Idea Archives - TODAY INDIA

Square Business Cards – Good Idea Or Bad?

Each and every day, entrepreneurs, job seekers, freelancers, employees, and executives hand out business cards. It happens in offices and on the street… during chance meetings and networking events… in between friends, new associates, or newly united strangers.

With all of these cards being exchanged, it’s very important to have a business card that stands out from the pack — one that grabs attention the instant it’s placed in the palm of someone’s hand. After all, there’s nothing worse than making a first impression with a dull and drab card.

Perhaps the easiest way to stand out is to have a business card that doesn’t look or feel like all of the others.

Enter the square business card.

Square business cards instantly stand out due to their shape. It’s almost impossible, in fact, to be handed a square business card and NOT look at it before you put it in your pocket. That alone can make it a better marketing tool than other, more typical cards.

Another benefit of square business cards is that they offer extra space for content. Considering more content equals a greater opportunity for selling yourself to prospects, employers, or referral sources, that can be a big advantage.

So are square business cards all good? Are they an automatic brilliant idea that anyone and everyone should be using?

Of course not.

The thing is, standing out visually can be accomplished in so many ways. There are 3D, plastic, translucent, metal, edible, die-cut, embossed cards… and countless other eye catching attention-grabbing possibilities. Square business cards are but ONE way to do it, and what’s right for one person is certainly not right for everyone.

When you consider that the atypical shape may make storing your square business card more difficult (in a stack of others, or in a business card book, for example) it may not necessarily be the most convenient. And as for the benefit of added space to tell your story… well, fold over cards offer that benefit as well, but they can retain a typical shape as well.

The bottom line is that square business cards will be a great way to stand out for some — and not right for others. It really does depends on what you do, where and to who you distribute your cards to, and the concept you have in mind. If a square design seems right — go with it. It’s certain to stop your recipients in their tracks, giving you ample time to make that big and lasting impression!

Internet Home Business Idea – 5 Steps That Lays Golden Eggs

What if you have tried everything but have failed to start your own successful internet business?

In this article you will learn the exact 5 step formula that I personally use to start a new internet business and achieve my internet home business idea.

The purpose of this article is to get you started on the right path towards the way to internet riches and financial freedom.

Your 5 Simple Steps to Make Killer Money Online…

1. Create a Goal.

2. Create a Plan.

3. Create a Treasure Map.

4. Cut Them Down.

5. Create a Time Table.

Lets get started…

1. Create a Goal.

It is extremely important to define your end goal that you want to achieve. It can be to make $2000 every month or start getting 500 visitors to your site every day.

Clearly write down your goal in detail.

2. Create a Plan.

Create a step by step plan to achieve your goal. Write it down, color it and create a road map.

It is the exact road map that you will follow to shoot your goal. Stick your plan in a place where you will always see it.

3. Create a Treasure Map.

Now that you have a plan write a simple todo list from start to finish that you will follow to achieve your plan.

4. Cut Them Down.

Now cut down your treasure map into daily, weekly and monthly tasks. You will follow these tasks the way you write down in this step without fail. Persistency is the key to success.

5. Create a Time Table.

Once you have your daily, weekly and monthly task create a step by step time table as to when you will achieve these tasks.

Follow the time table patiently and make sure you complete your tasks as per the time you have allocated. Be desciplined in completing your tasks as per your time table.

Apply the above 5 steps to any complicated project you are doing and success is right at your doorsteps.

This simple blueprint will make sure that you achieve your internet home business idea in the shortest and quickest way possible.

The purpose of this article was to give you the exact system that I personally follow to start my internet business and make money online.

Every successful internet business enterpreneur will follow this plan in one way or the other as it is a very important element to achieve success and increase your focus in achieving your internet business goals.

Whatever you do I wish you all the very best and success in life and business.

10 Key Steps to Turn Your Mobile App Idea Into Reality

Many people and companies are coming up with new mobile app ideas to make it big in their field. They either want to reach a new audience or better serve their existing customers.However, people are relatively unaware of the steps or process needed to turn a mobile app idea into reality. Due to lack of ability and information among startups and established companies, most of them don’t know how to go about shaping the app idea.

I have helped several companies build their mobile app. Here are the 10 key steps I have followed in my 6 years of experience. I believe that my list can help anyone from any industry get their mobile app idea turned into reality.

Step 1: Write down your feature list

Conceptualize your idea begins by taking some notes. Before doing anything, you should write whatever comes to your mind. Writing down the feature list on a piece of paper helps you focus on your idea and expand on it. I recommend writing your idea several times and in many ways. This list also will be helpful when you are discussing with your co-founders, designers, investors or developers; they all are going to ask for it. Note that you should have them sign an NDA before you share your feature list. Your feature list should be clean and easy to understand. Also make sure it has popular and unique features, which will play the major role in success of your product.

Step 2: Do the market research

After writing your strong list of features, you want to do market research to find the competition, trends and market needs. Make sure there are no similar apps in the market. If there are, find out their reviews, ratings, feedback, and what is missing in them. Add features in your app that would make it unique and more attractive to the audience. After doing market research, you should update your feature list.

Step 3: Identify the users/audience

It is very important to find who would use your app and who the audience would be for your product. Your users are from a particular industry, gender, region, age group, existing customers, income group, specific profession, or any other group. Once you identify some demographics about the audience, you can find out what people from these demographics prefer or like. Knowing your audience helps you re-engineer your app and the features in it to cater to them. Your whole project moves around user engagement. You can also conduct focus group studies to find out what your audience may like or dislike. Your audience will decide your product’s success, and this insight from focus study can go a long way in defining product success.

Step 4: Identify the monetization strategy

Making money is the biggest reward and energizes for your idea. You can make money from your app idea in several ways: subscription fee, in-app buy, in-app ads, user data, sponsorship. You want to know which one works for your app, audience and market. Launching a paid app does not work these days, but you can make the app free with in-app purchase option for more functions. In-app ads are also losing their shine these days due to user experience. Having user data is becoming a big monetization technique, as you can use it to make indirect money. You can find sponsorship for the app; this works for an app with a social mission. It is important for you to select 1 or 2 techniques that would give you good return on investment.

Step 5: Create a rough sketch/wire frame

You may not have done it before, or may not know how to do it. However, the rough sketch or wire frame helps you define the concept and refine the requirements of your product. You can draw a rough sketch using paper and pencil, while a wire frame can be created using online tools. When you start doing the sketch/wire frame, you will be able to polish your app idea and features list further. Also, this helps you decide the proper navigation of the application. You don’t need technical skills for this step, but you need to have a common-sense understanding of how navigation works. Your wire frames, along with your feature list, will create very good specifications for you to build the mobile app.

Step 6: Approach local mobile app developers and get estimates

Once you have your first version of the feature list and wire frame, you want to start identifying vendors who can build your mobile app in a high-quality, cost-effective way. You should search for local vendors and some global vendors and reach out to them. Once you shortlist 5 to 6 good vendors, have them sign the NDA and send them the project details. A good vendor should check your details and ask you lots of questions. You should make sure to answer them in detail so that your idea is fully communicated. A good vendor should also be able to give you some suggestions to improve your idea. You should get proposals from multiple vendors, with time and cost for development, and compare them. You should check the vendors on past performance, process, price, time, testimonial and their eagerness to work for you. Finally, you should be able to select one vendor and start working with them.

Step 7: Complete the UI/UX

Once you have selected the company, you should work with them to create the UI/UX of the app. You should have them first create the detailed wire frame of the application so that you can visualize each screen, function and flow of the application. After review, you can decide to add or remove features. Once the wire frame is complete, you want them to create the visual design of the application. It should give the color, theme, fonts and visual appeal for your idea. This step will give you a near-final picture of what your mobile app would look like and how it would flow. After completing it, have your vendor reevaluate the development plan, time and cost. If the first estimate of time/cost has increased, get more funding or cut some of the features. You want to pay the right value to your mobile app developer.

Step 8: Get the app developed and tested

Have your app developer start building the app for you. They should be able to send you the app (in progress) every week and you should be able to test and give them feedback. It is very essential for you to QA the app as they develop it, as this helps you control the quality, cost and timeline, and learn whether the mobile app needs some tweaks. You can involve your friends in the testing as well. If you come up with new sets of features during the development, discuss those with your app developer and get the time and cost estimate. If it fits your budget, get it done right away. If not, wait for the next phase.

Step 9: Launch the app and market it

Once you are satisfied with the app, launch it in the iTunes App Store and Google Play Store. You should also start marketing the app. Get some consulting from experts on app marketing. You can also do self-marketing. Start on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, as this is an easy way to spread the word about the app. You should also reach out to reporters and bloggers who may be interested in your app and write about it. A press release on free sites or a paid site can be very handy. If you have more in your budget, you can hire a PR or app marketing company.

Step 10: Gather market response and prepare for the next phase

After the first launch and marketing, you can collect user data, market response and demand. If you receive a good response, you can plan the next phase for the app. Repeat Step 1 through 9 for the next phase. This time, you should be able do them a lot faster and more efficiently. If the app is not received well in the market, find out what is hampering growth and have a plan of action.

Business Idea: Online Marketing Services as a Work-From-Home Opportunity

Offering online marketing services is certainly an opportunity to

consider if you are interested in starting an internet business

that will enable you to work from home. Internet business is

booming, no doubt, and there are many people venturing into

e-business who haven’t a clue how to go about marketing on the

internet. Online marketing services are not exclusive to

e-business; they can also be beneficial to brick-and-mortar type

retail or wholesale companies. Thus, there are many different

target audiences to choose from when offering online marketing

services. This enables you to identify and pursue a niche market.

There are a few things to do before launching an online marketing

services company:

1. Familiarize yourself with online marketing services

2. Conduct market research to identify a niche market

3. Decide which online marketing services you will offer

4. Become an expert

The next phase of launching your online marketing services

company involves:

1. Preparing your business plan and marketing plan

2. Developing your policies and service procedures

3. Marketing your online marketing services

4. Providing exceptional customer service

5. Building a base of repeat customers and referrals

for your online marketing services

With the internet, it is easy to review online marketing services

and to find out about your competition. A competitive analysis is

essential to differentiating and positioning your online

marketing services company. In your review of online marketing

services, you will get some great ideas about what services you

can offer and how to professionally present them.

Market research is the key to identifying a niche market to

target for your online marketing services company. For instance,

you may market your services only to attorneys, only to wholesale

grocers, only to work-from-home moms, etc. With an online

marketing services company, truly the world is your playground.

However, by narrowing the scope of your target market by finding

a niche to market to, you’re advertising will have a stronger

impact as you can become known as an expert in online marketing

services for whatever field or niche you choose to market to.

Once you have reviewed other online marketing services, analyzed

your competition, and identified your target market, you are

ready to decide which online marketing services you wish to

offer. This is another opportunity to define a niche. For

instance, you may offer only pay-per-click management services

and you can position yourself as an expert in that area which can

be credible if that is the only service you offer. You can also

offer a whole menu of online marketing services with various

mixes in package deals which can be appealing to clients.

Whichever online marketing services you choose to offer, if you

are presenting yourself as an expert, make absolutely sure that

you are one before you take on your first customer. The

reputation of your online marketing services is at stake. If you

present yourself as an expert in search engine optimization for

instance, and you cannot achieve good ranking for your clients,

your credibility will be lost and this can frequently result in

your reputation being ruined via discussions about your company

through online marketing and business forums.

Preparing your business plan and marketing plan should be a

first-step before you launch your online marketing services

business. Writing a business plan just makes sense because it

helps you to put your ideas down on paper, to set your goals, to

think through issues and to define your budget. Your marketing

plan is equally important as it will serve to keep you focused on

the important aspects of your online marketing services business.

For suggestions about what should be included in a business plan

and marketing plan, visit the website for the Small Business

Administration . There you will find excellent guidance for

business planning.

Policies and service procedures are important for two reasons.

One, to protect your business; and two, to ensure that you

provide excellent service to your customers and that they

understand up front what your services entail. When marketing

your online marketing services business online, you should at a

minimum have a terms-of-use policy and a privacy policy. Through

your terms of use, it is a good idea to disclose your policy

regarding refund requests or your service guarantees as well as

any limitations to your service.

Taking customer service a step further, your service policies

will govern how you do business. Your systems will enable you to

provide the services. Starting out, you don’t necessarily need

anything fancy, but as your company grows, automating some of

your sales and service features is a good idea. An example of an

automated customer service tool is an autoresponder that confirms

you have received an order. Repeat customers will come to you if

you offer excellent online marketing services.

It is easier to retain a customer than to get a new one, so

always keep that in mind when working with your customers. Happy

customers are also extremely valuable to an online marketing

services company because they will refer you to their friends and

associates. To encourage referrals, you may offer your customers

some type of incentive (like a 10% discount) if they refer a new,

buying client to you.

How to Create a Profitable Online Business Idea?

Creating a profitable online business Idea! This is the very first thing any internet entrepreneur should focus on to successfully make money online.

This is the make it or break it factor to be successful online or offline. You may spend a lot of time, effort and money chasing the wrong idea. This step is the most important step. Frankly there is no right or wrong way to brainstorm ideas, there are only best practices, common sense and of course some luck. Below I will present the best practises on how to develop profitable business ideas based on my own experience and the world best entrepreneurs. Now fast forward to the good stuff.

Create a profitable online business idea by inventing something new

This is rarest and the hardest of them all. Like Thomas Edison who developed many devices that greatly influenced our lives. From the motion picture camera to the long lasting electric light bulb.

If you can picture a certain product or service that would make people lives’ easier, then you are on business.

• Tim Ferris Did this. The Author of the world phenomenon “The Four Hour Work Week” Where he preached to live an awesome lifestyle while putting your business on autopilot! He is a master hacker and he managed to outsource his life and his business very cheaply. He has built a huge passionate follow who are ready to help him sell or promote his products and he gives them his mind, body and soul. He gives presents, free info and help as much as he can. His blog went to rank around 6000 most visited website -among millions- in SIX MONTHS!! If you have something special, unique and awesome please do it.

Create a profitable online business idea by fulfilling a personal need

If you needs a product or a service, be certain that there are other people who are searching for a solution for that exact same problem.

Personally when I was a project manager at one of the biggest engineering firms. I had to self-study every single day and night to be able to compete and sustain my edge at that level and to deliver projects on time, under budget and at the highest quality standards. Self-learning was not easy and taking courses and workshops were both time and money consuming.

• My first online business was an E-learning hub for professionals. filled with articles, audio and video training and discussion boards. I added more value by giving them assignments and research work to further solidify the learning experience and make it as practical and as close to real life as possible. I developed it further and created a membership area for different niches like: Project Management Professionals and Marketing professionals… etc. Professionals would post their most urgent questions and problems and collaborate with other on how to solve them. They would share their experience in their current projects pointing positives and well as negatives. And exploring alternative ways and solutions to try at their next project.

As you can see I took a simple E-learning portal and turned it into a thriving community filled with passionate professionals who are sharing their ideas, experiences and recommendation. They sat goals and worked hard to achieve them. And we congratulated each other for the completion of our goals.

We were such a beautiful little community.

Do you have a current need? Write it down. It maybe your next big thing.

Create a profitable online business idea by making people lives EASIER

We are in love with the easy way. We go to Google to find a quick answer and we ask a friend for a recommendation.

We want the easiest and the shortest route to our goals.

If you can develop an idea to make people lives easier! They will love you for that.

• Google made our lives easier and now we can find exactly what we need in a blink of an eye. And they are going that extra mile every single day from local search, blog search, Scholar search, image search, movie search, news search and every other kind of search you can think of.

• Mint Made our lives easier in terms of managing our personal finances. They develop free and premium software to help people control and manage their budgets more efficiently. They were one of the fastest growing companies in the world and they were featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Money magazine as the best tool to manage your personal finances.

• Aweber when CEO and Founder Tom Kulzer was a sales leader for a computer hardware firm in mid 90′s he noticed that leads were falling due to lack of proper follow up from the sales agents. He went on his way and started Aweber the best email marketing solution I have ever used and the number one in the scene right now.

Create a profitable online business idea by upgrading a current idea and make it better

Not everyone has the vision to spot a growing trend or a specific need. So it’s easier to develop and upgrade a current business idea and make it better than the original one.

• Google did this. When they witnessed that search engines were merely displaying search with no clear standards. They developed a search engine that displays results based on user preferences and history by exploiting cookies. Try to search for any term and make your a friend search for the exact same term with different computer and you would find different results as Google scans your history and browsing behaviour by a very complex Algorithm and displays the most relevant results for you. They grew and became the number one search engine and the number one website on the internet today.

• Tumblr did this. When 21 years old David Karp saw the growing interest in Twitter and Blogs. He combined the best of both worlds. Many people loved to share on Twitter but the 140 characters and the limitations were an issue for some. Others wanted a platform to express themselves freely but Blogs were too technical or too serious for them. The young genius made it and established Tumblr where you can share easily like Twitter but with the powerful features that Blogs only have. Tumblr now is the 35 most visited website on the internet today. And the future looks awesome.

Create a profitable online business idea by offering unbelievable service

Sometimes we can’t figure out a new business idea or an upgrade to a current business model. Well the best thing to do is to choose a business model you like. Study it and differentiate yourself not by lowering prices -I am totally against this strategy btw- But by offering unbelievably good service.

• Zappos Did it. They started by offering great shoes for sales on their website like the hundreds of thousands of other websites. But they took the customer service to limits never seen before. They would occasionally send you flowers or a present or a voucher at your birthday. They may send your products by speed delivery at no additional costs to you and you would be happily surprised. Their customer service would speak with you on the phone as long as you need explaining every detail over and over. Actually there is a documented phone call that lasted for 8 hours! This is how far they took it. The Result? Now they are making over a billion dollar in sales each year! They are the biggest shoes retailer! And their huge customer base do all the promotion and advertising work for them because they were happy and impressed.

Create a profitable online business idea by entering a very specific niche

A niche is a group of people sharing a specific interest, hobby or career. You can take a large business idea and break it down to it’s niche components, study each one and build a business around one niche.

• LinkedIn Is the largest professional social network in the world. They took the Facebook concept and simplified things. They didn’t need millions of teens, housewives and TV stars. They chose professionals and entrepreneurs and they built a website specifically designed to serve them.

• Pat Flynn who is one of my favourite bloggers of all time did this when he first started with his LEED exam training website -It’s a certificate in the Architecture world- He targeted Architectures who want to take the exam and built the best study guides to help them understand the materials and pass the exam. He passed the exam himself first so he knew what does it take to pass it. Result was over 200.000 USD in gross sales in his first year and he is doing much better since then with his awesome SPI blog.

You can do this. Analysis the big businesses and break them down. Find what would be an interest for you and build a website around it. As an example I may consider analysing LinkedIn itself and see the small components inside. Well you may start a “young professional social network” or an “Executive level social network” or “project managers social network” Decide first. Brainstorm how can you provide an awesome fulfilling experience for your audience and then build a website to do this and more.

Create a profitable online business idea based on your passions and fears

Same concept here. If you are passionate about something. There is a good chance that others are in love with it too. If you are totally scared about something you may research and learn to figure a solution and build a website offering that solution. Or simply a website that offers some sort of support group for whoever suffering from that fear. Trust me it works.

Write down your passions, what you love to read about, listen to, or watch. Your dreams maybe? Or maybe your fears! Write them down. Then rewrite them again. Pin them and look at them everyday. Add or delete. I assure you would find something interesting.

Example: I love racing games! I may go and build a need for speed fans website offering latest news and game hacks. I may then offer a simple eBook selling my very best tricks to beat the boss in the game! Figure yours it maybe as simple as that.

I hate bugs! I completely hate it specially ants. I may build a website and post my latest solutions to get rid of them! Organic solutions maybe! Then present them in an ebook.

I love working out! I am a 14 years athlete and I practised everything. I DID start a website based on how to lose weight for the business professionals. I offered straight forward advice for people who can’t afford sever dieting or hours of training. And it worked out NICELY!

Create a profitable online business idea by being weird!

Yes this is not a typo. Although this is not my thing but some people are flooding their bank account with this

• Tucker Max Ps: Please note that his stories are NOT for everyone. They are uncomfortable for many. Please don’t read on his blog if you are easily offended. He is a playa and he wanted to document his adventures in a book. Well every publishing house refused to publish it. He didn’t give up and he built a website and published his stories for free so everyone can sees them. Within few months and with smart marketing his traffic went over the roof This captured the publishers attention and they contacted him offering generous contracts to publish what it seems to be unrealistically popular stories. He did it.

• Million Dollar Homepage If you have ever asked me if setting a website and inviting people to give you money just for putting their logo in a homepage! I would say this will never work! Where is the added value? Well I am wrong this home page collected payments to put brands on the home page “to own a piece of the internet”

Other ways to create a profitable online business idea

If your creativity let you down. Here are some other ways to earn an income by starting an online business.

• Website flipping: Similar to real estate. You build a website. Add content. Attract visitors and offer it for sale on website like Flippa.

• Web hosting reseller: With a fixed monthly fee you can start selling web hosting service. This can be a profitable business model If you can attract lot of traffic. Will cover this in future articles

• Review website: Review anything that you are interested in. And offer some Affiliate links. You earn commissions on sales made by your links. Will cover how to be a super affiliate in a future article.

• Content writing: If you are a good writer, set up a website and offer your services. You may join Elance or Odesk People are in a constant need for good writers

This is the only article you would need to find about your big idea! There is not right or wrong way. As you saw some unrealistic businesses made money. You will never know unless you try. Please stop reading about how to generate profitable ideas for your internet business and start doing what I have told you above.

Just grape a pen and a paper -No laptop please- and go through each method described above from inventing something to upgrading a current business idea to embrace your passions and fears or targeting a very specific niche.

Go through each one, brainstorm each one. Write it down. Pin it. Visualise it and you would find your answer. Sooner or later and this is my promise to you.

Some people would argue that they need to test the idea profitability before they start. Well some people agree and some disagree. I disagree personally. Simply because if you as a person needed something or facing a problem or a certain fear. Be certain that others feel that same way too.

If you are inventing something never done before this testing would do you little good. Ordinary people can’t visualize your idea, so their replies would never give you an accurate answer. Example is when they invented the phone. People never imagined this would be possible and thought their lives are perfect. They invested the mobile phones and now people can’t imagine how they lived without them and now they lives are perfect, now they can talk in the street! They invented the smart phones and now you are connected to your social network, your business and to everything.

Idea here is that people can’t imagine things. You educate them to accept the new technology. As long as it makes their lives easier they would be more than happy to listen.

I heard that the late Steve Jobs, the legendary founder of Apple, didn’t believe in market research. With his revolutionary ideas that redefined what technology is capable of. People were unable to keep up and give a clear thoughts about it.

YOU are the creator, Create and educate.

Hope that you enjoyed this article

Mohamed Anan

Freelancing Writing – A Good Home Based Business Idea

Are you fed up with your long hours of busy office works? Want to get rid of your crazy boss? Then freelancing could give you ample opportunities to be your own boss and find a fortune out of your skills. As it is told that ‘where there is a will, there is a way’, you could find your fortune through this opportunity once you have a willing mind and some time to spend over it.

Freelancing owes you many jobs including writing and translation, computer associated jobs, search engine optimization, web designing and so on. There are also several opportunities for data entry, form filling, internet marketing etc. Here the most important advantage is that the real benefit goes for both the employees as well as the employers. These days people prefer finding good home based business ideas rather than opting for an irritating day job. This may be the reason why more and more of us are attracted to the style of freelance writing.

Here the freelancers could work from home, can choose own hours of working and also could bring good financial benefit as well. If one wants to get to the freelancing style, then you should have a 24 hour internet service that will help you to find and advertise your job and the required skills. One of the essential gifts that any freelancer owns is the World Wide Web that helps to expand small business of freelancing to greater world of marketing and new opportunities.

Initial step that any of you should follow before entering freelancing is to write down your skills and achievements. This will act as a portfolio and will fetch you more orders. Another thing is to search for a good freelancing agency which is web based and that could pay you nicely. If you are confident to guide yourself and do your job well, then you have a long way to go with the help of this home based business idea.

Most of your writing jobs will revolve around writing quality SEO articles which will be used to promote the client’s websites on various article directories. Don’t worry if you don’t know about the topic. You can search on the internet, find ideas and group them and write in your own words.

Once you become a famous writer you will get tons of orders for writing articles, website reviews and product reviews. So, go ahead and start building your freelance writing career.

Small Business Idea – Home & Office Cleaning Business

For the cost of cleaning supplies and a stack of marketing materials – you can be well on your way to starting a Home or Office Cleaning business! A cleaning business is flexible and versatile in many ways. You can offer your services to small business offices, churches, day care centers, private homes, and much more. Due to the ease of start-up and low overhead costs, the cleaning business is often crowded and can be very competitive in some areas.

Here are a few things you will want to keep in mind if you are considering a Home or Office Cleaning Business:

1. What range of services will you offer?: This is one service based business where it may be best to keep your list of services as flexible as possible. Where one client may want to hire you for a weekly deep cleaning of their home, another client may need a one time service of clearing a cluttered garage. Someone may want a laundry service while another wants carpet cleaning. Be open to your clients needs and wants.

2. In what ways can you set yourself apart from the rest?: A home-owner or business in the market for a cleaning service ultimately want just two things – a clean home or office and peace of mind. How good you are at providing those things will determine the success of your business. When a person allows you into your private space, they are trusting that you will not steal or do anything else to betray their trust. As a small business owner, you do not have the brand recognition of a larger cleaning company, so you will have to work harder to gain clients. To give them peace of mind it may be wise to insure and bond your business, keep an up-to-date copy of your driving record, and criminal background check. You should offer to show any new client this information.

As society grows more conscious of the environmental impact of certain chemicals, people are moving towards eco-friendly or “green” alternatives. You can reach that demographic by offering green cleaning solutions and child-friendly methods. This will be very important for families.

3. How can I market and advertise my cleaning business: When it comes to advertising – you will want to concentrate your efforts to high volume social places. Your local grocery store, day care facility, church or shopping plaza are ideal locations. Consider spending the money to run a print ad in your towns newspaper and CraigsList.com is another great (free) alternative. Building your word of mouth reputation will be important, offer to clean the homes of friends and associates in exchange for a testimonial of your services. You may also want to consider marketing a contract deal to local apartment complexes, Realtors and credit unions. These companies will always need a reliable service to thoroughly clean apartments and homes after leases end, evictions and foreclosures. In fact, specializing in foreclosure clean-up may prove to be highly profitable.

Though the overall start up costs of a cleaning business are very low, you don’t want to make the error of skipping over the important steps. Make sure to register your business legally with your county, state and the IRS. Purchase a domain name and establish a website. Finally, you are a cleaning professional and must present yourself as such at all times. Although you are cleaning messes, your appearance should remain tidy!

Got A Business Idea But No Money? Here Are 5 Tips On Funding A Women Owned Business

More women are leaving the corporate world to become entrepreneurs. For the past two decades, majority women-owned firms have continued to grow at around two times the rate of all firms. According to the Center for Women’s Business Research, the number of majority women-owned businesses increased 42% between 1997 and 2006.

One of the concerns faced by a woman business owner is finding the money to start or grow her business. While some women-owned businesses are funded through a small nest egg, others may turn to additional means of finance.

Here are 5 tips on funding a woman business start-up.

Borrowing From Family And Friends

This is one of the most common ways to fund a new business. Your family and friends are more likely to lend you their money if they are convinced by your business plan and idea. Borrowing money from people you know is a cost-efficient approach as you may not be required to pay extra fees or interests. However, it could potentially lead to strained relationships if you are unable to repay the money. Some individuals believe that they are automatically entitled to a piece of the business in return for the money loaned. Any stipulations associated with the “loan” should be put in writing to avoid any future misunderstanding.

Some women business owners are aware of the tension that can potentially arise from borrowing from family and friends. If you are one of them, why not ask your family or friends to help out in running your business such as taking orders, promotions, delivery and so forth.

Credit Cards

Small business owners reportedly use several credits cards to pay for expenses. This type of funding is expensive and risky. Failure to make repayments can jeopardize your personal credit. If you want to resort to this means of funding, make sure you can pay off your card before the interest kicks in.

Personal Loans

Banks are usually quick to approve loans less than $25,000 based on personal credit. If you need a few thousand dollars to spend on equipment or inventory, a personal loan is an ideal way of funding. The interest rate is less than that of a credit card. You will still need to submit a business plan to support a personal loan application.

Business Loans

You’ll need to provide collateral or guarantee in addition to a business plan or financial statements when applying for a business loan. The screening process is more rigorous. Business loans are typically available from $25,000 onwards. If you are using the equity of your home to get a business loan, you may be putting your home at a risk of foreclosure if you fail to meet your monthly repayments. Understanding all of the details regarding this type of loan is vital to protect the ownership of your home.

SBA Loans

When a larger loan is needed to acquire a building or an expensive piece of equipment, there are business loan programs for women provided by Small Business Administration (SBA). Please note that SBA only acts a guarantor but does not offer loans to small businesses. SBA reviews loan applications by borrowers. If a loan application is eligible, SBA issues a commitment letter on behalf of the applicant. This letter shows the willingness of SBA to guarantee the loan, which helps to speed up the loan approval by a lender.

There is an inherent risk of funding any business activities, no matter what type of funding you choose. The key is not to borrow too much to the extent that you cannot meet the monthly repayments from the income of your business.

Business Opportunities – Which Business Idea Is Right For You?

Many entrepreneurs decide to go into business and then cast about for the ideal business concept. There is nothing wrong in this approach, but it does beg the question as to how you determine which business opportunity is right for you and whether the business idea is worth pursuing. The formal business planning process provides for this type of analysis. It is a process that helps the small business owner remove their ‘rose coloured glasses’ and to investigate the business idea based on hard facts and realistic analysis. The planning tool used to determine the viability of a business opportunity is called a feasibility study.

The goal of the feasibility study is to minimise the degree of risk that a business owner is about to undertake. At the completion of a feasibility study you should be able to conclude if the opportunity has potential for profit and is therefore worth the investment of your time, effort and finance. If the study proves that the business idea is financially viable, much of the information collated can be used in the formal business planning documents.

A word of warning, curb your enthusiasm for a business idea until after the feasibility study has been concluded. Don’t spend a cent, don’t sign anything, don’t get anything underway. Heeding this single warning could save you much money, time and grief.

A detailed feasibility study should include:

The Business Opportunity

Start with a description of the business opportunity in as much detail as possible.

Legal Constraints

You need to investigate whether there are any legal constraints to conducting this type of business. This could include regulatory requirements for specific qualifications or licenses. Home based businesses usually require permission from the local council to operate from the home. There is no point launching into a business which requires qualifications or licenses you do not have.

Market and Customers

You need to undertake market research to determine the size of the market for your products and services and to profile the characteristics of both the market, your competitors and potential customers. You should also assess whether you can offer something unique, better or different to the offers being made by your competitors and determine likely purchase quantities and price points of your products. Your market research should also include identify any issues which are likely to impact the market or the industry in the near future.

Operational Issues

Operational issues such as business location and the type of facilities required need to be investigated and addressed. It examines the space required immediately and assesses whether that will be adequate given your projected business growth at various timeframes. It asks how you will identify the most suitable location and type of space.

It should also examine how you will finance the required space. Will your purchase, rent or take out a long-term lease?

It examines the logistical aspects of operating the business such as how will you handle, transport and store goods into and out of your business? What distribution channels will you use? Do you need transport such as a car, van, truck or forklift? What other plant and equipment are needed to commence operations and what is needed over the life of the business?

Management Skills

This examines the management aspects of the business. It asks what types and level of skills are required to run this particular business? Who will manage the business? What roles are required and who will fulfill those roles? This includes marketing, finances, sales, managing information technology etc.

Critically, you need to examine the skills required by this business opportunity and compare them to your own skills. Do you have the skills required to undertake this business? If not, can they be acquired readily? Are you even interested in acquiring these skills?

Organisational Skills

This examines the skills required by the business. It asks how many additional staff will be required to operate this business idea. Will you need to recruit new workers? If so, what skills and competency levels will be required. Do you know how to recruit these staff members and are you able to effectively induct and train these new recruits?

Do you have sufficient knowledge as to the legal aspects of employing staff? Are you aware of regulations relating to salaries and wages, taxation, workers compensation, workplace safety and equal opportunity? Do you know where to go to obtain this information?

Financial Issues

This takes a detailed look at the financial issues relating to the business idea. This includes the all important questions of what capital is required to start the business and how will you raise the required capital. What is your estimate of profitability after all costs, including tax, have been deducted? How much do you require to live on per annum? How long will it take to breakeven.

You also need to examine your own skills in relation to managing the finances. Are you able to do your own bookkeeping? Can you manage cashflows? Do you know where to go for expert financial advice?

Sales and Marketing

This looks at what you expect your sales and marketing strategy to be. It takes a look at how much time and money will be allocated to the sales and marketing function and determines what the most cost-effective promotional methods should be. It also asks who will be responsible for this function.

Conclusions

The above is not an exhaustive list of questions that should be asked when conducting a feasibility study but it gives you the flavour of what it should be. When you have done your research and found answers to the key questions you will be in a position to undertake a SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. It allows you to take all the information you have gathered and to make an overall assessment of the viability of the business.

Undertaking a feasibility study sounds like a lot of work, especially when you are eager to get started, but if you want to save yourself a lot of time, money, energy and grief, take the time to assess whether the business idea really is worth your investment. A feasibility study can help you sift through a raft of business ideas and allow you to discard those that are not worth pursuing and help you to identify the one that is most likely to be successful.

Hot New Business Idea – Home-Town Article Writing

Article writing as we know it has become a great home-based business avenue for creating an additional stream of income or exposure. Creating mind tingling articles that will keep the attention of your audience occupied is of vital importance. The small town business idea of writing a news article on business ownership for your local newspaper publication is one that I believe is quite overlooked. This newspaper or magazine is relatively small in production, circulation and content. It will usually be locally owned and operated.

Do your research to find out what bi-weekly or monthly articles are published. Nine times out of ten, there will not be anything covering people who own their own business or how to start your own business, a popular niche that you can take advantage of. There will be a bit of leg-work involved, but the exposure, if not income too, will be totally worth your while. Call the editor of the newspaper you chose and set up an appointment to talk one on one with them about writing for their publication. There may not be any monetary incentive for it at first but let them know you are willing to freelance for the exposure. If the offer is accepted, you will now need to make a list of people in your town who are business owners. If you don’t know many, ask friends and relatives for help.

Some idea titles for your column could be: Being Your Own Boss 101, An Inside Focus to B.Y.O.B., All My Own: Business 101, or You Can Start Your Own Business, Too. You will then need to call those prospective business owners, tell them who you are, why you would like to interview them for your column and the name of the newspaper they will be featured in. Most will be flattered to be mentioned in a publication. No picture is necessary, unless you and the business owner agree on submitting one.

The following interview questions should get you on your way.

1. How they started their own business
2. Motivation for wanting to be in business
3. When they started and how long in the business
4. Some difficulties they faced and how they overcame it
5. Would they do it again and what would they do different
6. Tips for others who may want to have their own business
7. In what ways do they give back
8. Business happenings current and future
9. Future plans, if any
10. Family status, faith affiliation, if any, encouraging words or business motto

An important factor is always remember to check for spelling and grammatical errors within your articles. This can make or break your expertise as an article writer. These are just some general ideas for interview questions, you can always alter for your own satisfaction. And by no means should you limit yourself to just writing for your own home-town, contact other small towns after you’ve reached a certain level of comfortable expertise and then accelerate to larger ones. This will be a specialty niche exclusively built by you but geared towards helping others in their own business and those wanting their own business.

I hope this will help someone in their future article writing journey. One never knows, before long you may end up venturing out with your own business publication centered around this one little specialty niche. My sincere hope is that this creative business idea will free you into your own way of thinking and living.