Posts Tagged ‘business’

Being unemployed is not fun as a matter of fact it’s during this time that you need the most support. One of the ways that Your Passionate Business is supporting you is by connecting with you via social media. You can connect with YPB in the following ways:

• Connect on Facebook: Receive tips and tools via Facebook Fanpage
• Connect on LinkedIn: Employee to Entrepreneur group on LinkedIn
• Connect on Twitter: Tweet with us and connect with others

YPB has been watching the unemployment trends from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS/www.bls.gov). BLS just released their information about the unemployed for July 2010 and unfortunately the numbers did not improve. Both the numbers of unemployed persons, at 14.6 million, and the unemployment rate, at 9.5 percent, were unchanged in July.

This is alarming because it basically means that the status for the unemployed did not improve. Can a solution be created that would help improve the numbers? What can be done for the unemployed to improve their situation? One thing that can be done is to show them how to start a business whether it is online or offline.

A few more statistics were:

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for adult men (9.7 percent), adult women (7.9 percent), teenagers (26.1 percent), whites (8.6 percent), blacks (15.6 percent), and Hispanics (12.1 percent) showed little or no change in July. The jobless rate for Asians was 8.2 percent, not seasonally adjusted. In July, the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over) was little changed at 6.6 million. These individuals made up 44.9 percent of unemployed persons.

With 44.9 percent of the unemployed people being on long-term unemployment benefit, one way to create a solution would be to start researching for ways to start their own business. Research is suggested as the starting point because it will help you create a firm foundation. It will help you determine what industry will be best for you to start a business in and can help you become focused.

Below are the 5 tips you should keep in mind while doing your research:

• Create a list of skills or tasks that you like to do that you could turn into a business.
• Start with a subject that you are familiar with so that you can create a firm foundation from it.
• Use resources like the public library or online information portals like SCORE.org or SBA.gov to gather information and statistics.
• Make sure that you compile all the information you gather into a document or notebook so that you can keep it handy.
• Don’t be afraid to ask for help by contacting industry experts. They could help you fine-tune your business idea and even help you get started.

Participate as a Huddle Group member
(YPB mastermind group)

You will receive guidance to start your business, access to group calls,
access to Huddle group forums, access to downloadable eBooks to help you get started,
AND MUCH MORE!

Connect with YPB via Social Media

Connect on Facebook
Receive tips and tools via Facebook Fanpage

Connect on LinkedIn
Employee to Entrepreneur group on LinkedIn

Connect on Twitter
Tweet with us and connect with others

Stay positive while developing your new business even though unemployment can be disappointing and disheartening starting a business could be your solution. This could become a sustaining factor for you. To encourage you to develop a business, below is a video of someone who started a business at a young age to help his family come out of poverty.

Using social media in your business is becoming a daily requirement to grow your business. In order to do this, time and effort is required on the part of the business owner to implement a website social media plan that is effective. Although it may require a lot of time in the beginning to setup the plan, once the plan is in place, it can become part of your daily routine.

Recently, Jerrilynn Thomas interviewed Kim Beasley on their co-hosted show, Reinvent Your Business on the BlogTalkRadio network. Jerrilynn put Kim on the hot seat regarding social media and how business owners can use it to grow their business.

One of the questions asked was, “What is social media and why should a business owner implement it?”

Social media is the process of connecting with others and sharing information via websites such as Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn (to name a few).

The audio below is the actual interview that you can listen to and learn more about social media and how to implement as part of your business processes.

Recently, I asked some of my business associates to give me feedback regarding a few topics that would help new business owners. The response was so overwhelming that I have a lot of great tips to share with you.

In today’s blog post, the featured tip is: For Women Starting A Business. I’m excited about sharing these tips with women who are planning on starting a business. If you are a new woman-business owner, checkout the tips below and see how they can help you manage your business. Take note that you can contact my business associates by clicking on their names below.

Image: Flickr & provided by Lumaxart

Below are some of the tips I have received from my business associates.

Melissa Rose

• Starting a new business can surely be a daunting task. There’s a lot to do and a lot to learn every step of the way.
• Nothing is ever written in stone, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t make a plan. Some ideas will work and some will not, but you have to be willing to take a risk and test them out.
• Make a new plan if your marketing tactic doesn’t give you the results you were looking for or make some changes to your product if you find improving it will make it more enticing to buy.
• Go into your start-up with an open mind and be willing to ask those around you for their feedback and advice. There is always a solution to every problem, but you have to be willing to take a step back when the time arises, regroup and move forward again.

• Be sure that the business you start is something you are passionate about.
• Don’t just start something because you think you’ll make a lot of money. A business takes a lot of time.
• You have to be passionate enough to stick with your business even during the bad times.

Bradi Nathan

• Ask yourself important questions: What is the investment of your time required and how will this affect your family?
• Start -ups require 24/7 commitment and if you don’t have it in you and your family is not supportive, it could ruin a good thing. No start-up is worth risking your family. Talk to them before you launch your idea and be realistic with what a new endeavor entails: late nights, weekends and a trusted blackberry by your side at all times.
• Then ask yourself if you are passionate enough about your perspective business to see it through, and then some.
• Become pensive, introspective and then go for it if in your gut it feels right.

• Set your business up with a profitable structure, with the foundation and purpose of helping others in some meaningful way.

All of the tips above are really helpful to women business owners. I would love to hear how these tips have helped you. Hearing from you will be great and could also help other women business owners who are looking for a way to start their own businesses. Please feel free to leave a comment and share how you plan on implementing some of these tips.

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.