Options For Handling Personal Debt Before Starting a Business

There are going to be times when people have a great idea to start a business, but still have some financial baggage in their personal monetary history. The question that hits: is it possible to start a new business while being privately in debt? The answer is – it depends. But, at the very least, having a goal for the personal debt is a must before you get too far into the details of your new business venture.

Paying personal debt

So to begin looking at your options overall, consider things like debt consolidation, taking out personal loans, talking to the SBA, getting angel investors on board, and using crowdfunding and crowdsourcing as a modern resource.…

Continue reading →

A Quick Guide to Importing Goods into the United States

Whether you’re looking to leverage cheaper-made merchandise or diversify your product line, selling imported goods in the U.S. is a very lucrative business. Importing doesn’t necessarily mean you’re cannibalizing the economy. In fact, according to research from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, every $1 spent on an item that’s made in China puts 55 cents to U.S. businesses for marketing, sales, and related services.

Importing to the USA

If you are thinking of importing goods and selling it to the U.S. market, you’ll need to know more about the country of export as well as U.S. laws regarding importing. You also need to pick from among the reputable USA customs brokers.…

Continue reading →

Packing Smart For Your Next Business Trip

Business trips can be stressful, and the last thing you want to add to your plate is the worries of forgetting something that you really needed. That’s why it’s important to have a packing strategy in place. Of course, if you do forget something you can always use it as a business expense when you need to purchase a replacement.

Business travel packing

No one wants to have to always buy a bunch of stuff when they get to their destination, though, just because they forgot things that could have been easily remembered. Here are some things that can help your pack smarter, and not forget stuff, when you get ready for your next business trip.…

Continue reading →

Your Business Automobile – What You Need To Know

Even your personal vehicle can be considered your work vehicle, part of the time, especially if you’re self-employed. Whether you already have a vehicle and want to know more about what it can do for your business, or you’re now in the market for a business vehicle, there are some things you want to keep in mind.

Business car and stylish businessman

When it comes to your work vehicle, especially if you also use it for personal means, you want to keep track of a lot of things, from repairs to where you’re driving it to and from. Here are some things you need to know if you want to get the most out of your business automobile.…

Continue reading →

A Wiser Approach To Business Spending

Businesses are not cheap to run. Even a small home business costs money. Instead of putting your new business into debt immediately, it makes sense to learn how to be a bit wiser with the money you have.

Business budgeting

New business or old business, many of these tips can help you. However, they are definitely well suited to someone that is just starting to think about launching their own business. You really need to be careful with your money until you have a stream of it coming in from your business.

Have A Marketing Plan

Just as every good business needs a business plan before it gets launched, every good business needs a marketing plan.…

Continue reading →

3 Signs Your Business Is Starting To Take Off

Starting your own business can be a tumultuous road which requires a lot of patience and tenacity. Often when a woman starts her first business she has high hopes of it taking off the first year and becoming a millionaire right away.

Business launch

Unfortunately the reality is that it takes years to get to a point of really reeling in the success. However, when success finally does hit you there is a huge wave of satisfaction knowing that your hard work has finally paid off.

Your Income Is Greater Than Your Debt

Getting your business going can often mean a lot more going out of your pocket than going into it in the beginning.…

Continue reading →

3 Time Management Tips for Small Business Owners

One of the toughest parts of owning and managing a small business is the feeling of never having enough time to accomplish everything. To reduce some of your workload, you add a few employees. But, having employees brings a new set of small business owner responsibilities, such as employee hour tracking.

Time management

There never seems to be enough time in the day to complete all your small business tasks.

Do these statistics resonate with you?

…Continue reading →

How You Can Outsource Talent On a Budget

If you’re a small business or startup, or just simply operating on a small budget but you have a particular project that needs to be completed you might be considering outsourcing it. Outsourcing talent can be particularly valuable if there’s some level of specialization required for the project, and you don’t have the need to bring someone on full-time to tackle it.

Finding talent via outsourcing

While outsourcing is a more cost-effective alternative to the overhead costs of a full or even part-time employee, that doesn’t mean it isn’t somewhat costly.

One of the biggest reasons a lot of outsourced projects fail is because the company doing the hiring didn’t think about the budget ahead of time, and tried to hire the least expensive freelancer, rather than trying to balance quality and price.…

Continue reading →

Choosing a CRM That is Best Tailored to Your Needs

Small to medium businesses often do not have the need to use the most robust and expensive CRM tools. Nevertheless, even if you have just decided to become an entrepreneur, having one can help you keep track of your client relationships, attract new leads, boost sales and help with business process automation.

CRM

Of importance is for you to identify your business needs before going out in search of a CRM tool and choose one that can meet such. Here are some important features to consider when choosing a CRM that is best tailored to your needs.

1. Ease of use

It is important that everyone in your team learns how to use the system efficiently.…

Continue reading →

Can London’s Small Businesses Weather the Storm of Business Rates Increases?

London’s small businesses are expected to receive special bail-out fund to help weather the storm of business rates increases, but is it enough?

London busy high street

On Monday 6th March, The London Evening Standard announced plans for special bail-out fund for the capital’s small businesses, which are set to be among the hardest hit in April’s business rates revaluation. “Traditional retailers and firms facing crippling increases of 50 per cent or more are expected to be favoured in funds totalling ‘hundreds of millions’ of pounds” the front-page article reported.

For London’s small businesses, the overdue 2017 rates revaluation threatens to increase business rates by an estimated £7.5 billion.…

Continue reading →