Should You Start a Small Business?Should You Start Your Own Business?So, you’ve decided to leave the rat race behind and become your own boss. Now what? Although we all have had days where we want to take Johnny Paycheck’s advice to heart (“Take This Job & Shove It”), there are many things you will need to consider before making a final decision. First and foremost is the choice of what field to enter. We’ve all heard the maxim that says “Do what you love”, but will that pay the bills? I don’t know many people who are interested in paying me to sit on the couch and watch TV, no matter how much I enjoy it. While it is important that you like your work since you will put a lot of time and effort into a small business, it is equally important that you be realistic in what the market is calling for. You do not want to get into a situation where you have spent your entire life savings on a plan that has no chance of succeeding. You will need to consider such factors as what problem your product or service solves and who has this problem. Do your potential clients have the money to pay for the product or service you are offering? For instance, you may have a dog who chews your furniture when left home alone, so you decide you want to start a dog daycare, which is a fairly high-priced service. It will be an uphill struggle to succeed if you are in an area where people struggle to meet their basic daily needs. You also must make sure that others have the same problem you are trying to solve with your product or service. You may be extraordinarily good at drawing spiders and snakes, and your idea is to sell your drawings because they fill the blank spots on the walls of your house. However, you need to think about how many people are sitting around staring at their living room walls thinking, “Boy, this room would be just perfect if I only had a picture of a tarantula to hang over the fireplace.”Another consideration is whether or not you are good at creating the product or providing the service. I dearly love to sew, but most of the garments I create would fit either a resident of Munchkinland or an NBA player – no one in between. My clientele would be rather limited if I chose this as a career.
Private Business or Franchise Ownership
Private Business or Franchise Ownership: Advantages & DisadvantagesMany advantages and disadvantages whether to own a private business or a franchise (There are over 3,000 franchise businesses). Preference to choose either type of business should be based upon, the most suitable interest for success, and having any background knowledge or experience.
Both types of businesses, provides goodwill towards products, services and custom base, that has been created, which is invaluable or hard to equate in terms of valuation. Certainly owning a franchise is more restrictive to business decisions, which is handled by the franchise corporation. If an entrepreneur wants to take control of all business decisions, then owning a private business is the best approach. First step should be spending time visiting the location, and observing the number of customers and how many purchase items. Further details are listed.Consider when purchasing a private business, if the business has lease. Determine if the lease allows a new owner to purchase the business, will the lease be renewed for new ownership, and what are the penalties for breaking the lease. Examine whether the business location has sufficient space for expansion or relocating to provide more space. New franchise owner is restricted to move the business to a new location, without fringing upon an area, were an existing franchise location, already exist or prohibited by the franchise corporation.When purchasing a private business, the new owner may need financing, usually not easy to obtain, because there is no proven track record of the new owner (Unless a previous business was owned.). United States Small Business Administration can help provide financing. Operating a franchise, the corporation often helps to provide necessary financial assistance or loans for new owners. Franchise may consider previous financial success, of the franchise location, when granting loan, besides the financial assets of the new owner.
How To Protect Your Home Office and Business Against Disasters
Disaster Recovery Isn’t Just for Big Companies; Small Business Owners Need Protection, TooRecent big and bad storms like Hurricanes Katrina and Rita have taught many a tough lesson in how quickly we can lose everything we have in the blink of an eye. Along with homes, vehicles, and prized personal possessions, those who work at home risk losing their very ability to do
business. Then, trying to get back to work becomes a bigger nightmare when you also have to struggle to find temporary accommodations.Yet there are steps you can take to make it possible for you to get back to business so you can earn the next paycheck you desperately need. If you spend even just a few hours each month to make copies of important material and other prep tasks, you may be well prepared enough to set up shop again from just about anywhere, including a family member’s home or a hotel or motel.Do full system backups of your computer on a regular basis. Do this at least once a week. You can use this backup to restore the contents of your hard disk to a new computer, if needed. If at all possible, consider storing backup copies at a remote location on a regular basis. You can mail a recorded CD or DVD once a week to a trusted friend or family member, store them in a safe deposit box in a nearby town, or some other avenue that lets you keep a copy away from your physical office.If you keep all records of your clients, customers, vendors, distributors, and others you do business with strictly on your computer, you want to make at least one hard copy of this information and update the copy regularly, to reflect new additions or remove no longer live accounts. Keep a copy of this with your portable computer, if you have one.If you have a notebook or tablet computer, have it in good working order and set up with all the programs you need to run your business. For example, if you use QuickBooks to do your accounting, Microsoft Word to prepare documents, and DreamWeaver to manage a small business Web site, have those applications installed on the portable system. When you make backups of your computer drive contents, make an extra copy that you can slip into your portable computer carrying case.
Sarah Kemble Knight: Early Gossip Columnist
Knight’s Journal as GossipSarah Kemble Knight was a unique woman who wrote a humorous journal of her journey from Boston to New York in the early eighteenth century. Unlike other women at this time, Knight was not afraid to travel by herself along an unknown trail. She also was
one of the rare women who traveled for business matters instead of personal leisure. Instead of commenting on her surroundings or some spiritual journey that she experienced, like many other early American writers would have done, Knight spoke of her lodgings and the country bumpkins she encountered along the way. Knight’s Journal was meant for a small and personable group of friends and family back home in Boston, therefore she made jokes about herself and related stories she knew would be entertaining to her audience. Madam Knight gave details about her lodgings, commenting on how hard the bed was and what she was fed for dinner. In this manner, Madam Knight was one of the first entertainment travel writers. If she were alive today, one could assume she would have a television show wherein she travels around the world and discusses the best places to eat and stay. Madam Knight discussed details that promoted entertainment rather than instruction, therefore making Knight’s Journal one of the first entertainment logs built on gossip.