Given the way our lives have been revolutionized by the World Wide Web, for the majority of the entrepreneurs setting up an internet home business offers the promise of a new dream fulfilled.

Today loads of people are scaling up their online hours to establish a powerful and influential presence on the web and supplement their income with their laptop and an internet connection.

If you have decided to venture into setting up a home business then here are 6 steps you need to consider:

Business Plan

Most successful business ventures start out by creating a business plan. It helps you stay focused and on track while you are setting up. You will need to consider a number of factors that are of key importance to your business; your target market, your competition, your price points, marketing strategy and funding requirements for your venture. You can write out a plan yourself or you could use an online tool like enloop to do that.

Target Market

Something you really must do before you start your home business is find out if there is a market for your idea. Once you define your market, you will want to find out how big that market is and if it has reached saturation. Try working with your service, product or offering to mould it to suit your market, and make sure you have something worthy of the sale! If you see that there is already a very huge competition in the particular niche you have decided to work in, you will need to narrow it down to cut out the competition and help your business stand out from the crowd.

Financing Your Business

Next come the finances. You have to figure out how much you will need and how you will finance your business. If you don’t have the initial funds to get the ball rolling, bank loans, credit cards or overdrafts are the most common options people use to cover the shortfall. You could borrow money from your friends or family – perhaps you could offer them a share in your business, or arrange a repayment method. It goes without saying that your aim is to find the most comfortable and cheapest option to finance your home business startup.

Your Home Office and Office Supplies

Next on the list is to start setting up your workspace – your home office. It’s important to have an area in your home which is closed off from the rest of the house through partitions or dividers.

A separate room in your home is ideal but not essential. Any enclosed space that you could distinctly call your office is fine. Of course, you will need to a PC or a laptop or possibly both. If you will be travelling for business, it may be best to have both a PC for the home office and a laptop for portable work. Also, you need to have a good internet connection and a separate phone line for your business.

You also need to buy other necessary office supplies for your home business like furniture, a fax machine, printers, toners, stationery, and computer accessories and so on. Try to minimize costs by choosing a cheap office supplies provider. Memo Etc is a great example of a provider as they offer excellent office supplies at very low cost.

Your Website

Then comes your website. Depending upon the features that you want your site to have it could cost you from £500 to £15,000. Your website should be professional and everything should correspond to your unique business idea. You should update it constantly with original and valuable content related to your niche. Also you will need to set up business email addresses, for example, something like adminxyz@onlineservices.co.uk .

Marketing

Finally, with everything in place you will need to tell people about your service or product. Your very first priority is to utilize all the free marketing strategies available. First, email your friends and family and tell them about your new business venture. Ask them for referrals. Create business pages on different social media platforms and share interesting content about your product or service. Add it to local business directories as well Google and Yahoo business directories.

As for paid advertising, Google PPC advertising can be a cost effective way to advertise because you only pay when someone clicks through to your site. Also you could consider creating an affiliate program and use affiliates to build your business by leveraging their exposure in your niche.

Business is all about taking risks and meeting challenges.If you’re working hard to start or grow your business, having a motivational quote that really resonates with your current workload or situation can help you get through those challenges.Here I have compiled a list of 25 famous business quotes to inspire you and help you get through that working day.Feel free to copy them to your desktop and set as wallpaper or print later and stick on your noticeboard. Enjoy!

“It’s fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.” ~Bill Gates

Surviving a failure gives you more self-confidence. Failures are great learning tools.. but they must be kept to a minimum. – Jeffrey Immelt

” You must remain focused on your journey to greatness.” – Les Brown

“Management is nothing more than motivating other people.” – Le Iacocca

“Why did I want to win? Because I didn’t want to lose!” – Max Schmelling

“In the business world, everyone is paid in two coins: cash and experience. Take the experience first; the cash will come later.” – Harold Geneen

“The absolute fundamental aim is to make money out of satisfying customers.” – John Egan

“Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” – Bill Gates 

“The trick is in what one emphasizes. We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.”– Carlos Castaneda

“I don’t pay good wages because I have a lot of money; I have a lot of money because I pay good wages.” – Robert Bosch

“Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.”  Theodore Roosevelt

“The noblest search is the search for excellence.” – Lyndon B. Johnson

“f you work just for money, you’ll never make it, but if you love what you’re doing and you always put the customer first, success will be yours.” – Ray Kroc

“Even if you’re on the right track you’ll get run over by others if just sit there.” – Will Rogers

“Innovation is the distinction between a leader and a follower.” – Steve Jobs

“There is no security on the earth, there is only opportunity.” – General Douglas MacArthur

“The golden rule for every business man is this: Put yourself in your customer’s place.” – Orison Swett Marden

“Whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision.” – Peter F. Drucker

“The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.” – Vidal Sassoon done

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” – John Quincy Adams

“If there is such a thing as good leadership, it is to give a good example.” – Ingvar Kamprad

“What is not started today is never finished tomorrow.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“If you focus on results, you will never change. If you focus on change, you will get results.”   Jack Dixon

“Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” – Stephen Covey

“Whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t, you’re right!” – Henry Ford

What are your favourite business quotes for inspiration? Please share below.

Motivation is necessary for any activity worth doing. A wittily phrased short message summed up in a few words can sometimes be more motivational and effective  than a long speech. These quotes by famous people serve as  a great source of inspiration. Entrepreneurs need inspiration to keep them working harder and harder, to stay strong in hard times and focus on their goal. Here is a list of 25 motivating business quotes that every entrepreneur needs:

  ” The first one gets the oyster the second  gets the shell .”    -Andrew Carnegie

“Learn to listen. Opportunity could be knocking at your door very softly.” – Frank Tyger

   “To think creatively we must be able to look afresh at what we normally take for granted.”       -George Kneller

“To be successful, you have to have your heart in your business, and your business in your heart.”

– Thomas Watson, Sr.

“To win without risk is to triumph without glory. “– Pierre Corneille

“The key to success is to focus our conscious mind on things we desire not things we fear.”
Brian Tracy

“A real decision is measured by the fact that you’ve taken a new action. If there’s no action, you haven’t truly decided.”       –Tony Robbins

“You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.”
Zig Ziglar

“A mediocre person tells. A good person explains. A superior person demonstrates. A great person inspires others to see for themselves.”
Harvey Mackay

 “The number of times I succeed is in direct proportion to the number of times I can fail and keep on trying.”
Tom Hopkins

“Business is a combination of war and sport.”  – Andre Maurois

“You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take.”  – Wayne Gretzky

“Business is a combination of war and sport.”  – Andre Maurois

“The road to someday leads to a town of nowhere.” – Tony Robbins

“Do or do not. There is no try” – Yoda

“Hire character. Train skill.” – Peter Schutz

“The winners in life think constantly in terms of I can, I will, and I am. Losers, on the other hand, concentrate their waking thoughts on what they should have or would have done, or what they can’t do.“– Dennis Waitley

“Opportunity is missed by most because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” – Thomas A. Edison

“A business has to be involving, it has to be fun, and it has to exercise your creative instincts.”– Richard Branson

“Your time is precious so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” – Steve Jobs

“The entrepreneur always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity.”

– Peter F. Drucker

” Its not what happened to you, its what you do with what happens to you.” – Aldous Huxley

 “Live daringly, boldly, fearlessly. Taste the relish to be found in competition – in having put forth the best within you.” – Henry J. Kaiser

“The successful man is the one who finds out what is the matter with his business before his competitors do.” – Roy L. Smith

” The only way around is through.” – Robert Frost

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A recent article published on Forbes.com by Lisa Arthur claims that online retail sales are growing at approximately 10 times the rate of brick and mortar. This has resulted in retailers flocking to get their online share of the retail industry. Like never before, people are opening shops online for all kind of items; food items, electronic and digital products, cleaning and washing items, clothing and footwear, auto parts, accessories and so on.

So far so good; despite the growing number of people jumping at the online retail industry to grab their share what that needs to be debated is what is best for you in case you have decided to open a retail store: online or offline.

To start off we will look at the cost of opening a retail storefront as compared to an online one. Generally it costs less to open an online store as compared to opening a brick mortar storefront. You don’t have to pay any rent or utility bills for your store. You will not incur any costs decorating your store and buying signage etc. You need not hire additional staff as in the case of a physical staff. All you have to pay is for your domain name, website hosting and any other web related services.

A retail store front can do better for luxury or high price items, for example; cars, jewelry, antiques etc where the buyer will physically want to see and feel the item before making the decision to purchase. For these items a retail front could appeal more to buyers and hence more profit can be generated on single item sales.  With an online store you can have a more extensive selection of categories on your to sell, and can keep costs lower by passing on savings in overheads and other offline shop front expenses to your customers.

The target market with a retail storefront can be quite limited, and can make marketing efforts more difficult outside your local area, while the opportunities for marketing an online store are vast. This is because in the case of a traditional brick and mortar store your marketing is only limited to your local area, and online, you can pretty much advertise anywhere in the world and reach new customers in the comfort of their own homes.

With an online store, your horizons expand considerably. With the traditional store you are confined to the space that you have rented. You cannot change how your store looks every day. It is too costly to rebrand your store once it is done; but with an online store you can do that in minutes with the click of a mouse. However, one point to note here is that the customer loyalty with your offline store is stronger as compared to an offline one. These real life connections can be more beneficial to your business as opposed to email lists!

Finally, the competition! With an online store you will be faced with huge competition for virtually any items that you want to sell because when you decide to sell some item(s) online probably there are a dozen companies out there selling the same and they are well established!

On the other hand with an offline retail storefront you can carry out full research and due diligence and set up your business in a place where competition is lower and the footfall supports your requirements.

With tablets and smartphones making their way into our lives very fast, consumer behavior is changing unpredictably. Whether it is a leap into online retailing or an extension of a physical store on the internet retailers must respond to the change!

If you are planning your first store, take time to consider the pros and cons of online or offline commerce. Make sure you have mapped out the costs considerably and are sure you have taken into consideration the costs of opening before you go live!

In case you have decided on setting up a brick and mortar store you will certainly want to keep expenses to the minimum. You can cut expenses by lowering your marketing budget and making use of all the free of cost resources available out there on the internet. As a brick and mortar shop you yourself are obviously not tied to other brick and mortar shops for basic necessities such as shop fittings. Shop around online and cut down those costs yourself, impress your customer afterwards with a grand storefront and with the right mix of tactics you might even need a line of barrier ropes to guide the masses.

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Many small business owners are reluctant to hire an accountant for their business. They shy away from hiring an accountant for fear of the fees associated with professional accounting advice.

Some business owners believe that hiring an accountant is redundant and that they can handle all their accounting themselves.

However, after taking into consideration the financial damage that can be caused if a non-specialized person tries to deal with the complexity of tax, finances etc., it is clear that employing a good accountant is imperative to your business success.

So while it is a good idea to save money by painting your office, collecting your newly printed cards from the printer service or going out to distribute your latest promotional leaflets yourself it isn’t always a good choice to try saving money by doing all your accounting work yourself.

Why hire a prefessional accountant? Here are some important reasons:

1. Advice on Startup

If you are starting a new business an accountant will guide you on your business plan and tax issues pertaining to setting up a new business. They will guide you through the initial maze of company structure, personal assets and tax management, including book-keeping.

2. General Bookkeeping

A certified accountant is trained to maintain all financial records and to produce accurate financial reports. To create these reports, a certain amount of paper work is needed to be kept in a certain way, depending on your business structure. This financial bookkeeping is essential both from both a legal and business point of view.  Your accountant will advise you on the best way to keep records in order to create reports and financial snapshots of your business. The reports will help you better understand how your business is doing over a particular period of time and what measures you need to take in case any issues are identified.

3. Compliance with Government Legislation

Government legislation is complicated; also it is constantly changing. A certified accountant is familiar with all the intricacies of tax and corporate laws. He will make sure that you aren’t breaking any tax related rules that could land you in trouble and jeopardize the welfare of your business.

4. General Business Consulting

Besides maintaining financial records an experienced accountant can offer you consultation on cash flow, price control, inventory management etc. This expert consultation can help you in making right and timely decisions for your business. Also an expert accountant can offer advice on appraising viability of future projects and possible adjustments for losses or gains.

5. Advice on Tax Planning

Apart from tax reporting, a good accountant could offer expert advice on how to maximize tax deduction. Because they know tax laws inside out they could guide you on what to claim and what not to claim; this is especially beneficial to small and home-based businesses which are not fully aware of tax rules and legislation.

6. Save Time and Money

Irrespective of how well you understand figures, an accountant will better advise you on finding ways to save extra money. He will also save you lots of time and the hassle of keeping track of all the figures. The extra money your accountant saves you can then be spent on things in your business you are good at!

From the above you can see just how important it is to have your own accountant for your business in order to run it smoothly and successfully. You can also consider outsourcing your accounting. There are online accounting services you can hire for your business. This means that you can outsource you whole accounting process to a service provider and let them worry about the nitty-gritty of it. Best Online Accounting is an excellent online accounting service provider. Founded by a group of experienced chartered accountants the company provides a variety of accounting solutions and lets you choose the one that best suits your criteria.

A ‘call to action’ is part of your website where you ask a reader to take some sort of action. It should be easily identifiable and should show your site reader exactly what you want them to do and how they will do it.

Buttons and graphics are usually used to point out clear, identifiable calls to action, and should direct site readers or users to the response you want them to complete.

Typical calls to action include;

• Click Here
• Buy Now
• View Demo
• Take The Test
• Call Today
• Join Here
• Sign Up
• Register Today
• Get It Now
• Get Instant Access
• Get A Free Quote
• Free Trial
• Subscribe
• Donate Here
• Get A Free Sample

Your call to action must be attractive enough and clear enough to encourage the reader to take the desired action.  But it’s not just about words – Clever use of colour and placement will also play a big part in a successful response.

Here are 25 examples of some of the best call-to-actions that are working for companies right now:

1. NCover

In this example, the large call to action button has been set in a dark orange color which creates a beautiful contrast with the surrounding contrasting background  and hence grabs the reader’s attention at the very first sight.

2. Hostgator

Hostgator uses the same contrast technique by setting the color of the three call to action buttons a different light orange with a dark font that enhances readability of the text. The reader can easily follow through to the different plans offered by Hostgator.

3. Firefox

The Firefox call to action button is unique and revolutionary. It is truly unique with its uneven shape and vibrant colors together with the details of what the user will get for responding on the button itself.

4. BlogJet3 – Coding Robots

The neat and clean call to actions buttons in this example show clear direction and ecourage the user to click. They have used a brighter color for the “Free Download” button as opposed to the “Buy Now” button; thus giving a subtle message to the visitor that they should try the product before actually buying it.

5. Go Daddy

In this example from Godaddy, the call to action button grabs the reader’s attention by using a bright green colour that is in stark contrast to the black background and grey accents.

6. Wufoo

Simple call to action buttons placed in the center of the web page against a busy background makes them all the more pleasing to the eye. This example from Wufoo shows good use of colour and placement to engage the user.

7. Hoi Moon Marketing

Hoi Moon Marketing does something unique for its call to action: there is no call-to-action button. They do it by just changing the text color to orange, showing the user what they need to click through. Check out the contrast it creates.

8. Disqus

Here see how Disqus makes a connection between the orange call to action button and a screenshot of their product; a comment system. This connection makes it easy for the visitor to visualize what they will get.

9. Goal Stacker

GoalStacker is another company that has placed a screenshot of its product alongside the call to action. The page is very simple, and the user has two buttons to choose from, encouraging visitors to sign up for their software or to take a tour.

10. codebase

In this example from codebase, the text that follows the call to action button explains that you can sign up for a free trial and that it will last for 15 days. This information clarifies exactly what the user will get when they click the button.

11. Amazon

In this example, Amazon uses a very clever and enticing call to action, using an arrow with the text “Click to Look Inside!”  drawing the visitor’s attention to flip though the book. The arrow coupled with an image of the ebook makes it one of the most compelling and intriguing CTA examples.

12. GoToWebinar

GoToWebinar places hyperlinks below their two call to action buttons to further clarify what visitors will get when they click. This tells the visitor exactly what they will get when they click the Calls to action.

13. Akismet

Akismet provides protection against spam and the CTA perfectly gets that message across to the visitor. By saying “SAY GOODBYE TO COMMENT SPAM”, it reinforces the message that Akismet will rid you of comment spam, and that is exactly what will happen when you click through.

14. FileShare HQ

In this example from Fileshare HQ, see how the big green button stands out against the white background and how the words “Start sending files within minutes…” creates a sense of a quick result for the user when they click through.

15. Elegant Themes

Elegant themes calls to actions are prioritized by creating a noticeable contrast between the buttons against a white background. Notice also the use of italicized text on the buttons to grab attention. 

16. Dropbox

Dropbox does it by cutting out the clutter. Their choice of color is great; everything on the page looks neat and clean, and their minimalistic approach exudes simplicity and ease of use.

17. Tea Round

In this call to action visitors are told that they won’t get any spam emails if they sign up, thus trying to break one barrier to people’s entering their email for fear of spam. Interesting also to note is the green color of the CTA used against the otherwise uneventful background, which makes the button prominent enough to be noticed at first sight.

18. Onehub

Sometimes you just can’t get them to try it for free (because they don’t want to or they don’t know about the product’s features). Onehub knows it and in an effort to not let you go they offer you to view the features before you leave.

19. The Resumator

This is another example of a great Call to action. The CTA button with a warm contrast color coupled with the large “Free Trial” text sits neatly against a calm and less busy background. Notice also the use of “No Credit Card Required” to reinforce the point that it is free.

20. Tao Effect

Here the three call to action buttons are placed in a row and give the users three, simple options; Download, Buy Now or Upgrade. They have been arranged such that the button with the primary preferred action comes first and is in a different color to make it stand out from other two choices. This is a good example of prioritizing by the use of order and color.

21. The Invoice Machine

The Invoice Machine uses CTAs which exactly look  the same with a blue border around both of them. From this we may assume that the company thinks that the act of signing up or taking the tour is equally important, and is an equal chance of visitors wanting to take a tour and those actually wanting to sign up for a free trial.

22. OH! Media

Here, OH! Media uses the position of the button together with the choice of the color, size and the text “See the Case Study” to make it a very clear and effective one.

23. Ballpark

Ballpark’s call to action has probably all the qualities ideal for a good CTA. The size of the CTA button with the blue color combined with the white space around it and explanatory text on and under makes it a great example.

24. Highland Fling 2011

This CTA from Highland Fling 2011 is interesting because it manages to call attention by its unusual shape and the use of an icon. Also, see how they create urgency by the use of the text which specifies the early bird and normal price for the event.

25. Aweber

Aweber’s Call to action is another great example of the use of contrast color set out against a sleek background. Note the use of the word “Just” to stress that the visitor will be paying a very little amount of money for the product.

Summary

In short, a call to action is designed to do the following;

• Engage
• Encourage
• Convince
• Simplify
• Direct
• Reassure

What else do you think is important for a successful call to action?

The term “guerrilla marketing” was reputedly coined by Conrad Levinson in his book “Guerrilla Marketing” which was published in 1983. Guerrilla marketing is an advertising strategy that employs low-cost unconventional means to promote a product or service.

Guerilla marketing campaigns often defy traditional marketing ideas and methods, and include strategies such as flash mobs, viral video campaigns, art, graffiti and more.
Smaller scale ideas such as personalized candy or cupcakes, fake publicity stunts, marketing Stickers on coins all go that extra mile to create a killer guerilla marketing campaign
The whole idea behind this kind of marketing is to achieve maximum marketing goals with minimal cost. Much like guerrilla warfare which uses unconventional warfare tactics like ambushes, sabotage and strategies of surprise attack guerrilla marketing employs the same tactics in the marketing industry.
It is an outside of the box marketing strategy that is completely different to traditional marketing.
With consumers becoming immune to traditional marketing ideas, small brands and larger brands alike are all considering new tactics to employ for their next killer marketing campaign. Sometimes these strategies can be much more cost effective and will attract a much better response, with the possibility of a campaign going ‘viral’
Most popular brands like Coca Cola, Pepsi, Ford, Samsung etc engage in this kind of marketing to strike the chord with their prospective customers. Here are 5 Killer guerrilla marketing campaigns I thought were worth a mention!

1. Coca Cola Friendship Machine

On 20^th July, Dia Del Amigo- friendship day- is celebrated in many parts of South America, particularly Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. In 2010 Coca Cola designed a huge vending machine to honor this day of celebration. This huge friendship machine was placed in different parts of South America including Argentina, Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Panama and the Honduras. Passers-by were offered two Cokes for the price of one. However, to reinforce the importance of friendship potential customers needed to collaborate with one another to reach up to the Coke machine slot. This campaign was also repeated in other countries for local versions of Dia Del Amigo.

 Source

2. Folger’s Steaming Coffee Cup

Folger’s followed the guerrilla marketing guidebook by creating an optical illusion of a coffee mug. As passers-by walk on the street they see a coffee mug fixed into the ground with steam being emitted in your direction: probably the best way to remind you about the coffee cup that you missed!

       Source

3. Medecins Du Monde’s Tent City

France’s Medecins Du Monde – a non-profit – directed attention to Paris’s homeless population by setting up tents for the homeless in a “tent city”. The huge cluster of tents shamed Paris into allocating emergency funds to address the problem.

      Source

4. Cingular’s “Dropped Calls” Campaign

If you are a cellphone user you have probably been irritated more than once when your call dropped in the middle. Following the true spirit of a guerrilla marketer they addressed the problem by positioning an unusual billboard with the word “calls” hollowed out and dropped to the ground portrayed a dropped call. Both the “dropped call” and the crazy billboard grabbed the attention of passers-by easily.

 Source

5. EMAP; 1Nation

Guerrilla marketing was at the heart of UK’s largest multi-platform media group EMAP’s radio station – 1Nation. A special 10 ft 1Nation figure was built and the area was surrounded with props and actors to suggest that the figure had fallen out of the sky and smashed through the ground. The stunt received much ROI.

These are only a few examples of how businesses take a leaf out of the guerrilla marketing guidebook. If you want to see the magic of guerrilla promotion you can find great examples here.

More and more businesses are looking to think ‘outside the box’ and employ guerrilla marketing strategies as traditional marketing becomes more and more expensive and less effective.

If you want to consider a guerrilla marketing campaign for your business there are specialized guerrilla marketing agencies who will do this for you. Kommando is a good example of a guerrilla marketing agency who can take a project from start to finish creating those attention grabbing ideas that get results.

Just how valuable is input to the newbie entrepreneur?

Today, being an entrepreneur is made up of two simple things “being smart” and “keeping lean.” Factor in the current economic distress, and the changing face of traditional bricks and mortar business, and you have an increasingly difficult environment for a young, inexperienced entrepreneur to get started in.

“Passion for your journey as an entrepreneur is not the only factor you need to consider when you are starting your business”

Get Sound advice

There are so many laws, rules and regulations, hundreds of options, opportunities and pitfalls, that leveraging someone else’s experience is the perfect way to avoid the ‘down-side’ of going it alone. Someone on the ‘outside’ looking in will often see things you may overlook.

More experienced and qualified people may be able to offer sound and important advice on certain situations. Often, they will share their own failures and bad times and you can draw on this experience to enhance your journey as an entrepreneur.

Lack of confidence

Having worked with and mentored young and inexperienced people through their business journey, I have found they often lack the confidence and knowledge of the grey areas of business to really take their product or service to market.

The best business ideas never reach paper because the mentee lacks encouragement or is too embarrassed to ask questions.

Bouncing ideas past someone, getting their valuable input and asking for other people’s opinions and questions not only saves short term time and money, but also pain and heartache in the long run.

Ask those questions

“Never be afraid to ask questions”

“Never be afraid of embarrassing yourself or saying you don’t know or understand something” My father, a businessman himself, gave me this advice when I first started out as an entrepreneur. I now constantly ask questions and find sharing and learning is the best way to earning!

I love brainstorming sessions with budding entrepreneurs about the right and wrong ways of ‘doing business’ It opens up new channels of thought, new processes and wonderful new strategies for routes to market.

Delve into your ideas

It’s so important to delve right into your ideas, and there’s no better way than to ask questions. If someone responds negatively to a genuine question, then they’re not the person you should be seeking advice from.

“Watch the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves”

In my very first business in the motor trade, I never used to charge customers for small stock items like washers and bolts. I needed to increase profits and asked for advice from my father, a businessman himself  who advised “Watch the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves.”

We then spent hours and hours counting all the stock that I had previously given away free, and devised a small retail price  to charge on to customers. That was an instant £75 per month increase in profits, (almost one weeks rent in those days!) and, during those early days, was the most valuable advice I have ever received.

Be Smart – Keep It Lean…

Often, in targeting the big contracts, and the huge sales, business owners forget about the smaller, regular payments they will need for the leaner times to keep them afloat.

Little snippets of advice and inspiration will go a long way to helping someone who is just starting out in the wonderful world of self employment. Encouragement and support will make all the difference.

So is input valuable to the newbie entrepreneur?

Absolutely! Getting advice and sharing ideas is the perfect recipe for any successful business. Did you seek advice when you started out? Whats the best business advice you have received? Share below.

Hey!

A big warm welcome to all my existing caroline baxter blog readers and of course all the new ones! This is such an exciting post to write, and I’m glad you’re here so I can share it with you.

I am now the proud owner of my spanking new layout for my Caroline Baxter Blog. I hope you like it! I’ve been so busy over the last few months that it seemed to be going nowhere. I’m sure you can relate to that feeling – no matter how hard to try to stick to the plan, you get sidetracked, and nothing seems to get done.

If you want to find out more about me, please visit About Caroline Baxter

Well, I seem to have come out on the other side of procrastination now, and I hope you enjoy reading through my latest posts and features.

How long did you spend on your personal blog? Leave your comments below.

To your success!

Caroline Baxter

Image Courtesy of Renjith Krishnan/FreeDigitalPhotos.Net

In our age of ‘no win no fee’ law firms and agencies, it is imperative that you take the time to select the correct business insurance cover for your industry.

Having the correct and comprehensive insurance cover you require is possibly one of the most important aspects you will have to consider.

Having your business insured means that you have your business covered against any disasters or unforeseen circumstances and potentially any lawsuits or claims that may arise in the future.

Business insurance may seem redundant or a waste of money to many people; they may consider not bothering to pay monthly premiums when they start a business, thinking “why pay extra expenses?”

While it may seem a waste of valuable startup capital best spent on other, more profitable aspects of the business, when you really look closely, you can see what an essential part of your business it really is.

Take into consideration all the factors that could have a negative effect on your business.

Consider, for example, if an employee or customer, sues you for injury or loss; who would cover the cost of legal expenses and compensation?

How would you manage the extra expenses incurred and would your business be able to survive the financial impact?

Another scenario: what would you do if, unfortunately, you happened to suffer damage to your business holdings; your office, your shop, your premises, property, or indeed any tools or equipment? How would you manage if damage was caused by a disaster such as fire, earthquake, flood etc?

Could you carry your business on forward in the same way as you were before the disaster?

How long could it take you to recover from the financial loss?

You need a guarantee to rely on so that you can run your business smoothly and without any concern whatsoever of your business coming to a stop in case a disaster strikes.

That’s where the right kind of business insurance for your business is important. In the first place, it presents you as a respectable business that cares for the health and safety of its staff.  It is also a credential that creates a positive image of your company.

While the chances of your business being struck by a disaster such as a fire or a flood may seem too thin, but when you take into consideration the actual disruption they may cause to the flow of your work you can see the importance of risk cover.

It is important to choose the right type of insurer for your business. For example, if you are in the motor trade business – you earn your living by selling, buying, repairing cars or are in some way related to the car business – you need to choose a specialist insurance service provider. An example of a specialist motor trade insurance cover provider in the UK is Much Motor Trade Insurance.
Another example of specialist insurance cover is the manufacturing insurance offered by Northern Counties Insurance. Their expertise in the manufacturing industry insurance cover takes care of the individual needs of businesses from the production line to the transit of products.

Summary

Whatever business you are in, it is essential that you seek professional advice from an insurance agent or broker, who can guide you through the maze of business insurance and will be able to seek a competitive quote.

Make sure you have the right kind of insurance policy and ensure your business is protected against any unforeseen circumstances, specific to your niche or industry.