Archive for the ‘Startup Business’ Category

In the process of creating your business, one of the key things that you should put in place as soon as possible is a mentor. The responsibilities of a mentor include providing you with guidance and being a sounding board for your ideas.

According to Webster.com, a mentor is “a trusted counselor or guide”. As a business owner, adding a mentor to your team will be a very wise thing to do. Being open to mentoring is a very important step for business owners, just as a football player has to be open to his coach. Mentors are in your business life to steer you away from mistakes that can happen in a new business and to guide you towards a successful business future.

To help you learn more about mentoring, I have compiled tips from business owners to help you determine what to look for when looking for an ideal mentor.

	Cristin Franks: Be sure to find a mentor who you can trust like a friend but who doesn’t intimidate you. The whole point of your start-up is to insert yourself, your true creative self. Therefore a mentor must cultivate your raw style.
	Lois Zachary: Mentoring requires careful preparation. To get your relationship off to a good start, you will want to: Reflect on your purpose. Be clear about your own goals and objectives. Consider what it is you are willing to contribute to the relationship. Be willing to candidly share your needs, expectations and limits. Identify the characteristics you are looking for in a mentor. The latter is the toughest. Picking the right mentor is necessary for successful outcomes. And it goes beyond chemistry with your mentor. Let me explain. The natural tendency is to zero in on chemistry when meeting with prospective mentors. If the chemistry doesn’t feel right, the inclination is to go no further. Rather than relying on chemistry alone, I recommend using a criteria-based decision-making model. It can help you make good choices and avoid those that don’t support your talent and capability or are not otherwise in your best interests. Even if there are better choices, it is easy to bias our selection toward those that set us up for easy success. Without some sound criteria, our decisions can be flawed, and neither you nor your mentor is truly well served.
	Maria Ross: Find a mentor who is successful in the field he or she is in. You learn from success, so seek out a mentor who has done things right and has the scars to prove it. It doesn’t even matter if it’s necessarily in the business you are in, but as long as someone has built a successful career and business, he or she will be in a much better position to help and guide you than someone who is very nice with good intentions but who can’t lead you in the right direction.
	Crystal Kendrick: A mentor is a role model, confidant, friend and supporter who helps a high potential person to become a more effective leader and a more well rounded individual.  The mentor is usually attached to the person and not always the company and is typically available for extended periods of time.  The focus of the mentor is usually more personal/professional and will often offer guidance based on personal experiences and learned strategies.  Mentor/mentoree relationships are developed. Tips to make a sound choice: Determine what you want to achieve from the relationship and identify a mentor who can help to achieve the goals. Look to someone who is experienced and excited about the relationship Don’t just look to the most successful person as a mentor.  Some of the persons who have not achieved what you believe to be “success” are actually quite knowledgeable about what it takes to be successful.
	Krista Dunk: We all need mentors in some form, in all areas of our lives, if we desire to be successful. Mentors are unique in that he or she should be a person who you can have a personal relationship with. Mentors are people that you can have back and forth dialogue with, not just one-sided conversations. Find someone who makes you uncomfortable, because his or her personal capacity and experience are at a much higher level than yours. You must trust him or her, both personally and professionally He or she should have a bigger perspective than you do He or she has “been there, done that” in the area where you desire to learn He or she cares about what you do and wants to see you succeed He or she will speak hard truths to you in love.
	Sid Kemp: What makes a great business mentor? He or she: Is capable and knowledgeable Is open-minded – not directive and telling you what to do Good at explaining choices and consequences Helps you think for yourself Has a successful track record, but does not appear to be perfect Knows his or her limitations Helps you plan and decide Helps you make connections
	DeAnna Troupe: It’s absolutely essential to have a mentor when you’re building your own business. It may even be helpful to have more than one. Here are some things to look for in a mentor. You want to find a mentor that has expertise in a certain area of business. Run away quickly from the person that claims to be an expert at all areas of business. If you need help in marketing, find someone who is an expert in marketing. If you need help with financing your business, find someone with experience in that. You will get much better results when you deal with a specialist instead of a generalist. It’s also important to find a mentor that doesn’t clash with your personality style. In other words, if you’re the type of person that does better when guided to the answer, you don’t want a mentor that basically tells you what to do and doesn’t give you choices. You may have to go through a few mentors before you find one that fits. You also want someone that actually has more business experience than you do. I know this seems kind of obvious, but nowadays a lot of people are calling themselves mentors even though they don’t have a lot of business experience. Be sure to check the person’s credentials.

In celebration of National Entrepreneurship Week (February 20 – 27, 2010) I am giving away a WordPress website package to an entrepreneur who needs to develop his or her online presence. According to their website, the purpose is a “Celebration of the heritage of entrepreneurship in America and NEW opportunities for a NEW GENERATION”.

This is the 4th year for the celebration and in 2006, the House of Representative made the following resolutions:

So to celebrate these resolutions and the implementation of them, I am giving away a WordPress website package to an entrepreneur who needs to develop his or her online presence. In order to qualify, you must meet the following criteria:

• Have only one business
• Have been in business for 3 years or less
• Has a need for your online presence to be enhanced (this means that you don’t have a big presence)

The WordPress website package will include the following options:

• Web hosting (first year free, $60 per year thereafter) – Provided by Pro Membership Services
• Installation/setup of WordPress (worth $650) – Provided by Pro Membership Services
• Basic custom theme (worth $150) – Provided by Pro Membership Services
• Basic custom header (worth $150) – Provided by GoodrichDesign.net
• 4 Standard static pages with content (worth $150) – Provided by TallentAgency.com
• WordPress training – 30 minute session (worth $60) - Provided by Pro Membership Services
• Internet Strategy planning session – 60 minutes (worth $195) - Provided by Pro Membership Services
• Cross Marketing Consultation - 90 minute session (worth $125) – Provided by Marketing 2 Women International

The total value of this package is worth almost $1400

To participate in this give-away, you must complete the following steps:

• Leave a comment on this post
• Sign up for the Your Passionate Business Facebook Fanpage
• Complete the form below
• Follow Your Passionate Business on Twitter

cforms contact form by delicious:days

Have you ever had an idea that was so great that you had to stop everything to write it down? Then pat yourself on the back because you took steps to document your “Innovative Business Idea”. You never know when you will get hit with an innovative business idea, so my suggestion is that you should always be prepared to document your thoughts or ideas at a moment’s notice.

Just think of your innovative business idea as though it were like an air balloon taking off. Yes, it may take some effort to get the balloon full of air in preparation to take off. but once you take off, things will flow smoothly.

In today’s blog post, the featured tip is: Innovative Business Ideas. An innovative business idea is basically when you have a new creative thought that will help you develop a business that would either provide a product or service to your target market.

Below is some of the feedback I have received from my business associates.

T.C. Coleman Grow your business utilizing LinkedIn and Plaxo. Each week, contact no less than 10 people from your LinkedIn or Plaxo connections by email or phone. Inquire about the state of the person’s business with whom you are speaking. This will allow you to stay “top of mind” and build strong relationships that can lead to business opportunities.Make excellent customer service a key differentiator for your business. A reputation for excellent service is a great foundation for a “magnetic brand” that consistently results in repeat business and referrals.

Arthur Lui It is crucial to get your site optimized for search engines like Google. Getting higher rankings in search results can drive your traffic for years without any extra cost after the initial optimization service. Note that this is not the pay-per-click advertising but simply the unpaid search results, so you don’t pay for each visitor. Everyone is searching on Google these days for everything, so you have to be found where they’re looking.

Bob Reiss You don’t need a blockbuster idea to start a new business. You can take a proven idea and improve on it, sell it to new audiences, give better service etc. Think of it like Scrabble. Add one letter and you get credit for the whole previous word.

Phil Michaelson Companies fail when they run out of cash before learning what works. So, test and learn about all parts of your new business as quickly and cheaply as you can.

Euwyn Poon Learn how to outsource effectively to leverage your time. Use the right online tools to maximize productivity (especially if you’re working with a remote team).

Shel Horowitz Understand smart, cost-effective marketing; don’t waste money on expensive, untargeted ads. Keep expenses low; I started my business with $200 — in 1981 — and I think that’s one of the reasons why I made it.

Sherrie High-Mitchell Even though there is a recession going on, don’t hike up your prices. People are looking for deals and more likely to shy away from a high priced product when they can get it somewhere for a lot less. Keep networking even if your company is doing well.

Lundy Wilder If you begin a business centered around one of your passions, you will not mind doing massive amounts of research and working long hours. Perform research for an available niche in the area and when you find it, jump on it. Use the Internet for all it’s worth! Learn to do deep searches. Keep good notes as computers crash and you may lose your bookmarks…I did. I started Villa Lagoon Tile just because I could not figure out how to get the kind of floor tile for myself that I had seen all over Europe and Latin America but never saw in the States. Now I am a total tile nut. I love it.

Sandy Rich (“Custombabyshoegirl”) Keep your overhead low and hold on to your cash. Checkout Entrepreneurial business books from your local library, and if you have an online website, have a professional create that site for you.

Do you still work in Corporate America, yet have dreams of starting your own business? Have you been working your full-time job and doing your own business part-time? Then you can add to your list of titles, “Moonlighter”. According to Webster.com, the term “Moonlighter” is when someone holds a second job in addition to a regular one.

Starting your own business in today’s economy is an adventure that many have chosen to embark on in order to become their own bosses. Yet, some have found that you have to continue working a daytime job in order to have steady income. When you have a daytime job, it is important that you keep your prospective about what’s important. Please don’t work your business while on your daytime job.

Keep in mind that you want to treat your employer with the same respect that you would expect from those who may work for you. Food for thought: Is this something that you as a small business owner would be able to accept an employee doing to you?

Let’s look at some ways that you can start up your business while making sure that you are not “daylighting“.

• If you work 9 to 5 every day, schedule your potential client meetings during your lunch hour for the first half and then take the second half and plan out your client projects.
• Make sure when you start your business that you determine how many hours you need to set-aside every week to work your business part-time. Then add to your daily calendar during the evening according to your availability.
• Create short- and long-term plans for transitioning into working your business full-time. Determine all the factors of what it would take for you to be able to walk away from your current full-time business.
• When setting up your business, see if you can outsource some of your project tasks to a virtual assistant (VA) who may be available to work during the daytime.
• Remember that it is also important to include “me time” on your schedule.
• Checkout available online resources for business startups:
  • Small Business Administration (US)
  • Entreprenuer.com Business Start Kits
  • Startup Nation
  • IRS StartUp business information
  • Inc.com Startup Guide

This is a short starter list that should help you determine how you could “moonlight” as you start your business. If you have additional suggestions that you think should be on this list, please share your feedback. It would be great to hear how you have successfully transitioned from moonlighting to working your business full-time.

Do you have an idea that you want to cultivate and turn into a business? Have you been working on starting up your own business? Whether you have started or are getting ready to start turning your idea into a business, there are a few tips that I want to pass on to you that can be very helpful.

The business tips are below:

• Think outside of the box when turning your idea into a business. Allow yourself to take calculated chances.
• Don’t be afraid of making mistakes. Learn from them and keep going.
• Be open to advice from industry experts who can help you develop your business.
• Always research the industry that you want to start a business in.
• If you can’t start with a support team, include in your strategy plan to gradually bring on a support team. They don’t have to be employees. You can create a support team of contractors.

As you incorporate these tips into the process of turning your idea into a business, be confident in the choices you make. If you feel that you need help with developing your idea into a business, checkout the YPB Huddle Groups.

Watch the video below to see how two college students turned their idea into a business called “College Hunks Hauling Junk”. This is a 4-year old business that has already developed 24 franchises with a goal of 30 by the end of 2009.