Use this comprehensive checklist to plan each step of your new business and transform your dream of entrepreneurship into reality. These steps may not necessarily be completed in the order listed; however, you can use them as a guideline for completing all of the necessary business startup tasks.

- Determine what kind of business you want to start.- Learn about the industry for your business.- Analyze the market for your business.- Study your competition.- Educate yourself on running a business.- Join trade associations.- Name your business.- Perform a trademark search.- Register a domain name.- Design a website.- Obtain a logo.- Determine business structure (sole proprietor, partnership, or corporation).- Evaluate your personal budget.- Write a business plan.- Write a marketing plan.- Locate financing.- Create a list of start-up supplies with budget.- Set up a system for accounting and payroll.- Apply for business license, fed tax ID, fictitious business name.- Select a location and set up shop.- Order signage.- Obtain business tools (computer, printer, fax, postage, office supplies, and fixtures).- Order business stationery (business cards, letterhead, brochures).- Obtain inventory.- Create an operations and employee manual.- Hire employees.- Set a launch date.- Plan a grand opening event.- Send announcements to everyone you know.- Send press releases.- Turn on the OPEN sign!- Revisit your business plan and update often.- Evaluate your marketing strategy often.- Prepare a realistic business plan.

Think of this as your business road map. Define exactly where you want to get to with your business and then you can effectively map out your path towards achieving your goals!

By creating a detailed business plan you should cover all options and eventualities and have a clear future vision that will guide you through the rest of the start-up processes.

- Your business plan should encompass the financial considerations of starting your small or home based business:

Do you have the capital required?

Do you need to raise additional funds?

Who are you going to approach for finance?

Who do you trust for advice?

And don’t forget to open a business bank accountâ?¦

- Consider the legal implications of becoming a business owner and proprietor.

Are you better off as a sole trader, a limited company or are you considering a partnership?

Make sure you consider all the angles and protect yourself and your assets personally from the outset.

Anything you bring to the business has to be itemized, valuedâ?¦even if you’re a sole trader.

And make sure you are professionally covered with the appropriate business indemnity insurances.

- Get your family and friends behind you from the get-go.

Make sure your family and friends are fully understanding and supportive of your ideas to venture into small business start-up.

Do they understand the level of commitment you will have to show for on-going and long term success?

Their belief in you and continued support of you will work wonders towards your on-going success, so don’t forget to look out for them too.

- Protect your family, protect your business.

If, God forbid, something were to happen to your health, how would your business survive, how would your family cope?

Consider insurances - from health, critical illness and income protection insurance to life insurance - and consider your pension and long term financial security.

- Face those ‘taxing’ questions from the start.

Your small or home based business has to consider its taxation situation.
Do you need to register your business for sales tax purposes; have you informed your tax office of your business’s inauguration?

Do you have a good tax professional lined up to guide and assist you?
The bottom line when it comes to taxation is that from the outset you need to make sure your papers and books are in order, this will save you time, money and heart ache in the long run.

- Prepare realistic and achievable goals and targets for your first year.
Do not expect to conquer the world with your first year’s business returns.
Starting a business is a life changing undertaking and one you must be patient with. The rewards are there, but make sure you set yourself achievable targets - when you reach them they will give you the confidence and satisfaction to set new goals and to continue building your business’ success.

Matt Bacak became “#1 Best Selling Author” in just a few short hours. Recent Entrepreneur Magazineâ??s e-Biz radio show host is turning Authors, Speakers, and Experts into Overnight Success Stories. Discover The Secrets To Unleash The Powerful Promoter In You! Sign up for Matt Bacak’s Promoting Tips Ezine ($100 value) just visit his website at http://www.powerfulpromoter.com or http://promotingtips.com

Many people ask themselves the question, “Do I need to learn Spanish?” both consciously and subconsciously. Usually the answer comes up something like, “No. I speak English, everybody in the U.S. speaks English, I don’t need to speak Spanish.” But maybe before jumping to that conclusion, we should look into the matter more deeply.

The last U.S. Census, made in the year 2000, established that there were over 35 million Hispanics in the U.S. These Hispanics made up 12.5% of the total population. Furthermore, Hispanics seem to be the fastest-growing ethnic group in the U.S. By 2004 Hispanics numbered 42 million, about 13.7% of the total population.

And we are not talking about poor wetbacks here. Like other waves of immigrants before them, the Hispanics are assimilating, growing and prospering. Today they represent tremendous purchasing power in the U.S. economy. The magazine “Hispanic Business”, in its May, 2004 edition, reported the results of a study on the subject. The study found that the disposable income of Hispanics, the U.S.’s largest minority group, was almost $700 billion! Moreover, their disposable income was expected to exceed $1 trillion by 2010!

We are talking here about numbers and economic power to be noted and reckoned with!

So how does this affect your choice of languages to learn? The U.S. census of 2000 told us that three-fourths of Hispanics speak a language other than English in their homes. 99+ per cent of them speak Spanish. Furthermore, the census revealed that 2 out of every 5 Hispanics reported that they spoke English less than “very well”. You can read about it in “We the People: Hispanics in the United States, A Census 2000 Special Report”, by Roberto R. Ramirez, December 2004.

That means that of the 42 million Hispanics in the U.S. as of 2004, 40% or 16.8 million do not speak English very well and prefer to speak in Spanish. That group comprises 5.5% of the total U.S. population!

So one of the reasons to learn Spanish is to be able to speak with your neighbors! And it’s not just for travel south of the Rio Grande any more.

At one time concentrations of Spanish-speaking people were to be found only along the U.S. - Mexican border and in New York City. Not any more! Now they are all over, notably California, Texas and Florida, of course but Illinois, Pennsylvania, Georgia… practically all over! Almost wherever you are you are going to encounter groups of your neighbors who speak very little English, only Spanish.

So perhaps you want to rethink that question about learning Spanish. As well as giving you the ability to communicate with your neighbors, learning Spanish is also a culturally expanding experience. Spanish history books are different from English history books… and the Spanish were in the new world a hundred years before the English were!

Learn and understand more of the background of the largest minority group in the U.S.! Learn to speak Spanish.

To learn how to get the best Spanish-learning course available visit: Learn Spanish To read reviews of Rocket Spanish visit: Reviews

Jorge Chavez has been an internet entrepreneur and marketer since 2002. He began to learn Spanish after he was 30, now is bilingual English-Spanish. He has monolingual friends, relatives and clients who only speak Spanish and others who only speak English. Read his articles at http://rocket-spanish.ya23.com

Growth brings many challenges, and calls for decisions that are tough to take. You might not think of it as a big deal, but finding suitable office space to accommodate your growing needs, is one of those decisions.

If you’ve been toying with the idea of moving office from your home/basement or similar accommodation, be sure to consider some important factors.

Be sure that it is need based. The most important factor in any decision to move office must be the impact it will have on the business. If your business has a number of posh clients coming in, a tacky basement office will do nothing for its image.

Likewise, consider whether your premises are adequate in terms of infrastructure, security etc. Sometimes clients are not satisfied just with the way you do your job; where you do it also plays a big role in building their confidence in your abilities.

Don’t over-reach. As mentioned above, move office if it’s good for your business, not just because your ego demands a corner office with a stunning view of the waterfront.

Also, stay within your financial limits. If your company has adequate cash flow for a year, look at a place that will support your requirements for that period. Don’t go for a full blown building, with a five year expansion plan in mind.

Remember, it’s easy to move, but extremely hard to downsize. It’s always a good idea to go for the least expensive option that suits your most important needs.

Consider short-term options. In times of market turbulence, the outlook for your business can change dramatically within a short time. If you think this applies to you, look at taking on a short term lease while moving office. Sub-leasing or working from an executive suite can also be considered. However, note that the former option may force you to shift office frequently, whereas the latter is certainly a more expensive way to rent space.

Pay as per use. Frequently, you will find that the usable space in an office is much less than the quoted square footage. When you’re paying for expensive real estate, you don’t want to waste good money on decorative niches, extra corridors, balconies, and so on. Make sure that you opt for a sensible, practical layout while moving office.

Moving office can be trying! First of all, you have to deal with the sheer effort required to pack up and get going. Then, you have to make allowances for an interruption in services. However, all the heartache is worthwhile if it allows you to run your business better and enhances the image of your company.

Hi, I’m Akhil Shahani, a serial entrepreneur who wants to help you succeed. If you like to work smart, check out http://www.SmartEntrepreneur.net It’s full of articles and resources to help you start and grow your business successfully. Please visit us & download our special “Freebie of The Month” at http://www.smartentrepreneur.net/freebie-of-the-month.html

The idea of turnkey dropshipping websites gives the appeal of “easiness” to the people that are setting them up (anyone can do it - right?). Most of the time they are very easy to set up, and yes anyone can do it. The problem that I want to make sure everyone is aware of though is the ability to actually make money with a system that is already all set up for you.

Here are the main factors to take into consideration:

1. Content - Most will not allow you to change any kind of content. If you are not allowed to change any kind of text, then the other 100 people that set up the same website as you, has the same content and eventually you are going to run into some duplicate content issues with the major search engines.

2. Meta Data - Most of the time you are not allowed to change any kind of meta data including title tags, header tags, title attribute tags and alt tags. I know that these are not huge factors when it comes to rankings anymore these days, but if they are the same as everyone else they will hurt you.

3. Branding - When using a system created by someone else you are using everything that they have set into place. They usually do not give you the ability to use custom images to set you apart from the competition. You will only be able to create a cookie cutter logo that really will not represent what you want it to. You will only be frustrated from a system like this.

4. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - You will not be able to implement any kind of “good” SEO (search engine optimization) practices. Since you are not able to make your site unique from the hundreds of other sites out there you will not be able to do any kind of onsite search engine optimization which will kill any off site SEO efforts. You better be ready (and willing) to spend a lot of money on PPC (pay per click) advertising because that is the only way you will be able to market a site like this.

5. Product Pricing - You usually are not given good product pricing with a turnkey dropshipping solution, and you have to stay with the price they have on the website. This does not allow you to competitive price your products, so you will be the same price as everybody else who is using this “turnkey dropshipping website” solution. Most of the time dropshippers are only willing to give Internet business owners that have proved themselves worthy the “good” product pricing. If you are using a turnkey solution for dropshipping I would challenge you to look at any products you are offering and see if the price is cheaper then you can get it at Wal-Mart. Once you check out the prices you will be glad you read this post warning you!

6. Making Them Rich - The people that own these turnkey dropship websites prey on the people that are looking to get rich quick (and do it easily). They do not care about your success and just want to take your money and run. You will not get any kind of support from these type of websites/businesses. They have spent a lot of money on a system that makes you feel comfortable, and makes you feel like you can actually do it (and you would probably be able to). Making money is another story, I don’t know about you, but I would rather make money, even if it is going to take a little more effort (and learning) on my part.

I see so much garbage online, and it is not getting any easier to tell the scammer apart from the legitimate home based business so I am trying to do everything I can to empower you with the information you need to make a good decision. I am tired of seeing people throw money away. If I can save even just one person from making a bad choice then writing this article was worth it!

Matt Siltala has been doing business online since 1999 and has helped many people set up Dropshipping business correctly. He has also been heavily involved with dropshipper companies like The Shipper in order to help them better educate the businesses that use their services.

It seems that until today the business person has had two broad categories of business networking membership organizations to choose from.

The first, which I refer to as structured networking groups include BNI, LeTip and a host of others that stress the importance of developing a small group of strong referral partners.

The second are those derivatives of social networking sites such as LinkedIn and Ryze that allow business people to connect virtually, via the internet, with virtually no relationship at all.

So , when it comes to business networking is it better to have a small network of strong ties or a broad network of virtual ties?

I believe the answer to this question is “neither”. Here’s why.
In his 1973 paper entitled The Strength of Weak Ties, sociologist Mark Granovetter makes a convincing case that a broad network of what he called “weak ties” is more productive than a small group of “strong ties”.

The Strength of Ties

Granovetter writes: “Most intuitive notions of the “strength” of an interpersonal tie should be satisfied by the following definition: the strength of a tie is a (probably linear) combination of the amount of time, the emotional intensity, the intimacy (mutual confiding), and the reciprocal services which characterize the tie.”

Given the definition of tie strength above, clearly the structured networking option with its weekly meetings, and category exclusivity creates a close knit group of strong-ties. And therein is its downfall. A small group of strong relationships that form around a common cause and geography has some very real limitations in its ability to reach out to the broader business community.

Conversely, internet social networking sites, it would logically appear, create a weakness of tie that Granovetter likely could never have predicted. How much time is involved in building these relationships? How emotional of a bond is created by a request to join a stranger’s network? How intimate is the relationship? What type of reciprocal services are being exchanged?

So what is a business networker to do?

Through the years my experience has shown that many of my most impactful and profitable relationships established with other business professionals were created while networking at events, lunches, social outings etc. These are not exclusive referral partners that I meet every week in a structured setting, just like minded people that I have had the good fortune to meet once or twice and then stay in touch monthly, quarterly or in some cases just a couple of times per year.

The common factor in all cases though is that I have met the individual face-to-face at least one time for a substantive conversation.

Why is that?

Elements of Face-to-Face Communication

Because the majority of human communication is NOT transmitted through the words we speak. In fact, when we meet someone face-to-face 55% of our communication is non-verbal, 37% is in the tonality of our voices and only 7% is the actual words we speak!

Makes sense then that if we meet someone, even just once we naturally will have developed a much stronger “weak tie” than we ever can hope to by simply connecting on the internet.

To meet the types of business people you want to meet, you need to meet in order to maximize your success you should be sure to visit http://www.bizblinddate.com “Business Networking Made Simple”.

BizBlindDate will:

- Help you identify business people who can deliver results.
- Connect you to those business people for a face-to-face meeting.
- Help you improve and market your value to other members via partner feedback.
- Keep you from wasting time and money driving to events where you’ll meet the same people over and over again.
- Provide you with incentives for utilizing and expanding the network.

Learn more by listening to our podcasts at http://www.bizblinddate.com/bizpodcasts.aspx

The idea of eliminating business gifts from your yearly agenda is like playing with fire.

We’ll say that one more time: you’re playing with fire if you decide not to spend on business gifts. It’s the same thought expressed in different words.

Think of business gifts as grease money. It’s the proverbial “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours”. In this particular context, the notion of grease money does not have to take on a negative tone. Just as you would nurture a loving relationship with a surprise gift every now and then, you’d ensure that your customers are kept happy by humble gestures of acknowledgement from your company. To survive in a competitive business environment, business gifts are an added tool to help you navigate the unsteady waters of any business relationship or alliance. And in some cases, they can even help you expand your business.

Here’s why:

What Goes Around Comes Around

First, we firmly believe in what one mensch said to us one day: “you gotta spend money to make money.” This is a beautiful approach because it echoes the principle that what goes around comes around. To give an example, if you give a business gift to an old customer, that old customer could mean one, two, or three new customers. Picture this scene:

Person A: That’s a curious-looking memorabilia. Who gave it you?
Person B: XYZ Enterprises. I’m an old customer. They send me these gifts from time to time.
Person A: What do they do?
Person B: They sell software for graphic designers.
Person A: Hey, my graphic designers are complaining that their software is too antiquated. They want better tools to produce better layout. Maybe your guy can clue me into what’s hot in the industry in terms of graphic design?
Person B: Sure thing. Here’s his business card. Or do you want me to ask him to call you?
Person A: Nah, I’ll call him right away. My need is urgent.

That’s how it works. Before you know it, your company name has been passed around and before you know it, new customers are calling you.

Word of mouth, in our opinion, is the most powerful advertising medium there is. It’s reliable and it acts like a live, honest-to-goodness testimonial, not a canned testimonial that was penned by a tired and weary copywriter.

Giving Back to the Community

Another way of expanding your business with business gifts is to sponsor a community event. During the event, you give last year’s business gifts to every man, woman and child you meet. You’re not only being generous, you’re also advertising - again. So if a relative or a friend of one of those people happens to see your business gift with your company name and telephone number, that person may keep your contact details for future use - or else recommend you to another friend.

By giving, you start a chain. You hope the links in that chain don’t come apart. Better yet, you hope the chain grows longer!

Tina Rinaudo is one of the leading lights in the UK promo gifts industry. Tina is a key member of YesGifts, the UK’s fastest growing online promotional items resource specialising in promotional pens, mugs, mouse mats, umbrellas, conference items and much more.

I get this question asked all the time. Are there shortcuts you can take to get your business up and running. Okay, let me qualify my answer. Yes, there are…but…I don’t recommend them. The reason I don’t is because shortcuts usually lead to lower income for a variety of reasons. It would be impossible to go into all of them here but suffice it to say, for every shortcut you take, you’re chopping off dollars from your bottom line. However, if you want to take some shortcuts, in this article, I’ll show you the best ones to take.

Probably the best shortcut to take is to get a business ready made for you. Now, getting a ready made business can come in two forms. One is very expensive and the other is very cheap. Let’s go over the very expensive option first. That’s where you have a business custom made for you. You lay out the specs to the person who is going to create it and he does the work. You’ll probably spend thousands of dollars for this. Now, that’s not as bad as buying an existing business that is already making money. In that case, you could be spending tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars. For most people, this isn’t an option.

The next best shortcut in the area of business creation is to purchase what they call a cookie cutter business. This is a business where the actual site and product is not unique to you and you alone. In other words, there are other people out there who have the same business. The plus side to something like this is that the purchase of this kind of business is relatively cheap. In some cases, you can get a business like this for just a few hundred dollars, or even less.

So as you can see, shortcuts can be great. They can get you up and running very fast. The downside, especially with a cookie cutter business, is that you’re not unique. Now, having said that, there are many people out there with cookie cutter sites who are doing very well, just not as well as somebody who built their business from scratch.

Anyway, if you’re looking for shortcuts, there they are. If you put the work into them, you can still make a nice profit.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Want your own business right out of the box and cut your startup time down to zero? Check out my site at http://www.stevewagenheim.com/biab/ and get your own business in a box for literally pennies.

A business card is the best way to make a favorable first impression on your clients or customers. Thus, this card not only needs to be unique and stylish but also personal and professional. All these factors are met by online business cards.

How are they designed?

When you design the card online, there are certain steps that you follow. These are listed below:

1) You choose the design of the card.

2) You type out the details that you want to appear on the card.

3) You choose the placement of the words, color style and font style.

4) Next, you choose the thickness of paper and card stock.

5) Also you can upload your photo / logo and embed this on your card.

6) View your card and proofread the same.

7) You can make any changes if you meant to.

8) Click ’submit’ and you are done. Whatever you chose is made into cards in the dimensions you chose on your preferred card stock.

What makes this the perfect solution is that they are perfectly customized to satisfy all your official needs. They are unique and can be professionally designed too. Just make sure that you leave lots of white space around. Don’t use flowery fonts and flamboyant styles. This will nullify the professional, look of your cards. Use color business cards but do not use too many colors.

Always aim to make your card speak about you. It should spell professionalism with style. A business card is inexpensive marketing tool that can do wonders for you and your business.

http://www.printcentric.com

To obtain funding for your endeavor, you will need to have a well thought out restaurant business plan. This restaurant business plan will need to be top notch or you may not get the startup money you need.

You can find websites who offer templates and resources to help you devise a workable business plan. This approach to writing a restaurant business plan, will help you to think about all of the major and minor costs that you will need to attend to. All of these things are vital in a restaurant startup. You can use the resources on these sites to make the process easier, and get your restaurant business plan out there faster. They provide templates that will allow you to write a professional business plan that will attract investors to you.

Many of these sites will provide you with checklists for your startup, and other resources for budgeting and to stay on track. You will also have access to tools to develop how your business will operate and procedures to help you get organized and be ready when the day comes to open your restaurant business.

You can find sites that will provide you with customizable documents and detailed business plans, to make everything faster and easier to formulate a concise and professional restaurant business plan. They also provide guidance for the preparation of a business plan. This includes business concept, market analysis, marketing strategies, operational plan, and more. You will have access to everything you need to produce a professional restaurant business plan.

You will also have access to current research that you can edit and use in your business plan. These sites also have resources to learn new trends and ideas, and provide absolute credibility to yourself and your plan.

You will be provided with instructions to fine tune the financial section of your restaurant business plan, including projections for your finances, startup and operating budget, and analysis of the return on investments.

These templates usually includeâ?” Executive Summary; Company Description; Location; Organization; Business Concept; Concept Statement; Capitalization; Sample Menu; Layouts and Design; Management Partner/Owner; Management Team; Kitchen Manager; General Manager; Management Agreements; Confidentiality Agreements; Market Analysis; Industry Assessment; Competitive Analysis; Target Market; Location Analysis; Marketing Strategy; Customer Database; Frequent Diner; Mail Campaign; Email Campaign; Charity/Community Involvement; Public Relations; Marketing Resources; Business Relationships; Operations; Advertising; Training; Staffing; Daily Operations & Production; Customer Service; Suppliers; Administrative Systems; Management Controls; and many more sections to guide you through the process of formulating a winning restaurant business plan.

Remember, you are responsible for making your restaurant business plan a concise and professional report to submit to potential financial providers. Your business plan is the most important part of opening your restaurant business, and should be the first item on your to do list. Once you have enough funding for your business in place, you will find that a big weight will be taken off your shoulders, and you will be able to concentrate on other aspects of the opening of your new restaurant.

Patricia Farnham - Restaurant industry veteran, owner/operator, author and enthusiast. She recently put her considerable expertise (gained from many years of managing other peoples restaurants), to the test. She purchased a failing operation and turned it around quickly. If you’re considering starting your own restaurant, or buying an existing operation, there are vital concepts you need to know to make it profitable. Check out her opinions regarding opening a restaurant on her website.

Are you currently a business owner and you’re fed up with paying the ridiculously high gas prices? I’m sure all of you have said yes to this answer and if you said no, well, I don’t know what to say about that one. Businesses can be successful and some can just be the worst idea ever. Regardless if your business is profitable or it’s losing money, you want to find ways to save money in every aspect. Today, I’m going to show you how you can save on gas at your business.

If you business consists of a fleet of a thousand vehicles or just one, I’m sure you have to fill up the car every once in a while. Instead of paying full price, there are ways to save up to ten percent! I know it sounds too good to be true but it really isn’t. The way to save is by applying for a business gas credit card. If you’re not familiar with this type of card, I’ll explain to you how it works.

A gas credit card is just like any other card on the market. You simply pay at the pump with your card and depending on how the card works, you’ll either get your rebate back on your statement or sometimes you may get it back in gift cards, it all depends on the company and what gas station you go through.

Most cards on the market today will allow you to save up to ten percent per gallon. This is a lot seeing that gas is at four dollars a gallon, that’s a forty cent per gallon savings. It adds up really quick. When you do apply for a card for your business, you will want to look out for a few things when it comes to the application process. You will quickly find out that there are cards out there designed for every gas station and there are cards designed solely for one gas station. Many have found that the card for one gas station is generally better because it offers better rebate rates. Make sure that you do your research before you just apply for the first card you see, it can cost you in the long run.

In order to maximize the most savings for your business, you’re going to want to make sure that you treat this card like any other credit card out there. You’ll want to pay it off in full each month so that you can avoid the interest rates. If you can do this, you will have an interest free loan. If you don’t think you’re capable of doing this, you may want to avoid getting a card altogether.

A gas card can really save you a lot of money if you use them right and especially if you have a big fleet of vehicles. Remember that every penny counts in the long run. Simply do some research and ask other business owners what they use and go from there.

Tom Tessin is an author for FINDgascards.com that is geared toward people looking to save on gas with gas credit cards and businesses looking for business gas credit cards.