Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Logosnap
So I found this website that offers free and for pay logos. I tried one tonight and it is truly a snap to make. I might even pay for one when I truly go for my real business. For now the fee one will be great. I thought it was super easy to set up. I picked an image (there are lots). I used Eduction and found a cool tree. Not sure if it will be the only thing, but it was a start. I added the name and aligned the image. It was a little hard to align the image because I made it small. I think it might be better to align the image and then make it smaller. I think it is OK for now though. I think the folks at logosnap have a nice product and I will look into doing more than freemium before long.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Here is some old news: Twitter is useful for business. There are active ways to promote your business, and passive ways. A passive way might be a billboard or an advertisement. An active way is to become involved in social networking like Twitter. The challenge is you must gain trust before your audience will consider what you have to offer. Twitter gives you that opportunity, in an easy to write 140 characters or less. It is free to use, and you have the opportunity to actively promote your business. Have fun!
Thursday, February 24, 2011
An Urge to Action
There are way more business ideas than there are businesses. A good business idea is worthless until it is acted upon. The main thing is to take the first step. It is not possible to predict the outcome of everything. John Maynard Keynes wrote, "Most, probably, of our decisions to do something positive, the full consequences of which will be drawn out over many days to come, can only be taken as the result of animal spirits—a spontaneous urge to action rather than inaction, and not as the outcome of a weighted average of quantitative benefits multiplied by quantitative probabilities."
In other words, if you feel inclined to do something positive, spring to action. Inaction is the default outcome; most people just do not take the first step.
Take www.smoothclay.com as an example. Though there are lots of wise people extolling the virtues of 'Doing what you love and the money will come,' we found through our own experience that there are very few business opportunities that make it possible to do what you love. So we made a business that puts people who love crafts into a sustainable business that they can grow as they wish. The product is a turn-key business package that will help you begin your business, and make your products rare and unique.
It is worth taking a look. Have fun!
In other words, if you feel inclined to do something positive, spring to action. Inaction is the default outcome; most people just do not take the first step.
Take www.smoothclay.com as an example. Though there are lots of wise people extolling the virtues of 'Doing what you love and the money will come,' we found through our own experience that there are very few business opportunities that make it possible to do what you love. So we made a business that puts people who love crafts into a sustainable business that they can grow as they wish. The product is a turn-key business package that will help you begin your business, and make your products rare and unique.
It is worth taking a look. Have fun!
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Web of Trust
There is a web site rating social network that works pretty well, and gives web users some feedback from those who have been to a particular site before. it is called Web of Trust, or WOT. There are four rating criteria, trustworthiness, vendor reliability, privacy and child safety. It is good to see a green circle on a site. A gray circle is not necessarily a bad thing, only that it has not been rated yet. If you want to get your site rated, you can by going to the web site and requesting a rating. Read the forums to find out how to go about it, and be patient and cordial. A Google search with Firefox will show the WOT rating beside each of the listings before you click. Perhaps others do that too, but in general with other browsers and search engines, I find that you have to go to the site before the rating is shown.
WOT also has a way to monetize their offering for commercial sites. The subscription approach looks to be useful but I have not used it yet.
It took a while to get the rating for smoothclay.com, but I am glad I did it. The green symbol is a badge that indicates that others trust the site.
WOT also has a way to monetize their offering for commercial sites. The subscription approach looks to be useful but I have not used it yet.
It took a while to get the rating for smoothclay.com, but I am glad I did it. The green symbol is a badge that indicates that others trust the site.
Monday, January 31, 2011
A Little at a Time
Starting your own bootstrap ceramic business or any business for that matter, takes patience. It is important to set out your goals - in writing - so you know where you are going and where you have come from. Try to do something every day, and even though the progress may be slow, it will be sure.
A good friend noted that the goals he wrote down had a greater chance of getting accomplished than the goals he did not write down. The takeaway from that for me was, I may not get the goal accomplished, but if I write it down a successful outcome is more likely.
An important goal to set is to regularly promote your business. This is easy to forget. Be sure to keep your customer information, so you can let them know of new opportunities from time to time.
With SmoothClay.com, almost all of the preliminary work is done. Once you learn how to make the items, all that is needed is to take one or more of the avenues described in the Operations Guide.
Being persistent, and realizing that success is a journey, and not a destination, will see you through.
Have fun!
A good friend noted that the goals he wrote down had a greater chance of getting accomplished than the goals he did not write down. The takeaway from that for me was, I may not get the goal accomplished, but if I write it down a successful outcome is more likely.
An important goal to set is to regularly promote your business. This is easy to forget. Be sure to keep your customer information, so you can let them know of new opportunities from time to time.
With SmoothClay.com, almost all of the preliminary work is done. Once you learn how to make the items, all that is needed is to take one or more of the avenues described in the Operations Guide.
Being persistent, and realizing that success is a journey, and not a destination, will see you through.
Have fun!
Square Credit Card Merchant Account
There is a new credit card merchant that can help you accept credit card payments anywhere. The company is called Square, and you can accept credit card payments on your Android mobile phone or iPhone. The site is www.squareup.com. They offer an easy setup that is free, and they will send you a card reader for free. Imagine how this will revolutionize craft fairs or Farmer’s Markets! You can accept credit cards with excellent security. You do not even take down the credit card number! The charges are very reasonable and less than PayPal or GoogleCheckout. Look it over carefully to make sure it is for you. This is huge.
Have fun!
Have fun!
Some Business Opportunities
What kind of Business is best when you are just starting out? Contrary to the opinion of many of the business books and business Plan companies, the best businesses have very low overhead, no employees and no debt. This is sometimes called a Bootstrappers’s Business.
The best businesses make things. When you provide services, you are limited to only what you can do during hours that are convenient to your client (unless you add employees). By making something, you can accomplish the biggest tasks when you have time, and you can enlist others in piecework, as their own contractor (do this carefully, but it can be done and it is often the best way. Generally the key is they, like you, must have an opportunity for profit and for loss).
Many great business ideas are stymied at the start because of all the legwork that needs to be done before any money comes in. One of the most difficult things to do when you start a business is to gather all the things you need and make it just what you need, without over-spending. Then you have to gather together all the information you need, like business plans, how to incorporate, how to make the products and on and on. It becomes so exhausting that one hardly has energy to do the actual business.
Sometimes there are businesses that come ready-to go. Asphalt-King is a great example. SmoothClay.com is another With the SmoothClay Ceramic Business Opportunity, all the work of designing and collecting products, supplies and information is already done. For just a few hundred dollars you can benefit from years of experience and preparation, and you can begin your business right away. There is even a substantial inventory so you can jump right in.
Starting the business is simple. All you do is purchase the package, get a few items that cannot be reasonably shipped, and start inviting folks to share in your New Venture. The Operations Guide shows you how to do it, including home parties, shows where crowds gather, selling to professionals and selling wholesale, just to name some. It is a business in a box.
The best businesses make things. When you provide services, you are limited to only what you can do during hours that are convenient to your client (unless you add employees). By making something, you can accomplish the biggest tasks when you have time, and you can enlist others in piecework, as their own contractor (do this carefully, but it can be done and it is often the best way. Generally the key is they, like you, must have an opportunity for profit and for loss).
Many great business ideas are stymied at the start because of all the legwork that needs to be done before any money comes in. One of the most difficult things to do when you start a business is to gather all the things you need and make it just what you need, without over-spending. Then you have to gather together all the information you need, like business plans, how to incorporate, how to make the products and on and on. It becomes so exhausting that one hardly has energy to do the actual business.
Sometimes there are businesses that come ready-to go. Asphalt-King is a great example. SmoothClay.com is another With the SmoothClay Ceramic Business Opportunity, all the work of designing and collecting products, supplies and information is already done. For just a few hundred dollars you can benefit from years of experience and preparation, and you can begin your business right away. There is even a substantial inventory so you can jump right in.
Starting the business is simple. All you do is purchase the package, get a few items that cannot be reasonably shipped, and start inviting folks to share in your New Venture. The Operations Guide shows you how to do it, including home parties, shows where crowds gather, selling to professionals and selling wholesale, just to name some. It is a business in a box.
A Makes Sense Business Plan
A Business Plan has to be simple, specific, and geared to what you want to do. Most, if not all of the business plan templates on the web are designed for companies that have been in business, have brick and mortar overhead, and clearly are intended to make a case for getting a business loan. That kind of business plan does not fit. You need to know where to go from here. You need a map, and this is how to make one. The following items are useful for a simple, Makes Sense Business Plan:
1.Your Company Name. There is a way to officially declare your company name to your State, and make sure there is nobody else using that name. It is easy.
2.Decide what kind of business entity you will be. The easiest is a sole proprietor, and that works well for small businesses. If you want to create an entity so you are somewhat protected from legal issues, you can make a corporation. That too is easy, and a lot less costly than what you see on the Internet.
3.Figure out what you are going to sell. Make sure that your selling price is a lot more than your cost so you can cover your expenses and have some left over.
4.Figure out who you are going to sell to. Think of your most likely customers. Will your offering be worth the price you want to charge?
5.How will you sell your product? Are you going to sell to a retail store? Are you going to have Home Workshops? Are you going to sell to professionals to help their business? All of the above? Each of these channels have costs and risks, but the risks can be reduced with perseverance.
6.Explore what you think your sales level might be for each of these channels.
7.How will you promote your business? There are many low-cost ways to promote, some on the Internet, and some are more local.
8.Who is your competition? What do they do well, and what can you do better? Remember that competition can be directly with what you sell, or something your customers might buy instead of your stuff. On the other hand, sometimes your stuff might complement someone else’s product, and that is worth thinking about and writing down too.
9.Explore what you think your sales level might be for each of the channels you think you might use.
10.Cut your sales projection in half at least.
11.Figure out your expenses. Do all you can to match your expenses to your sales. The optimum is to have no expenses that are not tied directly to sales. You want very little monthly overhead.
12.Double your expenses projection at least.
13.Do you still make a little money? As things pick up, do your profits increase?
14.Can you handle the monthly overhead for the foreseeable future so you can keep the business going until is matures?
15.What other opportunities might be spawned as a result of this business? Are there other products that will go well using the channels you have established? Are there other channels for your existing products?
These are the kinds of things that are concrete and specific to your business. Think through these things and write them down, and you will have a much clearer idea about where to go from here.
Have fun!
1.Your Company Name. There is a way to officially declare your company name to your State, and make sure there is nobody else using that name. It is easy.
2.Decide what kind of business entity you will be. The easiest is a sole proprietor, and that works well for small businesses. If you want to create an entity so you are somewhat protected from legal issues, you can make a corporation. That too is easy, and a lot less costly than what you see on the Internet.
3.Figure out what you are going to sell. Make sure that your selling price is a lot more than your cost so you can cover your expenses and have some left over.
4.Figure out who you are going to sell to. Think of your most likely customers. Will your offering be worth the price you want to charge?
5.How will you sell your product? Are you going to sell to a retail store? Are you going to have Home Workshops? Are you going to sell to professionals to help their business? All of the above? Each of these channels have costs and risks, but the risks can be reduced with perseverance.
6.Explore what you think your sales level might be for each of these channels.
7.How will you promote your business? There are many low-cost ways to promote, some on the Internet, and some are more local.
8.Who is your competition? What do they do well, and what can you do better? Remember that competition can be directly with what you sell, or something your customers might buy instead of your stuff. On the other hand, sometimes your stuff might complement someone else’s product, and that is worth thinking about and writing down too.
9.Explore what you think your sales level might be for each of the channels you think you might use.
10.Cut your sales projection in half at least.
11.Figure out your expenses. Do all you can to match your expenses to your sales. The optimum is to have no expenses that are not tied directly to sales. You want very little monthly overhead.
12.Double your expenses projection at least.
13.Do you still make a little money? As things pick up, do your profits increase?
14.Can you handle the monthly overhead for the foreseeable future so you can keep the business going until is matures?
15.What other opportunities might be spawned as a result of this business? Are there other products that will go well using the channels you have established? Are there other channels for your existing products?
These are the kinds of things that are concrete and specific to your business. Think through these things and write them down, and you will have a much clearer idea about where to go from here.
Have fun!
Strapping on Your Own Boots
SmoothClay.com is a business that helps you become an entrepreneur, or to extend your entrepreneurial horizons. It is a turn-key business with everything you need to begin your business.
SmoothClay is a low-cost business. It is designed to give you the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of owning a business without the worry of trying to make a payment or rent. The best kind of business is one where you have little or no overhead, where you do not need employees and you can do something that makes people happy - so they come back and bring their friends.
Too many times would-be entrepreneurs make big plans and incur big expenses and commitments, only to find out that the people doing the best in your business are your banker and landlord. If you want to start any business, do it small.
It is always amazing to me that most business planning software go to great lengths to ask all sorts of unanswerable questions, using up all kinds of energy that could be used in building a business, all to make a story good enough to borrow money. Then, if you borrow the money, you are now beholden to give your meager profits to someone else.
The thing to do is start small, on your own, without suffocating overhead. You can read an inspiring book by Seth Godin called The Bootstrapper’s Bible that expands on this idea.
You can get a free copy here: http://changethis.com/manifesto/show/8.BootstrappersBible
Good Luck!
SmoothClay is a low-cost business. It is designed to give you the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of owning a business without the worry of trying to make a payment or rent. The best kind of business is one where you have little or no overhead, where you do not need employees and you can do something that makes people happy - so they come back and bring their friends.
Too many times would-be entrepreneurs make big plans and incur big expenses and commitments, only to find out that the people doing the best in your business are your banker and landlord. If you want to start any business, do it small.
It is always amazing to me that most business planning software go to great lengths to ask all sorts of unanswerable questions, using up all kinds of energy that could be used in building a business, all to make a story good enough to borrow money. Then, if you borrow the money, you are now beholden to give your meager profits to someone else.
The thing to do is start small, on your own, without suffocating overhead. You can read an inspiring book by Seth Godin called The Bootstrapper’s Bible that expands on this idea.
You can get a free copy here: http://changethis.com/manifesto/show/8.BootstrappersBible
Good Luck!
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Business
A job is a business with one customer. It behooves anyone to start their own business, even if they are comfortable in their job. After all, if you lose the one customer in your business with one customer, you are out of business. What kind of business is best? I have looked at many. Service businesses are great if you hire many people. There are loads of service businesses that can be started at low cost, from dog doo scoopers to asphalt sealing. If you want to keep your employees at zero, your best bet is selling something you can purchase, add value, and sell. This way you have something that is completely yours, rather than something that is identical to the next person.I call this light manufacturing, and it can be as lucrative as you want it to be.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Illumination
Have you ever considered that the American Dream is a dream all right, but it is not your dream or my dream, it is the dream of the mortgage holder and the owner of the business where you work. This blog is about the foibles of the American dream. The American Dream, in theory, is to own your own home and have a good job and raise your family. Let me clue you in a little. When you have a mortgage, then you own your home by definition, but the mortgage holder is in the driver's seat. I will talk about the details of the closing and how the bank and mortgage insurance and the appraiser and the sales people are all wanting their part of your future earnings at another time, but for now, let's look at the numbers. Let's just say that you are buying a house for $200,000. The bank requires that you put down 20%. Why do they do that? Because, in a normal market, if you get stuck they figure they will get at least 80%, if you skip out or lose your ability to pay your mortgage. So, let's say you somehow come up with $40,000 that you are willing to part with for your house. Now you have a 30 year loan with the mortgage company. Why is 30 years picked? It just so happens that there is a point at which the payment is the smallest possible. A shorter term and it is a higher payment, and a longer term it is a higher payment. This is also where the interest payments are maximized, which is what the people loaning you money want. So, you pay $160,000 for your house, and you tell the government about it of course because they will let you deduct the interest expense. Sounds great doesn't it? Now, the payment (not counting property taxes, another future blog) is $1199.10 per month at 6%. If you pay every month for 30 years, you paid $431,676 for your $160,000 loan. Now, let's say that you decide to sell your house after ten years. You still owe $133,897.34, after paying $143,892 in payments. Now, let's say you need to sell your home, so after an agonizing wait of three months (pretty fast) and a few thousand dollars in fix-up, you sell it for $240,000. You make a tidy profit of $40,000, right? Well, actually, no. First, you had $40K tied up. If you made 5% after taxes each year, then you would have $65,000, with little risk. So there is $25,000 that gets counted, leaving a $15,000 profit. But wait, you paid $143,892. It is true that part of this amount was toward the house, and the interest was deductible, but the bottom line is that profit is hardly a profit. The bank got over $100K of your money and you got $15,000 of your $144,000 back. And you had most of the risk, especially when you consider what could happen if you lost the house due to a job loss. You would lose your house and down payment. Then whatever the bank could sell it for, if it was less than what you owed, they would come after you for it later. So, the American dream of owning a home is really a great place for banks and others who make their money work. BTW the typical mortgage duration in Canada is five years.
Now let's look at the income side. You get a good job. Well, that means you are in business and you have one customer. You are trading your life for maybe just enough money to live. The company is economically motivated to pay you the least it can to get the most out of you. Raises are slow to come, and really will not let you get ahead. Then there are credit card offers in the mail just when you need to take care of a cavity or braces or any unexpected expense that you might have covered except your $40,000 is in the house.
There is a lot more to say. The bottom line is, even though the American Dream can be had, I am not so sure this is the way to spend your life. There is no involuntary servitude in the US, but this is close. There is an answer though, and I will have more to say on that...
I want to talk about house closings, mortgages, business, marketing, owning your own business, buying cars, buying computers, buying houses, renting, the awfulness of compound interest, inflation, doing something, getting out of debt, staying out of debt, jobs, kinds of businesses, banks, mortgage insurance, appraisals, refinancing and more. Check back about once a week. Your comments are welcome.
Now let's look at the income side. You get a good job. Well, that means you are in business and you have one customer. You are trading your life for maybe just enough money to live. The company is economically motivated to pay you the least it can to get the most out of you. Raises are slow to come, and really will not let you get ahead. Then there are credit card offers in the mail just when you need to take care of a cavity or braces or any unexpected expense that you might have covered except your $40,000 is in the house.
There is a lot more to say. The bottom line is, even though the American Dream can be had, I am not so sure this is the way to spend your life. There is no involuntary servitude in the US, but this is close. There is an answer though, and I will have more to say on that...
I want to talk about house closings, mortgages, business, marketing, owning your own business, buying cars, buying computers, buying houses, renting, the awfulness of compound interest, inflation, doing something, getting out of debt, staying out of debt, jobs, kinds of businesses, banks, mortgage insurance, appraisals, refinancing and more. Check back about once a week. Your comments are welcome.
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