources

By sharing premises, equipment or even work, businesses can maximise their productivity whilst keeping overheads as low as possible. Michelle Henry, manager of HNS Signs, shares resources with Genesis Displays in this way and says that the situation has allowed them to share skills and business as well as costs. However, in order to maintain a successful relationship in these circumstances, it’s important to have a confidentiality agreement so that each business can protect itself against breaches in confidential data.

3. Marketing collaborations

A great way for businesses to share their audiences is to collaborate on marketing campaigns. This could be as simple as one business recommending the other to each new customer, or it could involve more complex special offers in which customers are rewarded with discounts for shopping with other supported businesses. Collaborations could also take place over social media to raise awareness of brands, or they could even lead to the development of new products or services in which the skills of both businesses are combined.

4. Sharing expertise

Running a business requires a vast range of knowledge and skills, and it’s unreasonable to expect every business owner to have all this expertise naturally. The solution is for businesses to share knowledge. For example, the owner of a digital marketing agency may be able to get free advice from an accountancy firm in regards to his finances. In return, the he could offer advice to the accountancy firm to help them improve their social media presence. By sharing expertise or services in this way, businesses can gain valuable knowledge without any extra expense.

5. Using their services

In order to expect small businesses to support you, you must support other small businesses, which means choosing their services over that of larger corporations. By adopting the supportive mindset and making a concerted effort to use smaller vendors and service providers like yourself, you’re more likely to become part of a small business community and see other organisations choose your services in favour of larger competitors.

How Data Science Can Help Small Business

“Data Science” is a term that not everyone is familiar with, so let’s start by defining it: Data Science is an interdisciplinary field focusing on extracting valuable insights from large amounts of information. Remember that movie Moneyball? The Oakland Athletics making draft picks based on their analysis of players’ statistics is a great example of Data Science in action.

But Data Science can be useful for more than just sports. UPS has been using Data Science since the 1980s to track their packages, Netflix uses it regularly to predict the viability of new productions based on its users’ viewing habits, and IBM relies on it to optimally cool its facilities. Some of the biggest companies in the world are using Data Science to grow their profits by streamlining their operations and better forecasting what the future holds.

Small businesses too can benefit from Data Science. While it may seem that a small business owner couldn’t possibly have the time or resources to invest in a process that sounds as complex as “extracting valuable insights from large amounts of information,” let’s examine three real-life examples that will hopefully get you to think again.

1. Farmstead Table

Far from industry titans like UPS, Netflix and IBM is Farmstead Table, an intimate restaurant in Newtown, Massachusetts. While owner Chad Burns is busy cooking, he’s got a Data Scientist (of sorts) working round the clock: Swipely. More than just a point-of-sales system, Swipely integrates analytics to offer Burns otherwise hard to pin down details, like his best customers, top items and even the ROI on his marketing efforts. By collecting, storing and analyzing every transaction made at Farmstead Table, Swipely is giving Burns a depth of information that he would otherwise never reach.

2. Caravana

An online used car marketplace based in Phoenix, Caravana is a start-up that was concerned with one thing: lemons. No one wants to buy a used car that turns out not to run, and Caravana didn’t want to be selling lemons but was unsure how to weed them out. The company turned to Kaggle, an online platform for Data Science competitions, for the solution. Kaggle’s users, with data regional customer preferences and model availabilities, were able to help Caravana avoid lemons while also finding better cars for $500 below what similar vehicles would sell for. Talk about a win-win!

3. Revolve Clothing

This Cerritos, California-based online clothing retailer has been collecting data on customer orders since its inception in 2003, but that information was not easily accessible. That changed in 2011 when its new chief marketing officer, Kobie Fuller, asked Custora for help. A predictive analytics platform for e-commerce, Custora was able to crunch Revolve’s customer orders records and come back to them with valuable insights, like the fact that shoppers who made repeat purchases within 90 days were particularly profitable. Insight in hand, Fuller targeted new customers with an email campaign through the 90-day mark, generating 30 percent more second-time purchases!

By now the value of Data Science and the different ways it can help your small business should be apparent. We’ve ticked off a number of services you can turn to for you various needs, including Swipely, Kaggle and Custora, but if you believe your business requirements are greater than what a pre-packaged service can offer, consider adding a Data Scientist to your employees’ ranks. Better yet, learn the skills you need to become a Data Scientist yourself. It’s clear that Data Science will only be playing a larger and larger role in business as technology advances, and the only way to ensure your small business isn’t left behind is to be on the edge of that evolution.

The Tool That Helps You Define Your Business’ Brand

Today will be a quick post because I’m going to pull from a company called Brand Amplitude and will just give an overview and then send you off to their resources. Brand Amplitude has an awesome tool for helping business owners figure out how they want to brand their businesses and they’ve made it so much more accessible than the original version that they based their tool off of.

That tool is called the Brand Identity Prism and here are the basics:

The prism is a hexagon with 6 pieces that come together to form a rallying cry for your business.

Part one is your capabilities – what your business can do and do well.

Part 2 is your internal values and culture – this is about who are as a company.

Part 3 is your noble purpose – this is why your business does what it does – what impact are you looking to have beyond making money?

Part 4 is personality – this is about your business’ style and how it presents itself and relates to its customers.

Part 5 is shared values and community – this goes beyond your internal values and culture because it’s about which of those values overlap with the values of the customers you serve.

Part 6 is aspirational self image – this is all about what your customers want their use of your brand to say about them.

All of that comes together to inform your rallying cry – the rallying cry often becomes the slogan of a business – it’s what all 6 of the parts add up to and summarizes the core of your brand.

This tool is fabulous to help you define who you are as a company and what that means in terms of how to brand your business – and we all know that a consistent brand is vitally important for you to form a lasting relationship with your customers and to thrive as a business.

Why Entrepreneurs Should Never Stop Learning

In the words of Indra Nooyi, the CEO of Pepsi:

“YOU MUST CONTINUALLY INCREASE YOUR LEARNING, THE WAY YOU THINK, AND THE WAY YOU APPROACH YOUR ORGANIZATION.”

If you want to be successful, you must always be open to learning more, expanding your knowledge, and thinking in different perspectives.

Think of your business like a flower. You must feed, water, and nurture the plant in order for it to bloom into something beautiful. If you do not contribute to the flower’s well-being, it is not going to survive.

That’s how it is in business, too. If you aren’t willing to constantly learn new things to benefit your business, well, your business will lose momentum, and eventually wither away. You don’t want that to happen, do you?

Through my time observing the management styles of multiple different companies, I have observed two types of different entrepreneurial attitudes as shown by this infographic:

As you can see, the styles of these entrepreneurs are polar opposites of each other. Entrepreneur Alex sees his employees as valuable assets to the company while Entrepreneur Bob lives in the mindset that he is already at the top of his profession, so there is no need to acknowledge and learn from his employees.

Take Blockbuster for example. Blockbuster was doing really well for a long time. It had a unique business model, and people turned to Blockbuster to satisfy all their movie cravings. The CEO, John Antioco, was overconfident in Blockbuster’s success; he saw Blockbuster as something that would always be relevant, but then Netflix came around.  

There is no doubt that Netflix came around the corner and swept Blockbuster off their feet and straight into bankruptcy in such a short span. However, if Antioco would have taken precautions to avoid this, such as innovating the business to fit the modern time period, learning more about Netflix, and maybe even taking advice from other executives and employees who might have disagreed with his plan, Blockbuster could still be around today.

Below, I will give you three important reasons why you should never stop learning as an entrepreneur so that you do not make the same mistakes as entrepreneurs like Antioco.

1. Listen to your employees – They might provide insightful suggestions to guide you on the right path

The worst mistake that an entrepreneur can make is to ignore feedback from their employees. An entrepreneur should NEVER brush feedback off their shoulders like it is nothing, especially if it is coming from the people who hold your company together. Remember, you might be the rock of the company, but your employees are the ones that keep you grounded, so take their advice; your employee’s everyday experiences in the field will give you insight on how to manage your company successfully.

2.  Live in the attitude that there is always room for improvement.

Just because you have achieved many successes, you run a thriving company, or you are respected in your field does not mean you should stop trying to grow. Take time to educate yourself. Take workshops from those who have already achieved success in areas you want to better yourself in. Always be open to new ideas, and think outside the box.

3. Pick a mentor in your field of expertise and read, research, and learn everything about them.

Remember when you were younger, you had that one person you really idolized and looked up to. In your mind, this person was the superstar that you wanted to be. Now think about the entrepreneur you look up to. This could be a big shot like Steve Jobs or Bill Gates, or somebody less-known. Try your best to follow in path of success and learn from it everyday.

In summary, determine what areas you need to strengthen and follow a disciplined path of all these reasons that I gave you to be successful. You should never doubt your abilities to improve exponentially. Remember, the most successful entrepreneurs are the people who made mistakes, failed sometimes, but never gave up.

Guest Post: 5 Personality Traits to Evaluate Before Starting a Business

Starting a business often sounds like a promising prospect. On your own, it’s easier to reap the benefits, work around a flexible schedule and take full control of a business. However, even if you’re capable and have great ideas in hand, you may possess some personality traits that make the formative business process more difficult, at least if they’re not taken into account beforehand.

Along with your business plan, which strives to evaluate the present and future, it’s a good idea to evaluate your personality traits. Some personality traits are ideal for new business owners, while others present themselves as obstacles. Five personality traits to evaluate before starting a business include:

1. Independence

Starting a new business often involves a group effort, with many cogs in motion. However, as the business owner, you have the special obligation to assume lead control in all circumstances, from when you’re understaffed to when departments are numerous. As such, it’s recommended to look back on your previous job experiences to see how you reacted to differing staff-based circumstances.

If you were able to perform impressively in both understaffed and comprehensively staffed environments, it’s a good sign that you’ll be able to handle roles as a business owner. However, if you struggled to keep up with work in the absence of other departments or co-workers, it’s important to realize new businesses often involve a period devoid of consistent structure and process. Someone who is both independent yet also willing and qualified to work with others is the ideal fit for a business leader.

2. Reluctance to Change

Many startup businesses never reach their potential due to sheer stubbornness. Higher-ups are sometimes reluctant to change up processes or tools they work with, even when research suggests they could save time and money in doing so. If you find yourself reluctant to change and prefer the old reliable to something that could potentially be better, then it’s time to re-evaluate that personality trait. Business leaders should constantly be seeking out and considering implementing new tech and tools that help toward the bottom line.

One method to deal with resistance to change includes participating in the actual change, which helps in identifying the blind spots or inherent attitudes that form the reluctance in the first place. Strong management plays a critical role in dealing constructively with resistance from employees, so as a business leader it’s important you’re not reluctant to change yourself. It sets an example for employees to follow in having a business that adapts rather than remaining stagnant.

3. Burnout

Also ask yourself how you respond to an excessive load of work. It’s going to happen — likely a lot — as a business owner, so this is an important one. A burnout-prone personality could make it difficult to lead a company, as there will be many times where you’re going to be forced to spend the night working or managing extra projects caused by employee turnover. Being a business owner means having to do tasks very capable of leading to burnout, so brace yourself and identify traits, such as procrastination, that you could remedy to make burnouts less frequent.

4. Perfectionism

Sure, perfectionism could contribute to spotless work that makes a client very satisfied, but in many cases it just leads to over-doing and causing delays. Aiming for perfection can certainly be a task if you have spare time or the client requests a change, but not turning in a project until it’s “perfect” or speaking with a client before you’re “perfectly” prepared will come across as procrastination, which will annoy clients and co-workers alike.

If you’re a perfectionist, realize that there’s a fine balance to achieve between promptness and quality of work. Both are prioritized similarly by clients.

5. Being Risk Averse

If you play it safe in every aspect of your business, then it’s very unlikely the business will reach its full potential. Plus, when employees see a business leader who’s content with average recognition, they aren’t likely to be motivated. Being averse to risk negatively impacts company morale, as well as limiting the overall potential in terms of both profit and work output.

Ninety percent of new businesses fail, so you’re going to have to face the fact that risk is a necessary part of a successful new business. Specifically, you’re going to have to face the very real prospect of no promised paycheck for a while. Early-stage companies rarely start out capable of paying the higher-ups. Working for no pay and few major initial results is a reality in many cases. Risk adversity and fear of failure in general are two red flags in personality traits for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Those who are overly perfectionist, risk-averse, burnout-prone, reluctant to change and unable to work in varied staff environments may have difficulties spearheading a new business, though it’s important to know proper evaluation of these personality traits prior to forming the business can make the planning process a lot easier. It’s possible to hire people or implement strategies that turn your weak personality traits into strengths.

The ABC’s Of Finding A Franchise You Can Make Stacks of Cash Owning

Stacks Of Cash.

That’s what you want. You want to find a profitable franchise opportunity. You’re willing to risk some of your cash-to do it…to be your own boss. You’re even willing to potentially take heat from your family if things don’t quite work out. And, you’re willing to take a short-term hit to your income in order to potentially build equity in a business you can call your own. You have the courage of a lion. You have more courage than most people.

I think it’s great, and I’d like to help you become a successful franchise owner. A franchise business owner who makes money.

A lot of money.

The ABC’s Of Finding A Franchise You Can Make Stacks Of Cash Owning

I really do admire you. Not only for your courage, but for your laser-focused goal of finding a franchise that you can eventually make lots of money owning.

You’re not out to change the world; you’re leaving that to others. It’s your world you want to change-in a big way. And, you’re hoping to do it through franchise ownership.

Want some help?

Assess

The best place to start your search for a franchise you can make lots of cash owning is at the beginning.

You need to assess where you’re at, financially. Here’s how:

Gather every single document pertaining to your finances. Include your mortgage statement, auto loan statements, credit card statements…anything that’s debt-related. Those are your liabilities.

Next, gather things like mutual fund/stock statements, IRA and/or 401 (k) statements, and anything else you can add to the asset column. (Include automobiles, equity in your home, furnishings, jewelry-everything that’s worth money.)

Tip: Plan on spending a few hours gathering your financial information.

Once you have everything in front of you, you’re ready for the next step.

Calculating Your Net Worth

You’re going to need to do a net worth statement…for two reasons.

The first reason: Franchisors need to have it.

Today’s franchisors want (and need) to find out if you’re financially qualified for their franchise opportunity early in the process. Can you blame them?

Imagine what it would be like to work in the franchise development department for a company like Subway® or Burger King® where dozens (easily) of email requests and phone calls requesting franchise information are constantly coming in 7 days a week. Wouldn’t you want a way to weed out interested parties who weren’t financially qualified? I know I would! That’s why financial requirements are prominently displayed on most franchise websites. (They’re usually displayed in the form of a minimum net worth and/or a minimum startup capital requirement.) That’s why it’s crucial to have your net worth statement instantly accessible.

Use My Free Net Worth Calculator

(If you haven’t gathered all of your financial information yet, make sure you bookmark the link above so you can access my free net worth calculator when you’re ready.)

Once you have your net worth statement in front of you (you’ll be able to print it out when you use my free tool) you’ll be able to send it to franchisors.

The second reason you need to calculate your net worth is to determine exactly where you stand financially.

Tip: Even if you’re just “interested” in franchise ownership…in other words, if you’re not sure (yet) if owning a franchise is the right direction to take, it wouldn’t hurt (too much) to see where you’re at financially. So, take advantage of my free net worth calculator even if you decide not to go down the franchising path.

If a you are ready to find-and maybe even buy a franchise you can make money owning, your current net worth serves as a starting point to set up your financial goals.

The bottom line: Assess your financial situation so you know where you stand; only then can figure out what franchise opportunities you qualify for. And, once you find a few franchise opportunities you qualify for, you can start digging into them to find out which ones you can make lots of money owning.

Balance

You’re going to have figure out how to balance the excitement you have for what you may be about to do with the reality of franchising.

For example, a franchise business generally doesn’t include a money-back guarantee. In most cases, there’s nothing in the franchise agreement (contract) that states you’ll be able to get your money back if things don’t quite work out. So, as excited as you may be, make sure you don’t set unrealistic expectations. In other words, if you choose the wrong franchise, and/or you don’t do thorough research, you may lose your money.

FYI: In some cases, guarantees are actually offered, like the ones that come with these franchise opportunities, but it’s not the norm.

Another reality is that despite what you may have read or heard, buying a franchise businesses is not less risky than buying an independent business. For proof, read this. It gets even better…

If you decide to work with a franchise consultant (a franchise broker) you’re probably going to hear that the franchise opportunities they offer are “pre-screened.” That’s great, but what exactly does pre-screened mean?

Does it mean if a consultant shows you one of their pre-screened franchise opportunities-and you end up actually buying one of them, that they’ll stand behind it if things don’t work out for you if you fail and lose your money?

Answer: Of course they won’t stand behind one of their pre-screened franchises. What? What!!!!? C’mon: Do you really think a franchise consultant is going to help you out of a jam? Do you really think your consultant is going to write you a check for the amount of your upfront investment if you have to close your franchise business down?

To get a better perspective of what a pre-screened franchise is, read this article about pre-screened franchise opportunities. It’s an important one-especially if you’re thinking of working with a franchise consultant.

The bottom line: Pre-screened franchise opportunities presented by franchise consultants can be just as risky as franchise opportunities you find on your own.

The Excitement Part

This should be an exciting time for you. Heck, just the thought of not having a boss to report to is probably excitement enough. Maybe even this exciting:

I know…I know. But, seriously…

I want you to be excited. I want you to have fun as you search for a money-making franchise. Just be balanced in your approach.

For example, you may find what you think is the perfect franchise to own.  A franchise opportunity that looks like a winner. One that matches your strengths. Even your budget. One that even “feels” right. Until you start doing research on it. Good research. Franchise research that includes my suggestion of typing the name of the franchise opportunity into Google or Yahoo! followed by the word “lawsuit” or “scam.”

Commitment

Are you willing to do whatever it takes* to become the owner of a business?

*Whatever it takes should never include doing something illegal or taking a huge financial risk.

How long did it take you to come up with your answer?

If it took you 30+ seconds to answer that question, you may not be quite ready to pull the trigger on a franchise. It’s not a bad thing; it just takes some people longer to get to a place where they’re really ready to take on some risk in order to be their own boss. Maybe you just need more information!

If it took you between 15-30 seconds to answer the question in bold above, you’re pretty ready to do this. It’s not a 100% ready, but it’s pretty darn close.

If you answered the question in under 15 seconds, you are there.

So, what are you willing to do to buy a franchise…to become your own boss?

A List

Here is a list of things you need to make a commitment to do:

1. Involve your family

This is a big decision. Get them involved early in the process. Once they’re involved, keep them informed of your progress. They’ll be much more willing to stand behind you if they know what you’re doing!

2. Be open to your finance options

There are lots of ways to finance a franchise business these days. You can go the traditional, and apply for an SBA loan. A large number of franchise buyers go that route. You can also do something that most accountants prefer you don’t do, and start your new franchise business with money you already have. You can also call your rich aunt or uncle and ask for money.

3. Spend money when needed

It’s true: You have to spend money to make money.

Free is great…we all love free stuff. But, most of the time, the things that are offered for free aren’t the things that will get you there. To get “there” make a commitment-right now, to invest in things that will help you become an Owner. For example…

You have to check out this tool from IdealSpot. I’m an affiliate for Bryan. If you’ve been following me for any period of time, you know how picky I am when it comes to people and companies I work with. I only endorse things I believe in. And, I only work with people/companies with a good reputation.

A few weeks before you anticipate making your yes or no decision on the franchise (s) you’ve been diligently investigating, you need to find and hire a franchise attorney. Not a business attorney. Not a general attorney. A franchise attorney. Drop me an email if you’d like a personal referral to some of the top franchise attorneys in the nation. (To Joel at thefranchiseking dot com)

It doesn’t matter if you’re going to get a small business loan for your franchise or not; you still need to write a formal business plan. Period. Click the banner below to see why and to get a great deal on the best-selling business plan software in the world.

You know about the massive growth of online learning, right?

From Verbalizeit.com

“E-learning is a quickly growing industry that is simultaneously moving in different directions. Skill-specific programs are being valued in the billions, while at the same time inclusive massive open online courses are filling with hundreds of thousands of students curious to learn without necessarily getting any credit.”

There are plenty of online business courses available for would-be business owners, today. You can take courses in accounting, bookkeeping, inventory management and more. You can even take a course on social media marketing, so you can get a good great understanding of one of the ways you’ll be marketing your new franchise business. (With your franchisors’ help)

Online learning  is a powerful way to learn new things anytime, anywhere. (With a computer or Smartphone and an internet connection.)

Take The Ultimate Online Franchise Course, for instance. (Really; you should take it!)

It’s chock-full (8 Modules and 23 Lessons) of detailed, easy-to-follow information that is easy to learn. Part of what makes it so easy to learn from is that it’s not a college-level style course. There are no tests; you won’t be graded. That fact alone should please most. It’s not a text-only, boring course, either. I’ve included several brief franchise videos (new ones are added all the time) along with medium-length audio files to keep you interested and engaged.

FYI: All of the information in my course, combined, will teach you exactly how to find, research, and buy a money-making franchise business.

Go Here to find out how you can purchase my course for only 99$.

Another commitment you should make to yourself (right now) is to sit down (face to face or via phone/Skype) with a franchise professional.

Scratch that. Sit down with an unbiased franchise professional. Someone who’s not offering to work with you for free in order to “help you become a franchise owner.” (Which really means someone will try to match you up with a franchise opportunity they represent so they can get paid a big commission.)

Important: You’ll be signing a 35-page franchise contract that locks you in for 5-20 years. You’ll also be putting a lot of money on the line. Investing in an hour or so with someone who’s well-versed in franchising and who can go over everything to make sure you’ve left no stone unturned in your research is money well-spent.

Super-Important: You may be about to buy a $200,000 franchise business. Don’t sweat investing a few hundred dollars to make sure you’ve done absolutely everything you can to lower your risk and increase your chances of success as the proud owner of a franchise business.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

I’m rooting for you. I want to see you make stacks of cash if you end up buying a franchise.

Stacks.

How To Research A Brand-New Franchise Opportunity

You’ve found a new franchise opportunity that really interests you.

This franchise seems to have everything (so far) you want in a franchise business.

• It has a low cost of entry
• There’s plenty of territory available near you
• You like the product

But…

It’s a brand-new franchise concept. There is no track record to speak of. You’re starting to think that you may be about to make a risky move. But, you really like the concept. You “think” you can make it work in your neck of the woods. You’re just not sure. You’re kind of confused about what to do.

Surely there must be something you can do to make buying this franchise less-risky. Right?

How To Research A Brand-New Franchise Opportunity

Warning: This is not going to be easy.

Since there aren’t many existing franchisees to call and/or visit in-person, you’re going to have to use your gut instincts more than data. That’s because there’s going to be a pretty limited amount of data for you to use. You’ll also need to have faith. Here’s what you’ll need to do.

1. Hit Expedia, Kayak…or whatever travel planning sites you like, and start looking for available travel dates and times. Once you have a few possibilities, contact franchise headquarters. Tell them you want to spend a week with their team…or at least several days. Tell them you want to learn everything you can about their operation. You need to see it in action. In addition, if they have a company store and/or a franchise business close to headquarters, you need to tell them that you want to spend a day or two at those locations-for the same reason; to see things in action.

I offer a couple more ideas on researching franchises that are brand-new in the video I produced below. Watch it and let me know what you think. And, when you’re ready,schedule a Private Franchise Ownership Consultation with me so I can transfer the knowledge I have on franchising over to you.

How to Know if It’s Time to Expand Your Business

Thinking about expanding your business is a big deal for obvious reasons. If your clientele is growing and you need to move to a bigger space or increase the number of employees, you need to make sure that you’ll continue to operate efficiently and effectively. More importantly, you need to make sure that you don’t get ahead of yourself.

Growing is good, expanding without doing your research is bad.  Is your business ready?

Look at the World Around You

In 2005, I had a client that wanted to expand. Business was booming and they were running out of space in their tiny warehouse. By 2007, they had purchased a building and started pouring money into the building and increasing inventory. Then 2008 happened, and the business closed two years later. From boom to bust in three years’ time. That is what can happen if you don’t look at the world around you.

Pay attention to the US and world economic factors. What affects other parts of the country or other industries can affect you as well. Kiplinger puts out economic outlooks and forecasts every year. If strictly looking at the numbers makes your head spin, Forbes usually has a lot of great commentary about indicators and forecasts.

Either way, keep researching until you find one that you can make sense of. These economic forecasts are done by experts, and while they can only make an educated guess on what all of this means, it can at least help you make some good decisions.

Focus on Spending Less and Saving More

Expanding means spending more money. What typically happens is that through the expansion, you’re spending more than you’re making. On paper, you’ll be at a loss, therefore, you need to be financially prepared for it. Do not rush into the expansion. Make sure that you begin saving funds to prevent the business from being cash strapped.

Even if you’re able to obtain a loan, you’ll begin making payments before the business begins making a profit again. If you’re expanding to a second location, the second location will pull a lot of resources from the first before it can stand on its own. If you are expanding existing space, the move may not be as difficult, but the upfront funds needed can still become a drain. In any event, if you begin saving along with planning, you will experience less financial stress throughout the expansion.

Set the Proper Foundation for Expansion

Yes, expansion may mean more money, but it may also mean more problems. Before you expand, make sure that you have properly secured the foundation for the business. Expanding may mean adding additional employees, if you don’t have an effective human resources policy, it can cause you additional problems. In addition, making sure that your books are straight and you have a good handle on your tax liabilities could cause additional stress on owners.

If there are problems that are occurring with the business now, expanding will not make them go away. Make sure that you deal with the issues prior to expansion so you won’t bring the problems with you. Do your best to deal with potential problems before the expansion.

Begin training employees to deal with the expansion. If you have people that have been with you for some time, determine if they’re ready to take on more responsibility. Evaluate your staff and make sure that everyone is functioning well in the right positions. This could be a great opportunity to make staff changes.

Bring your professionals in on the expansion discussion early. Consider hosting a meeting between your attorney and accountant. If you have others that you rely upon when making major business decisions, include them as well. As your company grows, your knowledge and understanding of your company must expand as well.

The Art of Competition: How Your Small Business Can Survive in a Big World

It is unfortunate when small businesses close their doors due to increased competition from large brands. The bargaining power of large companies means that they can keep their costs low by negotiating better deals on leases, taxes, goods, and services. The bottom line is that their dollars go further than yours, which in turn, means they can offer better price points or upgrades that your small business cannot.

The words “we offer great service” are meaningless when the service does not come with the price and convenience of a big store. Factor in the marketing reach of larger companies, and it simply makes it impossible to stay afloat when the competition literally overshadows you. There are things that you can and should do to keep your business relevant in the era of big business. Here are a few to get you started.

Adjust to Your Clients’ Needs

I am often surprised by many small business owners’ unwillingness to adjust their business models. Instead, the make the assumption that everything is working just fine and blame the competition for their loss of business. While most customers have “shiny object” syndrome, there is a reason why the shiny object keeps their attention. The most obvious reason is that you gave customers the option to look away. Based on the changing needs of your customer, you should be able to adjust.

But to know what needs adjusting you must talk to your customers. Simply asking questions about why they do business with you can make a big difference. If the reason is convenience and another store opens next door to you, then there is nothing to separate you. Therefore, it is important to hit your customer on many levels.

If you have a small retail store, simply asking questions during check-out can go a long way. It is cost effective and does not require the customer to do anything extra. If you have a service company, you have more connection with your client and you can ask their thoughts about your business.

Adjust to Your New Environment

The one thing I see often when big businesses move into the territory of a small business is that small business gives up too easily. Frightened by the vastness of the big company, a small business owner is intimidated and assumes they cannot compete. But the truth is, you can. You have to be willing to fight for the survival of your company.

That may mean that you need to downsize and become more of a boutique. Or it may mean that you need to expand your offerings. It could mean that your target market may need to change.

If you are unsure of what to do, hire a consultant. Before you roll your eyes, let me just say that some consultants are very good at this sort of thing. They understand how to adjust a business that is being outmaneuvered by big business. Having the viewpoint of an outsider can provide a better perspective for you as a business owner.

Adjust Your Finances

Spending more or spending less is a difficult choice to make. I think the more appropriate decision is knowing where to spend more and spend less. You should focus on investments that will make your business more efficient and marketable.

Perhaps your business needs new equipment that will make it more competitive. Spending more in this area could benefit you in the long run even if the result is not immediate. Such investments can also mean that you end up spending less in wasted time and money because you can be more efficient. You can finish projects in a shorter amount of time or have fewer employees to complete a certain task.

Spending less in wages, interest, or taxes can free up additional capital. Auditing your own finances to find where you are “wasting” money can be a helpful tool to keep you from being cash poor as you invest in your company. Working with trade associations or collaborating with other small businesses in your industry can provide more bargaining power when negotiating with vendors.

At the end of the day, you have to be willing to adjust, adjust, and adjust some more. That does not mean you need to change everything good about your business. It just means that you need to be willing to make changes (as necessary) to help your business stay competitive with larger businesses.