Archive for April, 2011

Small Business Opportunities – Ideas With Very Little Startup

April 29th, 2011

One reason why individuals do not take advantage of small business opportunities is because they have a problem with the amount of money that they need to start up their business.

There is good news, though, and that good news is that there are opportunities out there with very little in the way of startup costs. Those opportunities include:

- A window washing business – All you need is a few basic tools and you can be on your way to cleaning the windows of homes and businesses. You don’t need to do skyscrapers or anything like that. You can do basic cleaning and be fine.

- Teach how to play a musical instrument – If you know how to play a musical instrument, that is a great trade to get into. You can be a violin teacher, a piano teacher, or a guitar teacher. The possibilities go on and on.

- You can get into pressure washing – Pressure washing equipment is not terribly expensive, so you can buy the equipment and begin your pressure washing tasks immediately.

So there you have three opportunities to become self-employed. As you can see, you can do virtually anything. If you can do it well and people like the results, they will pay you good money to do what they want.

If you have any other ideas that involve very little startup costs, you can go for it. Don’t be afraid to go forth with your ideas. This is because it is ideas that become so profitable and that is definitely something you want to be.

If you need money now, like I mean in the next hour, try what I did. I am making more money now than in my old business and you can too, read the amazing, true story, in the link below. When I joined I was skeptical for just ten seconds before I realized what this was. I was smiling from ear to ear and you will too.

Home Based Business Ideas: Energy Efficient Products and Services

April 29th, 2011

Have you ever taken a look at a home based business in the network marketing or direct sales sector? If the answer is yes, that’s fantastic; you have an idea of what network marketing is all about. The awesome thing about a home based business idea in network marketing is that the cost to start your business and buy into a proven system is minimal. Most home based business ideas in the network marketing sector are pretty much under $1000.00 and most are $500 or less. Now we come to the success rate of people who start businesses in the network marketing sector for under $1000. What I have noticed is that when you have not mortgaged your home and entered into a major contract with another company somehow the urgency of owning the home based business and the drive to succeed seem to diminish. Before we ever get into the various products and services available in the network marketing sector in today’s climate we have to discuss the psyche of the person wanting the freedom they are requesting. I have spoken to so many people who start out with a bang and kind of loose their gusto in 3-5 weeks. Sometimes people will last for about 4-6 months then the fire diminishes. Why is that? Well, I know one thing, if I had 50k or more invested into a home based business idea it would not take 4-6 months before I throw my life savings away.  Although, since many network marketing business are under $1000, most people don’t have enough on the line to take their network marketing home based business ideas seriously enough to succeed.  Let’s assume you have the drive to move past that 4-6 month mark. This seems to be the mark where unsuccessful people stop and successful people continue to push forward.  Now you have to decipher if you are in the right business model for optimal success.

Most network marketing companies have traditionally been in the cosmetic, weight loss and health and wellness sectors. In recent history (the last 15 years) there has also been a big surge of technology home based business ideas also such as cell phone businesses, satellite home based business, Wi-Fi home based businesses and others. Even more recently, in the last five years to be exact, there has been a huge push in the energy efficient products and services industry.

I get excited when I think about the history already made by the first two residential energy companies to offer their services to consumers by way of the network marketing home based business model.  According to Jim Melloan, project manager of the Inc. 500/5000 project Stream Energy grossed $848,000,000.00 for the year 2009.  This company was founded in 2004 and officially started doing business in March of 2005 in Texas.  Home based business owners are able to start a business with this company for less than $500 and are able to refer their friends and family to save money on their electricity and/or gas bills.  They later expanded to Georgia in 2008 and are now expanding to Pennsylvania.

Next we have another notable company named Ambit Energy, founded in Texas in 2006; it followed Ignite’s footsteps offering the home based business idea for less than $500 in the Texas market.  It soon expanded to New York in 2007 and Illinois in 2008.  I know because I was part of the excitement!  In 2009 the company had a record 20,369.4 percent growth with revenue at $325,000,000.00!  So with these numbers in the home based business/network marketing sector you would assume there are some winners that are just like you and I, who are making a percentage of that success right?  Of course there are and I witnessed this happen first hand.  For under $500 in both companies, multi-millionaires were created!  There are several thousandaires and many people who have found an additional income that has saved them from foreclosure, replaced car payments, paid for their children’s educations and much more!

So far I have discussed two companies with astounding numbers reported that concentrate on doing one thing, saving the average family money on their electricity bill.  There’s another trend happening in the energy business.  A new company called America Approved Energy Services Direct., LLC has emerged offering a home based business in the same space but with a few tweaks!  For one, America Approved Energy Services Direct., LLC aka AMA Nation was founded in October 2009.  Peter Jensen, Robert Gries and Scott Turner came together to offer a home based business opportunity in the network marketing sector with the product once again being residential electricity. AMA Nation started out in Connecticut, and then soon expanded to New York City.  Over the last year they have have a lot more territory than the first two.  Currently, America Approved Energy Services Direct., LLC is the marketing arm for several suppliers which allows them to provide this home based business idea in 8 states for opportunity seekers wishing to concentrate on the residential market which include NY, NJ, CT, MA, RI, PA, MD and TX (soon to be 9 with IL)!  So with the astounding numbers posted by Ignite and Ambit in only two and three states respectively, AMA Nation will certainly shock the industry with their three-year numbers.  Now here’s another shocker, by July of 2010 America Approved Energy Services Direct., LLC has also allowed their home based business opportunity seekers to acquire business in the commercial sector of energy deregulation as well. Opportunity seekers looking for home based business ideas are also able to do business in 15 states on the large commercial side of energy deregulation.  So when it comes to energy deregulation, America Approved Energy Services Direct., LLC now has the largest footprint in the industry.  By August of 2010, America Approved Energy Services Direct., LLC also added over 200 energy efficient products and services to its repertoire allowing home based business owners to also make money in other emerging markets such as solar panels, Led Lighting retrofits and much more.  The most impressive factor in all of this is that you have the income potential of a major franchise in a network marketing business model for less than $225.  So many people are recouping their initial investment within the first week of being self-employed in the energy business.

My team and I have been getting many ideas about how to build our business from local news happening around the world!  For instance, the article titled All Agua Fria high schools will have solar panels written by AZ Central.com on 16, 2011 at 07:30 PM gave us the idea to start calling the schools our children attend to discuss the energy saving options and grants available.  Another article written by LehighValleyLive.com discussed how IKEA Aims to Extend Solar Power Trend to Costa Mesa which gave us the idea to start going after department stores and restaurants in the California area.  So with AMA Nation, my team of independent home based business owners and I have found this business model to be much more lucrative because we are able to tap into the entire energy efficient products and services industry.

For more information on how you can start a home based business in the energy products and services industry contact Tene Williams, the top female income earner with America Approved Energy Services Direct., LLC she has teamed up with several leaders in the industry and has helped hundreds of home based business owners see success with her hands on approach to seeing you to and through success without just the ra ra you see with other network marketing companies, but the knowledge and the training to help you close these large commercial projects and the wherewithal to train you where to look for business.

Website for Small Business in 2011 Marketing Plan

April 26th, 2011

Many researches reveled that more than 50% small business owners do not have their own website and not thinking about having website. Some small business owners like to have a website for their business but they point out many difficulties implementing this strategy to their next year marketing plan. Other side of story, small business owners who have website for their business are enjoying the good online presence for their offline local business. Still there are another set of small business owners just have the website, but do not use its potential to improve their business next level. They will not bother to measure the effectiveness of website performance and no strategies to gain the benefits through online presence.

If you delay implementing corporate website for your small business, you will lose your customers. The era of using yellow pages or phone books or news paper advertisements to find a solution for our daily need has gone now. Many people go to Google and search what they need, than searching many old news papers. If your website is not listing for customer query, you will lose a customer and the business as well. Your web presence or online presence is must in another few years time, but to list your web site on Google for first page results, just having web site not be a solution. You should monitor your website, optimize it for your customer queries.

Your corporate website, I guess, I have right to say it is as a corporate web site, even though it is a small business, it should be unique website to differentiate from your competitors. Further It should align with your corporate Identity to get online customers attention and recognition.

Online presence will help you to spread your business ideas, offers, promotions, announcements. Social media is the latest and smartest tool to spread your business among online customers. Sometimes, you have to need only the kick off to it, others will spread the news, if it is smart enough to catch the audience attention. This will be a good cost effective method of sharing your small business stories and information. If you use TV or Press for this, you should have to spend thousands of dollars to implement this. However one staff member can implement your digital PR campaigns with very low budget.

Showing your business on search engine local results will be key success in online presence for small business owners. Search Engines did not forget small fish in the ocean. They gave big hands to come up and being on search engines when their customers search about their products and service online. If anything search with city name such as web designers in Melbourne, all local web design companies are listing in first results.

Not only that, Small business owners can build small community for their business, you can get feedback for your products and services, ideas to improve your products and services, engage with customers to build long term relationship. You can save lots of money on customer support handing, If you have offline customer support, for same question, your staff member may answer thousands time to different customers or may be same customer. But in web site, you can display frequently ask questions for anyone to view. Imagine how your staff member release from it and how much you can save on telephone bills. How many times you have print your product brochures for promotions, how much cost involve for it? But through your website, you can keep it to view anytime and if needed download it. But at very low cost, only designing part involve the cost, but no cost for usage.

In 2011,it is better to add your website for corporate marketing plan, otherwise you will far behind from your competitors and another few years time, you will regret lo about your decision, not to have a website for your small business. This should be implement is very strategic way. Identify the objectives and goals of your website, get you domain correctly, hosting should be in correct place and select the best company to design and develop your website.

Marketing it: Like the design stage above, you may want to outsource your marketing efforts to professionals who can help you create a social media plan or a marketing road map. However, if you’re willing to get your hands dirty, you may not have to. There are plenty of easy ways to build buzz for your small business site without hiring a full-fledged Internet marketing company. Matt McGee offered some great tips on what he’d do if he was just starting out again. You may not even need people like us.

While the number of SMB owners creating Web sites is up 36 percent over the past two years, that number really needs to grow in the next year. The search engines’ obsession with local has made your Web site an even bigger part of your business and marketing plan. Make sure you’re treating as such.

10 Online Business Ideas

April 25th, 2011

In the few years that I have worked online as an online entrepreneur, one area that many newbie entrepreneur have requested for my help is in getting Online Business Ideas. Many folks want ideas on the kind of online business they can invest in to earn passive income. The Global Economic Crisis have increased the number of folks looking for profitable Online business Opportunities to implement on part time basis so as to complement the income from their 8-5p.m job. Well, there are a thousand- and-one online business opportunities out there. It takes business skill and persistence to succeed online.

Ten online business ideas

If you are looking for extra income or a home based business opportunity, here are ten quick online businesses tips that you can implement to earn passive income consistently online. The income may trickle in cents at startup, but if you are patient and persistent in building your online business, you will end up with online businesses that generate passive income even while you sleep.

1.Online Research
2. Copy-writing for Webmasters
3. Yahoo Store
4. eBay business
5. Data Entry
6. Affiliate Marketing
7. Online Paid Surveys
8. Article Submissions
9.Online Marketing business
10.Online business Mentor

More online business opportunities exist, but I believe the ten ideas listed above will kick-start your imagination in the right direction.

Fear of Failure

More than 50% of would-be online businesses never get started. Getting a viable online business idea is just the first step in becoming an online entrepreneur. After getting the idea, you need to test run it. Never mind the scary picture being painted by the news media about the high rate of failure among webpreneurs. The truth is that every business has it’s own risk. However, online business tends to do better than traditional businesses in that, with the right knowledge, you can start off your business with little or no fund Also, there are some online business opportunities that can be implemented without spending fund. For example, you can run a Affiliate Marketing business with a free Blog opened with Google’s famous Blogger.com. The blog will cost you nothing more than the time and energy you spend designing and updating it. Yet, you can earn fat income from the business.

Income Expectation

How much an online business idea will generate as income is difficult to predict. It often depend on the knowledge and experience of the online entrepreneur. The more you work online (assuming you are working with the right folks and tools), the more your potential to earn income will increase. The online community have a greater respect to a well known entrepreneur and tend to show loyalty to a proven small business owner. So the only thing that is sure is the fact that different online business ideas will generate different amount of income based on the knowledge and experience of the webpreneur.

Avoid Get Rich Quick Packages

Never purchase a Get Rich Quick Packages. My advice is that you should do yourself a favor and acquire knowledge before parting with cash. If anyone tells you they can show you how to make huge sums of fund overnight, they are lying. You can be rest assured that they have no HOT online business idea that will make you rich overnight. They are only out to con you out of your hard earned fund. If they truly know how to make huge income overnight, they will be living in Hawaii and they won’t have time for online business. In case you still don’t know where to start from, I recommend you read a few more free articles on Online Business Ideas at Naija Entrepreneur Cheers.

Small Business Ideas to Create Secondary Income

April 20th, 2011

With the state of today’s economy, the cost of living is rising and it is not surprising that many people are looking for a secondary form of income. Getting a second job with a set schedule, however, is more than most people can fit into their schedules. The good news is that there are plenty of small business ideas that give people the freedom to earn extra money on their own terms.

Selling things online is a great way to make extra money while clearing out some clutter. Many people sell their old clothes or their children’s old clothes online and use the money to buy new things for the upcoming season. This is a great option because it requires little or no startup capital, and the packing and shipping of items takes very little time.

Once someone really gets the hang of selling things online, they can take their business to an entirely new level. There are many people who want to sell things online but do not know how or do not want to spend the time. An online auction expert could sell items for other people and take a small percentage of the sale in return for their services.

If someone is at a loss as far as what type of secondary business they should start, they may want to begin by taking a look at their hobbies. Someone with a bit of skill and commitment can turn many favorite hobbies into lucrative side businesses. Anyone who likes to knit, do woodworking or make jewelry could sell their finished products for a bit of extra cash.

Another great option for making extra money is taking a career and freelancing to turn it into a side business. For example, someone who prepares taxes for a living may want to take on extra clients to serve in their free time, or a teacher could tutor students on the side. There are many professions that lend themselves nicely to side businesses and most can be done right out of the home.

Although times are tough for many people, there are several exciting ways to earn a bit of extra income. People should find ways to capitalize on what they already do, whether it is a favorite hobby or a skill related to their profession. Most of the available options take very little time and can be done right from the comfort of home.

Finding Investors for Your Small Business Start Up

April 13th, 2011

People are more careful than ever with their financial investments these days. Because of the economic hardships in recent years, people are being thriftier and spending a lot less. Even business investors are exercising double the caution before putting money into any new business venture.

This kind of financial prudence does serve the interest of investors quite well but it can make life a little harder for new business owners who are looking for investors to help them build their businesses. However, with the right skills and strategies, there is no reason why you won’t be able to find investors who will be interested in funding your venture.

1. Start with your personal network.

Even if you don’t know any business investors personally, your friends and family members may be able to recommend some people so it would be good to ask them. After all, the people closest to you are the ones who are most likely to help you in times of need.

2. Read the business section.

Although private investors don’t exactly take out advertisements in the newspapers, there’s a chance you may see some relevant names in the business news of your local paper. In particular, read news regarding the launching of a new business or a new product. There may be a mention of some venture capitalists in these news stories. Consider approaching them about your business idea.

3. Spread the word.

If you can’t find any business investors by reading the business section or by asking your friends, try making the investors come to you. You can do this by spreading the word that you are in need of investors. In addition to asking your friends, you can talk to your bank manager, your office colleagues, or any other people who may be able to help you. It won’t be too long before you can meet with some private investors. When that time comes, you’ll have to convince investors that your business idea is a lucrative one. In order to convince them, present a well-prepared proposal, which takes into account the following crucial factors:

Product or Service – The chances of your business becoming a success depend a lot on the kind of product or service you have, so potential investors would naturally want to know more about this. In your business proposal, make sure to enumerate all the reasons your product or service is an excellent business idea.

Target Market – Potential investors would also be interested in who your target market is and how you plan to introduce and market the product or service to them.

Return of Investment – The product and the target market are both very important to the investors but at the end of the day, what the investors are really interested in is the return of investment. How long would it take before they see profits from their investment? You can’t just tell them that they will earn from your business. You have to present them with actual numbers and graphs of projected profits based on real calculations.

If your business proposal is convincing enough, you’ll be sure to get some interested investors who can help fund your business start up.

Internet Business Ideas – The Secret Formula to Profits

April 10th, 2011

Starting a business online could be the most important decision you as an entrepreneur.

Dell computers, Microsoft, Google are all testaments to the power of having a profitable idea that leads to the birth of multibillion-dollar internet businesses.  The good news for start up entrepreneurs is there is still abundant opportunity to start your own business based on sound ideas.

While your idea of starting the next multimillion-dollar business may be appealing, it does not translate to making a home run. You need to do more than coming up with ideas. You need to acquire the skills to come up with winning ideas. You want to acquire this skill because a winning idea will end your money worries, give you freedom, and make you wealthy.

The flip side is… Your idea may end up being a money pit, which could wind your business to bankruptcy.  The good news is the internet gives you, the opportunity to test your ideas, easily quickly and cheaply, so you can fail quickly, with minimal cost. And if you have a winner you can roll out your ideas to create a profitable business.

In a survey of Small business done by SCORE, the resource partner for the Small Business Association (SBA), 90 percent of business fail due to a lack of skill, and knowledge on the part of the owner.

My intention is to show you how to come up with winning ideas to start your internet business.

The greatest Myth of all

Have you ever heard this often used phrase in business…? “Do what you love and the money will follow”?

The above statement is only half the truth of the reality in business, because there are many businesses, entrepreneurs and solopreneurs doing what they love….yet are struggling to make ends meet,  or at the brink of bankruptcy.

I will like to upset your ideas about business and tell you the keys to developing a profitable business idea

Keys to success with your ideas

The truth is that your success online has nothing to do with having a website what you need is…

You need passion.

You need to have passion for your new internet business idea.  In addition, your idea must appeals to your strengths. Your strengths are the combination of your talents, education, knowledge, experiences and the skills you have acquired over the course of your business life or career.

A proven market

Your market is important… because   you need to have an idea that people are going to pay you for the products and services you bring to the market place.  The best sign of finding a proven market is to look for: keyword searches on topics related to your business, the presence of competition, sales, promotions and a large number of prospects and buying customers.