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A Quick Guide To Opening A Successful Restaurant

So you want to open a restaurant. You’re a great cook and your friends and family have told you that you should do this for a living. So what exactly is involved in a venture like this?

Cook at a restaurant

You should know that according to Alleywatch, almost 60 percent of all restaurants fail within the first five years of opening. That’s a daunting statistic but with some careful planning, you can make sure you maximize your business’s chance of success. Keep in mind, this is a bare bones outline for what you need to do.

It All Starts With An Idea And A Plan

Before you can begin your new business, you have to have some ideas in place.…

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How to Save on Business Printing Costs

In any business, it’s important to try to keep overheads down, as this is key to growth. One expenditure that businesses often can’t avoid is printing costs.

Business printing

Some documents need to be printed and there is no way around it – for example, legal documents and invoices – but there is much more you can do to save money.

What are the best devices to save on business printing costs?

One of the big mistakes companies make when trying to save on business printing costs is clinging on to printers for too long. This means escalating maintenance costs once the printer reaches a few years old.…

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5 Essential Components of a High Financial IQ

Intelligence comes in many different forms. Some people are great with numbers, others with words, still others with spatial reasoning. Intelligence comes in “non-intellectual” packages too—professional athletes are geniuses at using their bodies to achieve desired outcomes, for instance.

Business woman with high Financial IQ

Some forms of intelligence can’t be learned. You either have them or you don’t.

Financial intelligence is different. Everyone can learn to save and spend responsibly, to set clear financial goals, to invest for the future, to protect themselves against the unknown. If you’ve never thought about these things before, they can seem completely overwhelming. But, just as you can train your brain to learn new skills or concepts, you can slowly raise your financial IQ over time.…

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A Starter Guide to I-9 Compliance & New Hires

Getting a new hire onboard is more than introducing him to coworkers. You need to comply with all the regulations involved with the I-9 form. It is only one page, but the rules that go with it fill 69 pages.

Here is an overview showing how important is it to comply with the regulations, the difference between the W-9 and the I-9 forms, and what identification is acceptable to meet the I-9 rules.

Reviewing employment documents

Penalties for Non-Compliance

To you it looks like a lot of pencil pushing. To the government it is serious business. The minimum fine for errors filling out your I-9 paperwork is $110.…

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Business Practices New Entrepreneurs Should Be Doing

Being an entrepreneur certainly takes a lot of work, especially when you’re still starting. If you don’t have a personal mentor to help you navigate the business world’s tough waters, here are some tips you should do to better your business.

Startup strategic planning

Have a vision

You couldn’t expect to prosper if you don’t have a clear vision of what you want your business to become. Deliver your vision clearly to your customers, as well as your employees and partners. You must have the desire to pursue your vision and make it happen continuously. Without it, you will only be left wandering around with your business goals lost.…

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8 Alternative Lending Options for Small Businesses

Finding capital for your company when the banks and other traditional lenders have all turned you down isn’t as tough as it was 10 years ago. There are a number of options to consider and what you decide to go with will depend heavily on your company’s current financial situation and future forecast.

Lending options for small business

Factors like credit worthiness, company assets, future earnings, inventory, your own personal assets and savings, and the amount of credit currently available to you are all important things to consider when deciding on what option to choose.

Alternative small business lending options

Here’s 8 common alternative lending options a small business should consider when the banks won’t touch you:

1.

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Big Traffic Methods for a Small Business Website

As long as you have a fantastic product (or service), capable customer service, great positioning within your marketplace, and a price people are willing to pay for your offer, you shouldn’t have trouble becoming a profitable small business…

But even then it’s not always the case.

Stand out

Imagine you offer all these great features but no one knows where you’re located or how to differentiate you from the sea of competition? Imagine all the work you can place into every aspect of your business yet still fall flat because you’re not driving individuals to the offer.

Hundreds of websites are created every minute and although the chances of someone creating a competing business site would be somewhat low in the percentages – it’s still being done – and every day that passes is another chance for them to be the major brand in the marketplace.…

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SOC Reports: A Mini-Guide for Business Owners Who Want to Establish Credibility

As a business owner, you want to do everything you can to gain the trust and respect of your customers, This will not only help you keep the ones you do have, but will help you gain new ones as well. As you earn more and more credibility through hiring management consultants and/or change management firm – or even better, adopting organizational design process – you should see your revenue increase as well.

Preparing SOC reports

One of the best ways for service organizations to earn that credibility is to use SOC reports. These reports can help organizations identify problems with their services as well as let them know needs and wants of their customers.…

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At Your Fingertips: Conducting Industry Research Like a Pro Without a Lot of Dough

You might think that to become an expert in your industry it will take years of experience and a deep wallet to fund all the research that you need access to in order to drill down into the details and form a solid opinion.

Chemist doing industry research

Taking a look through the detailed data available at Money Morning for example, you can quickly get an idea that conducting research and staying ahead of the competition by spotting trends and openings, doesn’t have to set you back a small fortune.

Here is a look at how to go about conducting industry research like a pro, without spending loads of dough.…

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Basic Essentials Every Lean Startup Office Needs

When it comes time to launch your lean startup, you and your employees will need a comfortable, functional work environment to conduct business in. There are a lot of considerations to make, depending on the industry you work in.

Lean startup office

There are common items that most businesses will definitely need to get started. While there are also plenty of traditional considerations that have been recently outdated by technological advancements and other changes occurring in the modern workplace.

Here’s a short list of things you’ll definitely need to consider outfitting a professional work environment with – without killing your budget:

Furnishings

You can source furnishings for your startup office almost anywhere.…

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