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Top Ten Questions for Budding Entrepreneurs to ask Themselves

December 13, 2011 By

In this climate of financial insecurity and redundancies many people are thinking about working for themselves. This can be a hugely rewarding experience both for fiscal reasons and work life balance but you need to start any venture with your eyes wide open. Here is a list of the top ten things to ask yourself if you’re thinking of starting your own business to help you decide if it is a good idea or should be destroyed in the office shredders:

  1. What is your product or service going to be? Who else is doing it and how does your offering stack up against the competition?

  2. What is your market place? Who are you going to sell to and are people going to be interested?

  3. What is your business plan, including any plans for growth and expansion?
  4. What are you going to charge and is this rate competitive and will it give you the profit you need for the company to be viable?

  5. Are you going to open a shop or office or operate from your home address? If you are working from home have you got the workspace you need?

  6. Do you have all the required equipment from UK shredders to telephones, a van perhaps or even warehouse storage?

  7. Do you have any capital to fund the venture or do you need to borrow money? How will this affect you?

  8. How much money do you need to earn to support your family and is this realistically represented in your business plan?

  9. How are you going to advertise, market and communicate about your business to potential customers and business users?

  10. How will you measure success or failure? How long are you going to give yourself to decide if the business is worthwhile and what is your exit strategy?

Filed Under: Business Development, Young entrepreneurs Tagged With: , ,

International business currency advice

December 12, 2011 By

If you have international business interest which include mainland Europe, you’ll probably know only too well how unsettling the Eurozone crisis has been for everyone.

Now, news that the UK is the only EC member state not to have backed the tax and budget multi-country EC pact to tackle the Eurozone debt crisis is even more unsettling – regardless of whether or not it’s the right decision to have made. All the 17 countries that use the euro have so far agreed to the deal.

Businesses hate uncertainty. They can deal with bad situations effectively – but they don’t like not knowing what the plan is, exactly, regardless of whether the business leaders actually agree with the strategies or not.

So when business people are trying to make decisions during a time of uncertainty, the logical decision is to defer decisions and to put off any major purchase decisions that don’t really have to be made right this minute.

The knock-on effect of these entirely logical decisions can be disastrous for small businesses involved in international trade.

There are ways in which you can fight back, though. International currency hedging through trading foreign exchange markets, or “Forex”, for example may be very logical if you need to take the fear out of any major seismic currency shifts whose potential you may be over exposed to.

Similarly, gold trading may be a very logical decision for you to take. Gold is traditionally seen as a safe haven in troubled times – which is why its price has risen so sharply of late. If you feel you’re under exposed or maybe even over exposed to gold, then trading in gold futures, for example, enables you to hedge against any pending disasters.

Thinking laterally about the future is key; recent events have shown us that pretty much anything is possible.

This article was written by David – a keen financial blogger. He often tries his hand at gold trading, keeping up to date with the latest news online to help him out.

Filed Under: Business Development Tagged With: , , ,

Internet security for entrepreneurs

December 12, 2011 By

One of the most important things you can do for your own business is to get good antivirus software for your computers.

If you’ve recently left a bigger business to start up on your own, something that may not have occurred to you is the absolute necessity for antivirus protection, especially if you have been used to the IT department taking care of that kind of thing.

If you’re a one-man band now, though, you have to consider every aspect of the business, from sales and revenue, through to insurance, internet security and everything to do with your premises – if you have them.

Choosing antivirus software doesn’t really require too much knowledge about technology. Have a look online at the different programmes available and consult internet forums to see which are the most popular or reliable.

You’ll soon see which companies offer the best deals – but if you’re not sure about their reputation, find a forum to ask a question. The people on these kinds of forums are far more interested in these topics, and therefore far more knowledgeable than you, and will be more than willing to share their wisdom.

There are lots of free antivirus downloads available. Once you’ve decided on a reputable brand, search their website for a free download – or a trial version. Follow the onscreen instructions to download and install the software. If it’s a trial version, don’t forget to put a reminder in your calendar before the first payment schedule comes up – if you forget, you’ll be paying automatically if you’ve given your credit card details when you signed up for the trial, even if you uninstall it.

Once you’ve sorted out the computers, don’t forget to do the same thing for your mobile phone – these are just as susceptible to virus attacks.

 

Filed Under: Business Development, Young entrepreneurs Tagged With: , , ,