United States Charity

Mario Churchill asked:


So, you’ve decided that the Internet has a lot to offer you by the means of starting your own small business. So what is it that you have to do first?

Well, what type of small business is it that you are going to start? After you have figured this out, whether it is an information site or selling products online, you might need to go to the many different Internet advertising sites that will help you generate traffic to the your new Internet small business.

The next step, may be to decide what products you are going to have on your small business web site. This way you have an idea as far as the inventory and other information you will need. Building a web site for your small business.

There are many web sites available to help you as far as promoting your small business such as adverting sites and marketing sites as well.

When starting a small business on the Internet you’ll want some means of getting visitors to your site, this being said the advertising company you go with should be a reliable one. Once again, you can do the research and find many different advertising agencies as well as web sites that can help you with this.

Usually small businesses that start out on the Internet without the help or support of any kind of advertising, marketing or helpful tools will not last very long and you will soon find your small business on the Internet suffering, if not being taken off of the Internet completely.

Some Internet small businesses have tried this and it does not work. However, if you know what type of Internet small business you want, then you start researching on advertising and marketing and getting visitors to your site, such as generating traffic in other words; your small business on the Internet will have a better chance of surviving. And in most cases, prospering to the point that your small business on the Internet has grown tremendously.

It is not impossible to start a small business on the Internet while some people may tell you that it is. You simply have to know the right techniques and have the right tools concerning the Internet at your disposal. This makes it so much more easily to start a small business on the Internet and at the same time making it a productive one, that will last.

Advertising plays an important role in generating traffic, or visitors to your site, while the marketing portion, assists you in setting up the means of the visitors who want to purchase things off of your small business on the internet to do so.

Make things as easy as possible for the visitors that come to your small business as well, in this case they may very well be returning customers.

Many Internet small businesses will start out with very few products on their site, however as time goes by, and if done in the proper way of management the site will grow along with your inventory as well as the profits. The visitors to your site will increase too. Remember, do research and don’t just throw an idea on the Internet building a web site to sell things. Think it out first, what you want to accomplish with your small business on the Internet, and then do the marketing and advertising parts next, therefore generating traffic to your new small business web site.

My Business Assistant asked:


Mature industries like banking, pharmaceuticals and insurance have been outsourcing for decades – even before the term became popular. These verticals have standardized processes in their industries which enable them to easily scale – based on the economy and market conditions.

Because outsourcing has become available to small business owners and online professionals, you can now expect the same level of scalability, efficiency and cost savings that exists in other well-managed businesses that leverage outsourcing.

According to a report titled “Global Sourcing Trends in 2009” by U.S.-based law firm Morrison and Foerster:  Most outsourcing transactions intend to produce immediate improvements to the bottom line for businesses. While this is a common reason to outsource, with fluctuating economic times like we have been experiencing lately, the flexibility to scale up or scale down (based on the business’s needs) has been the determining factor to outsource.

Smart executives are using outsourcing to build flexibility and scalability into their businesses—and to gain access to a global pool of skills at competitive cost.

The recent economic downturn led many companies, especially those who don’t have existing outsourcing contracts, to consider outsourcing. But companies who already have outsourcing agreements are re-evaluating their outsourcing decisions to find providers that offer more business continuity and integration.

In an environment where Fortune 500 companies have disappeared overnight, a successfully executed outsourcing partnership could make the difference in a company’s ability to ride out these challenging times. The flexibility to bring on needed help and expertise in times of growth – without committing to a project contract or adding people to the payroll, has been an invaluable solution to the small business owner and online professional. In addition to providing scalability, this also allows the owner to focus on core competencies of the business.

Outsourcing provides businesses with instant scalability and service flexibility, as well as reducing overhead costs.  One of the major advantages of outsourcing is that companies can now get the best from new developments without the expense.

In terms of new technologies, new processes and new ways of doing things, you don’t have to invest to do that in-house.  Outsourcing is also particularly beneficial for new businesses, or those looking to expand their operation. This includes those who do not necessarily know what hardware or software they will need.

Outsourcing providers with more experience should be able to advise companies about where to spend their money, so that they do not waste time and resources.

Any hesitation to outsource may be affecting your company’s chances to effectively scale for growth in this highly competitive business environment. As a small business owner or online professional, carefully consider your outsourcing partner when looking to expand your business and make it globally competitive.  When considering a company for outsourcing, make certain that they are equipped to handle the ebb and flow needs of your business when scaling up, and when scaling down!

Cary B asked:


If you are in the market for a web hosting service for your small business there are some options to keep in mind.

Email: Not all affordable web hosts will offer email. You need to make sure that you have a complete email setup with your hosting plan. Check to see if your host offers auto responders, POP3 and email forwarding. If they do this should be enough to run your small business email needs.

Secure Servers: If you plan on use a shopping cart to sell items this is a must have. Referred to as SSL, this option allows for secure payments between your site and the customer. If you are selling and have a shopping cart then make sure your small business host offers SSL.

Control Panel: A good control panel is easy to navigate, understand and actually comes in useful. A bad control panel can be a living nightmare. If you host uses cPanel as your main admin control panel you are in good hands. If the host runs their own version of a homegrown control panel be wary. Lake of controls can really keep you from running your site efficiently.

Windows or Linux: Do you know if your site needs to run on a MS Windows server with FrontPage extensions or does it need PERL, PHP or MySQL? These things you will need to find out if you intent to run a successful small business web site.

Affordable web hosting for small business is a very real possibility. It can be done at a very good price and if you go into it with the information you need you’ll come out with a very good solution.

 

Lee Smith asked:


Many small as well as medium sized companies are in need of IT support that includes everything from firewall to VPN installation as well as upgrades and also migration to other computer systems. Some small businesses also require complete network audits and for this a small business IT support provider should have the experience as well as expertise to provide necessary solutions.

A small business needs a range of computer support services and will thus look for unlimited onsite support services from a safe and reliable IT support company. With qualified engineers on hand, small business IT support providers would be able to provide the necessary level of experience in installing firewalls such as Checkpoint, Watchguard as well as Cisco that are ideally suited to small businesses. There may also be entry level firewalls that will ensure that the small business keeps its data safe and along with complete security audits, antivirus & anti spam services, should take care of all of the security requirements of the small business enterprise.

You should also look for disaster recovery of your data when a server fails as well as want upgrades and possibilities to migrate to other improved systems. In addition, small business IT support also means providing resilient backup services (even remotely) and with the help of existing broadband lines and automated services, there should be no need for any tapes being sent back and forth between the client and IT support companies.

There are many IT support service companies that are capable of providing a support service to small businesses and which has a high quality of service and engineers, to ensure that they can provide support to small business networks, complete with a fast response time. You should look for companies that provide a personal touch for your network support needs, and who are proactive and also have a complete range of support packages and systems and you also need a company who can work with existing suppliers to streamline your business.

You need to look at the number of years of experience that the small business IT support company has, particularly in areas such as IT networks, the Internet as well as Network Security and who will provide professional as well as efficient service. Often, small businesses are confronted with a certain amount of difficulty in sourcing a good IT support service provider that will justify not hiring a full-time internal IT support team. This means that in case of a requirement for occasional expert support services during upgrades of networks and installing major IT systems, or even in the case of needing desktop support, you will need to have on hand an IT support service provider that can tailor a service to match your requirements and also help you stay within your budget.

Thus, you should look for a service provider that provides email support, Microsoft Networks, Network Security, network infrastructure and a team of dedicated IT professionals with experience of multiple systems and technologies.

Business Local Listings asked:


The global financial crisis has made it quite difficult for companies, especially small businesses, to get business loans. Ironically, it is also in this situation that smaller companies often need additional capital infusion to boost income. You may need to get small business loans to acquire a better business location, construct a new building, renovate your premises, pay for new equipment, fixtures or furniture or increase inventory and working capital.

Most Small Business Loans Require Collateral

To get business loans, even small business loans, is a major challenge.

First you need to identify which among the many types of small business loans you need. Small business loans ranging from $5,000.00 to $35,000.00 are called micro loans. For larger needs, such as for the acquisition of land, buildings and other major fixed assets, development financing is what you should find. There are also import export loans as well as franchise financing. Do your research to find out if you are qualified for small business loans guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration or SBA.

Any of these small business loans will require extensive preparations and paperwork. As a small business owner, you will need to prove your credit worthiness through a personal credit history report. Lenders will also require a business plan which includes your credentials as the business owner, your company financial statements, business assets and an analysis of your market. All of these should be packaged in a professional loan proposal which presents how the loaned amount will be used to strengthen the business and how you intend to repay the loan. Most of all, you need to present your loan collateral – the assets you will put up to secure the loan.  

Quick and Easy Small Business Loans with No Collateral

For smaller acquisitions or day to day business needs, there is a way for entrepreneurs to get small business loans easily and quickly with no collateral. This is through merchant services.

Merchant services provide credit card services to businesses. This enables them to accept and process payments through credit cards or debit cards either through face to face purchases, online transactions, or even by phone or fax. Merchant service providers supply terminal equipment for card swiping, as well as the necessary software and high speed IP solutions.

Most businesses need credit card services since consumers routinely pay for goods and services through credit cards and debit cards these days. If your business has not taken this step yet, you may have been missing out on more than half of your income potential.

These same merchant services also provide the solution for your small business loans. Collateral-free loans can be availed of through their cash advances, with the loan amount computation based on the monthly credit card revenue your business generates. Credit card sales requirements may be as low as $3,000.00 a month. You will not be asked for collateral since your future revenue is your collateral.  

The best types of merchant cash advances do not require fixed monthly payments nor do they impose deadlines on loan payment. A certain percentage is instead deducted automatically from your credit card revenue each month to go towards loan payment. This way, you never have to worry about loan amortization.

Once your cash advance has been fully paid, you may apply for another one. It is like having a revolving credit line. Make sure that you compare the terms of several merchant service providers, though, and read the fine print on contracts. There are so many merchant service providers competing for your business that you’ll surely find one that fits your needs.

Business Local Listings asked:


To achieve financial independence, experts encourage even currently employed individuals to consider entrepreneurship. Setting up your own business, no matter how small, is touted as one of the best ways toward building the foundation for wealth. Those who are concerned about having a safety net need not take the plunge recklessly. One can start setting up a small business even while employed.  

Of crucial use to small businesses are credit card services and small business loans. The entrepreneur needs to know how to avail of these tools and how to effectively wield them for maximum business growth.

Credit Card Services

A small business would do well to get reputable credit card services in order to prosper in the current business climate. Availing of credit card services will enable it to accept both credit card and debit card payments. This is true either for brick-and-mortar businesses or internet based online businesses. After all, most consumers nowadays routinely use credit cards or debit cards for payment purposes. It only makes good business sense to be well-equipped for the needs of credit card users and debit card users as well as for the needs of customers who pay in cash.

Merchant services provide credit card services covering a wide range of solutions for the processing of credit cards and debit cards as payment options. These credit card services include traditional terminal equipment at point of sale, where credit cards or debit cards are swiped. It also includes software and high speed IP solutions for both traditional commerce and e-commerce. Credit card and debit card payments can, therefore, be accepted in person or through the internet, by phone or by fax.     

Small Business Loans

Any business – whether a small start-up business, a medium-scaled one or a big business company – will be needing an infusion of additional capital sooner or later. Additional capital is always needed for expansion, additional inventory, additional manpower, new systems, new equipment or a new physical layout.

Capital is not always easy to come by, though. The original investors’ personal coffers may have been emptied by the earlier outlays. Prospective investors may not be keen on shelling out funds in times of crisis. Businesses, therefore, have no choice but to seek business loans.

Getting business loans is a difficult process. Even small business loans are not readily approved. Be prepared to present a lot of documentation and paperwork. For small business loans, the proprietor’s personal credit history is taken into account and related references need to be submitted. Of course, the company’s financial statements are just as important in proving the feasibility of the business and its capacity to repay its business loans. Having a detailed business plan will show your business strategies and projections, demonstrating your business acumen.

Unfortunately, even with all the requirements completed, applications for business loans – including small business loans – are, more often than not, disapproved.

Solutions

Some merchant services provide a comprehensive solution for the needs of small businesses in relation to credit card services and small business loans. The set up is elegantly simple. A small business need only avail of the company’s credit card services to be eligible for merchant cash advances. These cash advances are actually small business loans, except that there is no need to go through the complicated application process for business loans. Repayment is made very easy and worry-free, too. A certain small percentage is built into the credit card processing rates to take care of the advances. This way, repayment is actually done automatically in a very affordable manner and according to income flow.

Small business owners would, indeed, be wise to look into these timely business solutions.

andrew.regan.2006@googlemail.com asked:


Running a small business allows you an impressive amount of flexibility. You can move with speed and dexterity if an opportunity arises and a trend proves popular – and profitable. Compared to the stately ocean liners of big business, small businesses are speed boats with good steering, which comes in handy if land is sighted unexpectedly.

One of the main trends of the last few years has been the rise of organic produce. The most obvious examples are the ones sitting on supermarket shelves, labelled as organic and costing more than the equivalent non-organic foodstuff. In this way, small farmers can make a virtue of quality over quantity and not lose out too much because of economies of scale. However, there have been all kinds of niche markets into which have fitted opportunist small businesses. Organic chicken farmers may not have wished to use antibiotics in their poultry farming, but there was a need to find an alternative that would help prevent disease. One such equivalent was duly retailed: Herban is an essential oil based on oregano oil that can be added to the birds’ feed or drinking water.

Although the concept of the Internet revolution is beginning to feel like old hat, the opportunities it offers are still spectacular. The current success stories, like Facebook, are splashed across the media business pages, and occasionally disappear very fast. But behind every major success are thousands of steady small businesses that are doing just fine. CPD (Continuing Professional Development) has been a mainstay of professions like healthcare and law for many years, but some small businesses are realising that they can offer an online CPD service – the technology is there and people’s minds are open to the possibility. Profits are not currently enormous, but certainly decent.

Other opportunities have sprung up from what initially seemed to be ‘amateur’ or ‘socialising’ websites. If you think eBay is only for comic-book collecting geeks then think again. With millions of users worldwide it attracts many small businessmen and women who use it as their main sales channel. Some home-based operators have been able to turn hobbies into viable businesses, selling anything from chairs to bikes to rare Roman coins. Now, third parties are jumping onboard, offering to streamline listings or sell software to optimise listings.

But a word of caution is needed. Although it is great to realise that you have spotted a niche and have the flexibility to go for it, it is always important to look at the bottom line – your business’s finances. This is an area where experience and a steady attitude is invaluable. Small business advice is available from a number of organisations, including government bodies and banks. Banks tend to define a small business as one with a turnover of less than one million.

So if you can combine opportunism, professional advice, and a great deal of perseverance you might yet hit those business pages.

Diclaimer:

This article has been written for information and interest purposes only. The information contained within this article is the opinion of the author only, and should not be construed as advice or used to make financial decisions. Expert financial advice should always be sought and any links contained within this article are included for information purposes only.

Sue Malone asked:


all listening attentively about lenders on the radio, television, newspapers, and the Internet of promises to be “small business friendly”, “small business oriented”, wanting to be your “personal small business advisor” and a panoply of packages taking care of all your business needs. What small businesses really need is money, not personal hand caring services. So is there anyone out there really making small business loans? Yes. If you know where to look you can find one.

You can generally categorize banks into: 1) 10% that are actually making small business loans now and are serious about doing so, 2) 70% who will talk to you directly and indicate they are not making small business loans at this time because of the economy, and 3) 20% that slap you on the back, invite you in, and readily take your application. It is the latter group that gives us the most heartburn. It is not unusual after the initial review of your application papers for a bank represented to signal you have a good chance. Overjoyed, you begin to make plans, including executing contracts and receiving quotes for inventory, raw materials, or merchandise. Two months later, after the fourth loan committee review, you get a call that they have decided not to make the loan. The reason has little if anything to do with credit. It is typically something that was never been mentioned before and after reflection, it seems like an excuse not to make the loan in the first place.

Loan brokers such as myself are victims of the same misleading behavior. I cannot tell you how many banks have looked me in the eye and said: “Sure, we are making lots of loans. For unsecured loans of $75,000 to $150,000, we just need a credit score above 680, in business for over a year and a half, and decent financials. Real estate security is not required. We would love to entertain your applications.” Right.

What they really do is pour over the applications and pick 1 out of 100 that has the following fantasy credentials: a platinum credit score that Bill Gates would be proud of and which could support a small country, gushing positive cash flow, little competition, executed contracts stacked high on your desk, then a booming market niche. In other words, someone who doesn’t need the loan in the first place. You know the old adage: banks only give money to people who don’t need it.

It is simply psychology 101. Banks are filled up with loan officers and they have to show they are busy. If their boss walks into their office and sees nothing on their desk, they might be laid off. They have to show they are busy earning their salaries, which means receiving applications and going through the review process. It’s gotten so bad that the other day we had a client whose grandfather helped found the bank, whose father was best friends with the president, and who had received two successful loans before. Even he was turned down. Nor do they tell you the large SBA commercial loan department job layoffs of employees throughout the nation.

To prevent being too caught in this trap, look your banker in the eye and ask these questions:

1) “Tell me honestly. I don’t want to waste your time or mine. I know the credit crunch is quite depressing and there is really no secondary market. Are you actually entertaining small business loans at this time or should I wait.”

2) “How many small business loans have you personally made in the last 30 days?”

3) “What are the loan terms of the last three loans you made, including interest rate and monthly payments, for the amount of loan I am seeking?”

4) “How long will it take before I get a definitive answer?”

5) “Can you briefly describe to me the process I have to go through to get the final approval? Will you be the one making the final decision? What other people superior to you or committees will make that decision?”

But do not despair. There actually are real live prime lenders out there making small business loans. They just need to know where to look. In the next article I will discuss if such loans are available to startups.

James Copper asked:


What are small businesses?

Small businesses are businesses with less staff. The staff limit is different for different areas. These businesses are generally owned by individuals or are started in partnerships. Other criterions to decide small businesses are the turnover and profit. The less is the turnover or the profit, the smaller is the business. The smallest businesses are called as ‘micro businesses’ and those managed by families are called as ‘mom’s and pop’s business’. These smaller businesses generally have employees in number from 0 to 10. Many a times, the owners are the workers in these businesses.

Advantages in small business:

The basic advantage of starting a small business is that you need less capital and money to start the business. Also, one can start a small business on part time basis. The basics of a successful business are the regular modifications that one does to it. In small businesses these modifications can be easily done as one does not need to follow any trend or face any compulsions in small business unlike in big businesses. Also, a small business can give much more to its customers than a big one as they have the power to provide each and every customer the required personal attention and take into account all the suggestions and even implement some of them. Small businesses provide daily bread to many a people and thus are very important.

Marketing small businesses:

The most common methods of marketing small businesses are customer referrals, mouth publicity, radios, newspapers, internet, directories, boards, etc. Television ads can be a bit expensive for advertising small businesses. Internet marketing is considered the most cost effective and result oriented method of marketing small businesses. The ads can be placed on websites or even search engine web pages. The costs are decided on the size of the ad and thus can be easily moderated.

Small business ideas:

- Franchisee business: this is one of the extremely profitable ideas of a small business. The only things that you need to start this business are a place and some capital. The best part of this business is that the things that you sell are already quite famous in the market and thus you need to do very little expenses on the marketing.

- Event planner: if you know the knack of organizing things perfectly, then you can become an event planner. You need to plan out meetings, parties, weddings and other such get-together for your customers in the given budget. The best part of this job is that it is extremely interesting and your work does the marketing for you.

- Computer repair: if you have done any hardware or software course or have learned any computer language then you can start the work of computer repairing. You just need to sort out simple problems in computers. The best part of this job is that you get to learn a lot more than you have about computers. But, you should do only the work that you can manage and avoid doing any guess work.

Samuel Martin asked:


Internet-based banks like NetBank are giving traditional banks some fierce competition as more small businesses make the shift to online banking.

“We are extremely pleased with the success of our small-business banking initiative,” said Douglas K. Freeman, chairman and chief executive officer of NetBank Inc. “More and more, small businesses are embracing the Internet and using it to do business better, faster, cheaper.”

Some of the ways in which NetBank makes it easy for small businesses to bank online include providing dedicated relationship managers to each of its clients; a dedicated customer care unit trained to handle the customer’s small-business needs; enhanced account administration features allowing multiple users with different access levels; and a remote deposit system that allows customers to deposit checks into their accounts without leaving the office.

“Small business banking is a natural extension of our services and it represents an excellent growth opportunity for us,” said Bert Davis, director of small business banking for NetBank. “We can provide tremendous value from both a customer service and pricing standpoint, and that’s not something a large number of small-business customers are finding today.”

In addition, NetBank has teamed with Wall Financial Services to provide Web-based accounts receivable lines of credit.

NetBank is also working with MBNA to issue no annual-fee credit cards with a credit line of up to $100,000, while forming a partnership with CompuPay to offer specialized payroll services for small businesses.

Indeed, banking online has streamlined virtually every banking task facing a small-business owner.

“Our own research shows that small-business owners across the country say the Internet is either somewhat important or very important to their business,” Freeman said.