It is perhaps the true “American Dream”: to leave your job working for someone else and start your own business.  The idea is that not only do you have more control–over your time commitment, pay, the types of customers you deal with–but it also enables people to engage in an activity they actually have a passion for.  However, just having that passion is not enough to make a venture successful.  It takes thorough planning, researching all of the available resources, and a major time investment.  The following is an outline describing several key steps that need to be considered when making the leap from employee to employer (in no particular order of importance since they are all important).  The planning stage is perhaps the most important of the entire process, as these decisions will affect everything that follows.

• Choose something that you have a passion for.  This venture is still a job, and you will be less likely to put forth the requisite effort and care if you are not emotionally attached to the business.
   
• Never just decide one day to quit your job.  You need to have reserves or cash flow to cover personal as well business expenses in case it takes longer to establish a customer base and start turning a profit.
   
• Do your research into the market you are looking to get into.  Unless you have a new invention or can revolutionize a current process, you need to find a niche market in which you can differentiate yourself from every other similar business.
   
• Always consult a legal professional, preferably one that specializes in business start-ups or an accounting professional.  They will be the best source of guidance when it comes to selecting a business structure and naming issues, as well as state and local licensing issues.
   
• Stick to what you know best and do not try to do everything yourself!  If you are not good at handling finances, then hire an accountant or bookeeper.  If you are not graphically inclined, then hire a design firm to create your logo and marketing tools.  It is always cheaper to spend the money and have it done right from the beginning than it is to fix a problem.
   
• Do not rush.  Take your time and make sure that everything is to your specification.  You need to be able to 100% ready for business from day the doors first open.
   
• Network.  Tell everyone you know about your business.  Word of mouth is the cheapest and most effective form of marketing.  Also solicit their opinions on everything from the name of the business to the logo design to the promotions you will be having.  Having outsiders who are less biased critique your business leads to more honest answers and will most likely reflect the public’s opinions as well.
   
• Make sure to budget enough money for advertising & marketing. Even if you are running a business out of your parents’ house you want to put forward a professional image, not one that is based on a free email account, marketing materials with another company’s logo and information imprinted on it, or a  
   
• Have patience.  Success is not an overnight occurrence, and generally will take much time, effort, and work.
   
• Talk to people who are successful in the industry you are looking to enter (although try to choose people who you will not be in direct competition with).  Try to pick their brains as much as you can without seeming to be intrusive.  Many successful people are more than happy to share their stories.
   
• Join professional associations, the local Chamber of Commerce, networking groups.  Form strategic alliances with other who offer similar yet distinctive products or services to gain mutual benefit.
   
• Don’t be afraid to take calculated risks, just take care not to be too reckless.
   
• Make sure to get the proper insurance.  Business liability and error & omission insurance are quite necessary in many professions.  And do not overlook property and business interruption insurance which will take care of lost revenues in case of natural disaster or other even that causes you to vacate the property.
   
• Above all else, surround yourself with positive people who will support you and your ideas! 

This list is by no means complete, and in my estimation can never be considered complete.  There are just too many things that need consideration, and everything varies by experience level and industry.  This is just a guide.

This article, Starting A Business The Right Way was originally published by DollarVersity, and may have been used without the owner's permission.

Financial Times reported that Iran and China were working on an oil barter deal.   The Wall Street Journal ran an article on restaurants accepting and using barter credits in their businesses.  Fox Business ran an article on health care options being offered on barter exchanges.  Entrepreneur Magazine published an article on barter helping to reduce entrepreneurial start-up costs.  Now, if major news and information resources such as these are covering a topic, and entire countries are trying out a particular system of commerce, then it just might be worth looking into for your small business.  

What does barter mean?

Barter is simply the trading of goods or services for other goods or services with no cash involvement. There is no set pattern or rule as to what can be traded for what, aside from those goods and services which are deemed illegal.  To promote bartering, and make it easier for companies to interact, barter exchanges and barter markets were established.  These systems enable bartering to be taken to a new level by offering “barter credits” which are used like cash within that specific network.  When you “sell” something you get paid in barter credits which you can then use to “pay” for something from another vendor if necessary or bank until needed at a future time.

How barter would benefit you

• The fact that there is no cash involvement, any business can participate in a trade.  This is especially helpful to small and newer businesses where cash-flow tends to be a big concern. 

• Any combination of things can be traded: accounting services for web design; printing services for cleaning services or repairs; advertising for legal services.  There is no limit to what you can trade for. 

• The accounting and tax treatments are exactly the same as if you were using cash: all sales are taxable income and the same rules apply for deducting expenses. 

• Without the need for access to large amounts of capital or credit, your business may be able to develop and grow more quickly.  

• There are people in all sorts of business looking to trade a variety of goods and services, so your options are not limited. 

• A way to reach a potentially untapped source of customers and generate word of mouth publicity that can spread to cash customers in the future. 

• Barter transactions may lead to future cash transactions, or may be used to entice customers into cash transactions. 

• You would conserve your cash for use on expansion such as hiring employees (which can be done on barter too within a barter network), or use on expenses that cannot be bartered for such as utilities, licensing, and taxes.  

• It provides a way to sell off excess or slow-moving inventory when traditional payment methods have failed

Barter networks

As mentioned earlier, there are barter networks or barter exchanges which use their own “currency” to facilitate commerce.  For each transaction you make, you would get barter “credits” which you can then bank and use at a later time on any other products or services. These networks make barter more accessible as you wouldn’t have to find a trade partner directly, which will help expand your business. For example:

If you are a web designer you can design a site for an architect and get paid in barter credit.  You may not have any use for an architect’s services, but rather have a need for business cards. You can then take your barter credits and hire a printer within the network to make your cards and pay them with the credits you earned from doing work for the architect.  Or, you can just keep those credits in your account until the time comes when you need something from anyone else within the network.  

In the traditional barter system, you would be forced to search for a trade partner who has what you need and needs what you provide. This method is easier than direct trade, since you can acquire new customers who might not have anything you need in return.  These networks generally charge a monthly fee, plus commissions per transactions to support the network.  Companies like Itex, a publicly traded barter network, use those fees to support their communities by hosting websites that provide classified ads, member directories and profiles, account information, and other benefits which vary based on the different networks.  Plus with barter networks, the worries of collecting receivables is greatly reduced.  Many of the networks give you online transaction-processing built-in.

Since barter transactions are widely considered to be treated in the same manner as cash transactions (check your state’s revenue division for specific rules where you are), there is no learning curve, no specialized software to learn, and no downtime.  You record your transactions the same way you would as cash in your accounting software and there is no learning curve, so you can essentially hit the ground running.

So, is bartering for you?  Have you ever tried bartering before?  If you have will you use it again?

This article, The Benefits Of Barter Transactions was originally published by DollarVersity, and may have been used without the owner's permission.

If you read blogs, then you know that everyone loves to write how-to articles  And, to be blunt, a great many of these articles are rip-offs or compilations of the millions that came before them (yes, I’m guilty of this too).  After a while, they start failing to offer new ideas, hold your attention, and even start to look like each other.  But personally, I realized that  I’ve learned a lot from watching people do things the wrong way, so sometimes it’s easier (and more entertaining) to write about those things.  So, here it is:

The NOT Top-5 ways to make and/or keep customers!

• Make it difficult to find or get in touch with you

  Nobody likes having to work in order to give you their business and quite frankly you should be making it impossible for them to not find your info.  Not having a website or a poorly designed website lacking a contact page (or any contact info for that matter) is a great way to accomplish this.  So is having a generic free email address that has nothing to do with the business which makes it more difficult to remember or associate with you.  Not having a fax is understandable, but not having a cell phone is inexcusable.  Plus these days, every business needs a social media presence, if for nothing else, simply to make your presence known to the world and make it increasingly easier for others to find you.

• If someone does contact you, take forever to respond

  People don’t like to feel as if they don’t matter or ignored and by doing this, you are putting that very assumption into their heads.  All it takes is a minute or two to respond.  An email saying something like “Hi.  I got your message, but things are crazy right now.  I’ll get back to you by the end of the week.” shouldn’t be such a hindrance as many people make it out to be.   Simply responding even if time is short or you don’t have an answer will let them know you haven’t forgotten or aren’t neglecting them.  And remember, these are people who want to give you their money.

• Lie

  Give them some song and dance about why you didn’t take their numerous calls.  Try to sell them on the reasoning behind your inability to do something as simple as answer their e-mails.  Try to put yourself over as something you aren’t.  Just don’t take responsibility for your actions (or lack there of), be transparent, or most of all be up front.  That’s a sure way to drive away business.  In this day and age, virtually anything can be found about anybody, so keep things shady if you really want to drive people away.

• Fail to deliver

  Did you promise the world to that last potential client even though you know for a fact that you would have a hard time backing up those claims?  How about ever telling someone that you could do the job for them, but not on their timetable?  Coming up short on guarantees, overreaching on promises of service, not meeting deadlines (some people just cannot work within a timetable, and you know who you are), providing less than quality work, all of these are failures to deliver on your end.  Broken promises lead to angry customers.  Angry customers become former customers.  That should accomplish your goal nicely.

• Steal

  Waste their time.  Take their money.  Just remember to under-perform, fail to provide any value, or heck, don’t do anything at all.  No further explanation needed here!

The bottom line here is quite simple.  Follow these 5 rules of thumb, and you will be guaranteed to not only lose you current customers, but potential clients as well.  People do talk and word of mouth is a strong way to affect business, whether in a positive or a negative manner.

This article, Piss People Off and Lose Their Business in 5 Easy Steps was originally published by DollarVersity, and may have been used without the owner's permission.