Month: May 2023

Some Useful Tips On How To Start A Small Catering Business

Since a lot of people love to eat, many entrepreneurs view this is an opportunity for them start a business that can be quite profitable. However, setting up and opening a restaurant or food truck can be an expensive and time-consuming venture. If your heart is into succeeding in the food industry but don’t want to go through the hustle and bustle of opening a restaurant or food truck, starting a catering business may be your best option.

The good thing about opening a small catering business is that you can operate one right in the comfort of your home. This means you won’t have to spend more money on buying certain cooking or baking equipment and wares since you already have the basic items or even everything you may need for this venture.

To make sure that you are on the path to starting a small catering business the right way and to ensure its success, there are certain useful tips you can follow. These tips include the following:

Make sure you meet the local health and safety codes for home-based catering. Although you are not opening a restaurant, you still need to apply for and get a business permit or operating license. Learn about the process of getting one and the different health and safety codes that you will have to meet or pass as well.

Create a list of all the equipment and wares you need and make sure you have them. The equipment, wares, and supplies you will need for your kitchen will depend on your type of operation. If you plan on cooking your food at the venue’s kitchen for a particular event, you will only need the most basic commercial prep supplies in your home. The same principle will also work if you will be cooking from a mobile kitchen or creating a temporary kitchen at the event sites. In such instances, you will need mobile coolers or refrigeration units, basic kitchen supplies, steam table pans, kitchen work tables, disposable catering supplies and food carriers. You will have to invest in cooking equipment like a fryer, convection oven, and range (if you don’t have them yet) if you will not be using a temporary or mobile kitchen for the events you are catering. Since you are just starting, you can rent other items such as chafing dishes, catering display items, and table skirts. Once your business is going well, you can consider buying these items to save money in the long run by reducing your rental costs.

Invest in catering software. Using the right software for catering can help you a lot in keeping track of and managing your business. Catering software can help you quickly and effectively calculate your costs. It will help you become more organized with all the tasks and information that you need to manage since this will provide you a platform where you can document contacts, data, budgets, team schedules, activities, etc. Finally, with this software, you can come up with and present your clients with professional and impressive proposals.

Finally, work on getting clients for your catering business. Using catering software can already help you out in getting clients. Aside from this, come up with a solid marketing strategy, capitalize on your low profile (ie. sell your business as providing “the best homemade comfort food”) and offer tastings so that you can win some clients.

Learn more about optimizing the right catering software and other useful tips to have a successful catering business here.

Using Herzberg’s Dual-Structure Theory to Motivate Clients

Health professionals are constantly in the position to motivate clients to improve their health. There are full workshops on how to help people live healthier and happier lives. Frederick Herzberg developed one of the popular theories of needs-based motivation that managers in the business community use quite often.

In this article, I will explain how Herzberg came to develop his theory, explain how it is different from the other popular theories, and give practical examples of how the theory is put into play.

There are many parallels between Herzberg’s theory and the better-known Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory of motivation. Both promote that a person’s basic needs must be met before the higher, more enriching needs can be addressed. Herzberg just uses different phraseology, really. The big difference between the two theories is Herzberg believes that you can have dissatisfaction and satisfaction at the same time. Motivation is a very challenging issue. I work to motivate clients on a daily basis, so this theory, in addressing the separation between the two, helps me to consider what may be missing in the basic needs of a client, which may be holding them back from accomplishing a goal they have set.

Frederick Herzberg developed his theory as a result of investigating 200 accountants and engineers in Pittsburgh, PA, and published his findings in the book, Motivation to Work, in 1959. The results of this study proved surprising to Herzberg and his colleagues, but led to what was originally known as the Two Factor Theory, which has been a major influence in how managers think about motivation. Herzberg found that there were entirely two different sets of factors associated with the feelings people had about work. Although the current theory is that there was just a one-dimensional line of satisfaction – a person was either satisfied or dissatisfied in their job- Herzberg felt there were actually two dimensions at play. There were factors that truly motivated people, but then there were other factors that led to dissatisfaction and did not influence motivation. Motivation factors addressed the amount of satisfaction and psychological growth a person experienced, and dissatisfaction was based on hygiene factors. Until the hygiene factors were satisfied, a person would continue to experience some aspect of dissatisfaction. On the other hand, once there was no more dissatisfaction, there was no more point in focusing on improving the hygiene factors, but it was then time to focus on the motivating factors.

Although hygiene factors are not the source of satisfaction, these issues must be dealt with first to create an environment in which personal satisfaction and motivation can even be possible. Examples of hygiene factors include the actual living conditions of the person, the quality of their personal relationships, their income and how they like their job, the status they hold in the community or their job, job security. The absence of these factors leads to dissatisfaction.

How many times have you worked with a client who wishes to lose weight, only to hear about the personal problems they are having at home? These personal problems represent a ‘hygiene’ factor that must be dealt with before they will ever accomplish more, such as remain motivated to focus on healthy eating and exercise.

Another example of a hygiene factor is their financial position. If they worry about paying the bills, their attention will be distracted from the health suggestions you provide. They may wonder how they can afford to buy more fruit, or, how they can really justify your services right now.

A person’s social situation is another area to investigate. Social relationships in both their personal life and their work environment can be a source of support while they work on improving health habits. Many people like to share their goals and challenges with others and some will use that time to use their friends and colleagues as a source of motivation and encouragement. If they lack that support system, it’s important to consider how they will stay on track.

Finally, if your client is unhappy with their job or work environment, again, they are dealing with hygiene factors and may appear to be less motivated to work on their health issues.

The above examples are just a few to consider before moving onto the motivating factors. Ignoring these issues could mean failure for your client, which will then ultimately reflect on your practice. Although many of these issues appear to be outside the scope of many health professionals’ practice, this emphasizes a need for a wide range of resources you can refer your clients to for further help in various areas. It also points out the importance of really getting to know the needs and concerns of your clients. If you don’t understand what else is going on in their lives, you will continue to push them for health changes they just are not prepared to make at this time!

Examples of motivation factors include things that enrich our lives. For clients, this may include such examples as achievement in a personal goal they have set up with you, recognition for that achievement, the amount of responsibility the person has for not only achieving that goal but in coming up with it, themselves. Also included are the interest they have in the task they have chosen, the likelihood of success, and the chance for growth in other areas of their lives as a result, such as increased self-esteem, better relationships with others, etc. The absence of these factors leads to no satisfaction and lack of motivation.

Perhaps most important to client motivation is in helping individuals believe that the work they are doing is important and that their tasks are meaningful. Share stories of success of other clients to show them that their efforts can be successful. Make a big deal out of meaningful tasks that may have become ordinary along the way. Continually encourage and congratulate them for their progress and their efforts.

To help clients feel like they are doing a good job, they should be placed in positions where they are not being set up for failure. Help them set clear, achievable goals and make sure they know what those goals are at each visit. Adjust the goals as needed along the way. Individuals need regular, timely feedback on how they are doing.

Clients will also be more motivated if they have ownership of their work. This means providing enough freedom and power to carry out their tasks so they feel they ‘own’ the result. They are the ones who should create their goals and strategies for how they will achieve them. Your role is one of motivation, education, and unconditional support. Others in their lives may show frustration at their occasional set-backs and expect more progress, so they need someone ‘in their corner’, so to speak.

I have taken the Herzberg Theory of Dual-Structure of motivation and applied it to motivating clients in the healthcare setting. In the business community, this theory is applied to employees, but there are many who disagree with this theory, because Herzberg does not include pay in the motivator category. However, just as we could say that if people would improve their health, they would feel better and their relationships, and such, would improve, reality is that until a person has these other ‘hygiene’ factors under control, they will not be motivated to actually take steps to improve their health.

Crowdfunding for a Business Is More Than Just Money

In the recent years, startup and small business owners have seen crowdfunding rise tremendously. Today, it is one of the most popular ways for business owners to fund their business operations without having to go to a bank to ask for a conventional loan. Of course, crowdfunding does not stop someone from approaching a bank for a business loan.

However, it only makes sense for someone to plan their roadmap carefully and fulfill all their financial needs with an effective crowdfunding campaign on the right platform. For anyone who believes crowdfunding is just a way to collect funds from many different people, they need to rethink that.

Crowdfunding Is Much More than Just Collecting Money

Much Easier than Traditional Funding

Traditional funding is quite a challenge for entrepreneurs and small business owners. As soon as you are at a point where collecting funds for your business is necessary, you start approaching the wealthy people, angel investors, venture capitalists, banks and other lending institutions for investments. The issue here is that you start at the wide side of the funnel and narrow down your options from there to reach the pointy side of the funnel i.e. finding the right investors. If you are unable to strike a deal with your final option, you will end up wasting all your efforts and time.

On the other hand, crowdfunding is the exact opposite of traditional funding. You start at the pointy end of the funnel, create your crowdfunding campaign and let the right people discover you. Those who find your concept attractive and appealing will invest. You will not have to go door to door to find the right person to invest in your, your business and your idea. This makes crowdfunding much easier than traditional funding.

Better Market Outreach

For you to increase your chances of getting the right investor on your side, you have to be at every venue, seminar and meeting where you think you will get a chance to meet the potential investors. However, you can only do so much in the limited time you have before someone else copies your idea and capitalizes on it. On the other hand, when you pick crowdfunding as a way to fuel your business financially, you don’t have to rely on your efforts and marketing outreach solely. The first step of crowdsourcing is finding the right platform since there are many to choose from.

You have to pick your crowdfunding platform based on its popularity and reliability in the public. In short, you benefit from the market outreach of the platform. If your crowdfunding platform is popular in multiple continents then you can expect your funds to be coming from all those places.

Less Riskier than Traditional Funds

One of the biggest issues with traditional funding, especially venture capital, is that such funding has a lot of risk associated with it. Venture capitalists are people or institutions that are oftentimes more interested in their own financial gain than they are in watching your business grow. Their purpose of investing in your company is to double or triple their investment. For that reason, they will often have very strict regulations associated with their investments. If they have doubts about the success of your idea, they will often try to give you the money as repayable loan – the regulations will still be strict.

If they think your product/service will become a massive success, they will try to throw in permanent royalty deals or attempt to take away as much equity in the business from you as possible.

People who fund your business through crowdfunding might not even ask for any stake in your company. Their contributions can be as small as $5 and they might not even expect anything in return. Sometimes, they can make big investments without asking for a lot of equity. On many occasions, their rewards are as simple as a free sample of the product.

Brings Professionalism Out of You

Just because crowdfunding is less risky than traditional funding does not mean you can be all casual with it. Asking for the world to invest in your concept is serious business and you have to be at your professional best to convince people to invest in you. The first thing you will have to do is come up with a proper business plan. Secondly, you want to have a team of right professionals by your side that people can look at and trust. If the air around your team is negative, people will not invest a single dollar in you. You also have to have a good explanation of where you will be spending the money you collect.

If you have prototypes, bring them to the front. Create videos to showcase your technology. Be sure that your product/service is a solution to an existing problem. Do not create a problem and then fix it with your product. Angel investors often frequent crowdfunding platforms and they have to make sure that they are investing in serious people and business, not a hobby.

Helps You Create a Community of Followers

A lot of investment on crowdfunding websites comes in the form of small contributions. These people are not investors but regular people who like an idea, and want to see it in practical form. They believe your idea can solve one of their issues or maybe make the world a better place. If you can convince them that your idea does either or both of those things, they will actively invest in it. These people are early adopters of your technology/product/service and will also act as word-of-mouth marketers for your brand.

Final Thoughts

It is not a coincidence that crowdfunding has become one of the most popular ways for new businesses and entrepreneurs to support their early growth, marketing and expansion through crowdfunding. They must be seeing some benefits of funding their efforts through crowdsourcing over conventional funding. If you are someone who is considering the same route, the first advice for you would be to choose a platform with trust, reputation and outreach for your crowdfunding campaign.

Important Facts in Catering Business

If you’re one of those fearless people who enjoy giving elegant dinner parties, you get rave reviews from guests and your relatives beg to have holidays at your house because of your cooking, then catering might be your cup of tea. As a caterer, you’ll plan menus and elegant or playful presentations for everything from company picnics to debutante balls, then cook it all up, deliver it to the event, serve it and clean up afterward. You can specialize in affairs like weddings; specific goodies like cakes or cookies; or clients like corporations, charities or individual parties.

A catered organization business provides foods program for the company occasions for example conferences, conferences, employee morale boosters, and grand openings. It also provides service for small or large events, weddings, and even private dinner events. The most important portion of operating any business is gaining purchasers. You truly ought to be a salesman having a magnetic persona from the catered group. You will be coping with distinctive clientele including business executives, celebration planners, and nervous brides. So which you can close to the sale, you might be heading to have to persuade them which you will not only provide a memorable feast, but it’ll possibly be there on time, offered attractively, and served rapidly and unobtrusively. Productive caterers go out and produce a referral network to be able to drum up organization. You ought to introduce yourself to other women and men and businesses which could possibly be involved in event and occasion preparing as very well. Some of those women and men contain wedding ceremony planners, bridal boutiques, pastry chefs, florists, and card and celebration offer shopkeepers. Generally have on brochures and business enterprise cards offered to supply out. But, don’t leave it at that – confirm in frequently to do the job up a mutual operating romantic relationship. You’ll be capable to also acquire firm by bringing a couple of snazzy hors d’oeuvres or tasty desserts to produce as goodwill gestures. This really is really a fantastic solution to create particular that you are remembered fondly and may well properly even end result in vendors referring you to their clientele. It’s achievable to send a product sales letter and brochure to organization offices along with other kinds of enterprises to acquire prospective clients then, comply with it up getting a phone call. You will be able to also request an appointment to discuss your experience.

Other than a commercial kitchen, the only things you need to get started are a phone and a delivery vehicle. A computer and printer are always nice but not a necessity for starters. You can get around the kitchen problem by arranging to use a restaurant’s facility for a small fee in its off-hours or by sharing the rental costs of a commercial kitchen and its use with other caterers.

Like any company, your success with catering will most likely be immediately linked to the power of one’s preparing, as well as the execution of that strategy. You are required to realize precisely what your customer wants, and provides that in the way that displays upon the customer positively. Amazingly ample, only seventy percent from your restaurant enterprise is created up of meals, although using the rest goes to firm, group, and so forth. Actually this changes in the catering group. Thirty percent inside the catered organization business is meals even however the rest goes to delivery, transporting the meals, lining up rental gear, and juggling personnel. This actually is precisely exactly where your organizational abilities truly count. Prioritizing duties and devoting your extremely finest perform to finishing each job successfully is what it’s going to take to recognize accomplishment in this business. Enthusiasm, discipline, and intelligent option generating are also essential elements to making your venture do effectively. Consistently maintain the clientele would like your priority. Treat them with endurance and understanding in any respect events. They should comprehend that you simply have what it normally requires making the greatest out of any situation.

How Much Should You Spend on Your Yellow Page Advertising Budget?

When it comes time set up a budget for your advertising, I have a simple rule of thumb: whatever it takes.

Okay, maybe I’m being a bit flippant, but after three decades in advertising that’s almost the best I can do. I could give you the standard answer that most marketing textbooks offer. An average business should allocate about between two to five percent of your gross revenue. A startup or new business might have to do double that the first year or two. Let me amend those figures and walk you through a few companies that don’t meet these numbers.

During the heyday of AT & T, they only spent about one percent of their income on advertising. But, in the sixties and seventies, they were making a billion and a half dollars annually. So their advertising budget was $150,000,000 a year. That’s still a staggering amount. I read somewhere that many major companies spend about twenty percent of their anticipated gross, during a campaign to introduce a new product into the marketplace. Here are some other industries and their allotted percentages as expressed in very general terms according to some current advertising journals’ statistics:

Auto Manufacturers: Up to 1%, Retail Stores: 2% to 3%, Service Businesses: 3% to 5%, New Business Startup: 5% to 7%, Fast Moving Consumer Products: 8% to 10%, Pharmaceutical or Cosmetic Companies: 20% and up.

But suppose you’re not Revlon Cosmetics and, instead, your business is cleaning carpets: so where do you fit in? It depends. It’s all about the mystical, magical ROI, once again. If you’re the new guy in town, odds are you will need to do the most advertising to establish your name and identity among the other carpet cleaners. Unfortunately, it means the outlay of sizeable marketing dollars to compete with existing ads. They, after all, have already earned their place by their longevity. You have to break into the heading with a large ad to draw customers that ordinarily would migrate to the older competitors.

And it probably couldn’t have come at a worse time for you. You’ve just invested in trucks, equipment, perhaps an office and that overhead, employees, insurance, signage, accounting and licensing fees. It’s outflow without any inflow. Yet now you are expected to cough up even more money for a marketing campaign. It’s just about this time that many new businesses say they’re tapped out and opt to bypass the Yellow Pages. It’s just too darned expensive, they moan. But, a smart businessperson would have allowed for this expensive in the original business plan. You do have a business plan, right? You don’t? Shame on you!

Assuming you have some basic strategy for your business, then you should have an advertising allotment. It’s as important as a sign on the front of the building or on the truck. It would include those items plus any direct mail, Yellow Pages and any other appropriate media. If you’re a retail business, try the two to five percent of anticipated gross sales. If you’re a service provider, go with four to ten percent. Then double that for the first year.

This is a general rule of thumb. There are so many factors that affect the outcome of a campaign, I hesitate to set down a firm number. What if you use a figure I mention for a year and have a miserable result? Did you over or under spend? How do you know? I will bet that most business failures are due to a lack of an, or under-funded, advertising program. I remember how many of my customers cut back their campaigns during recessionary times. This is exactly the reverse of how large corporations view a downturn in sales. They realize that they must increase their marketing in hard times. It may be counter- intuitive to a small business to spend more when profits are down, but it’s the same as playing the stock market.

When a stock is soaring, do you buy when it’s peaked or when it starts dropping? Most amateur investors will jump on the bandwagon of a climbing stock, thereby forfeiting almost any chance of a profit. The smart investor will buy the so-called, “bottom-feeders” because they are the best potential profit-makers and have the lowest cost factors. Again, the counter-intuitive approach works every time.When determining a budget, a change in mindset is in order. Rather than looking at advertising as an expense, consider it as an investment. Many businesses think of marketing as an overhead expense. That may be true of your insurance, rent, utilities, employees, accountant and legal fees, but advertising is the only service that can actually bring in customers. None of the other aforementioned items can make a sale. With the exception of a commissioned salesperson, the remainder of these overhead expenses are always outgoing only. So you have to reevaluate your advertising strategy viewing it in the proper light: an investment that helps provide cash-flow.

After many years of YP consulting, one thing stood out above all others. The idea that a business’s ad was a necessary evil which drained the company of profits and was quite over-priced. I never heard a customer remark how cheap his YP ad appeared to be and how happy he was to write that monthly directory check. Even when times were good and they knew the ad was getting them calls, the expense was painful. What would be even more painful would be to close a business due to a lack of sales.

I used to compare a YP ad to a business sign. Most retail stores recognized the need for letting the public know that ABC Auto Sales was open for business and spent huge amounts on massive signs around the property. But, when it came to their YP program, their invariably asked what the smallest ad would cost. I would say that perhaps they might consider reducing their signage to a tiny, one by one foot size. Of course, that would cause them to become indignant. The whole idea was laughable to them and why should they even consider such a stupid suggestion? The poor owners didn’t make the obvious connection.

So they would budget for a neon-illuminated monstrosity that would put a Vegas casino to shame and yet have a pittance remaining for the directory. When I explained how few people drove around town looking for the Auto Sales sign, they would justify the investment by saying how many customers came in because they said they saw the sign. I was happy for them but pointed out that placing a sign in front of every person actually seeking out a business would be an even better investment. Where could they do that, they wondered. Hmm. How about under the heading of “Automobiles-Dealers” in the Yellow Pages? Sure, they would have to forgo the flashing lights, but think of all the electricity they could save.

My long-winded treatise is to convey one hypothesis: have a plan. Cover all the essential areas of the business. Even if you decide that the directory is not your ideal form of promotion, make sure that your advertising program is well funded and part of the overall business scheme. Also, have a multi-year strategy that allows for future growth and marketing, unless you have figured you’ll be closing within the first year or so. In that case, save your money and go on a nice vacation instead. After all, a company that “fails to plan, plans to fail,” or so it’s been said.

Free help by SBA for Small Business Loans

Why should anyone be interested in helping you for free?

The government benefits if it gives small business start up loans and that is why it helps.

o Statistics show that small businesses number more than the big businesses.

o Small businesses employ more than 50 percent of the work force.

o Small businesses contribute to more than 50 percent of the nation’s GDP-Gross Domestic Product.

o Small businesses are the principal source of new jobs.

Starting a small business or expanding your small business is not easy. Expert guidance and help is given to you for free by SBA. The US Small Business Administration was established in 1953 and has business offices in every state. SBA works with thousands of lending, educational and training institutions nationwide. It does not provide grants but offers counseling. Government small business loans are offered to many entrepreneurs. Look up the web sites of the state economic development agencies to know if it is available in your state.

SBA is only a guarantor of loans offered by banks and other private financial institutions. The lending institutions that agree to terms of the SBA provide loans to small businesses through SBA. In case of inability of repayment of loan within the stipulated time; the SBA pays the lender the agreed upon guarantee amount, and the borrower has to pay the SBA the entire amount.

Can the SBA help you?

Small business is one that is independently owned and operated and is not dominant in its field of operation. SBA has regulations to determine whether your business qualifies as a small business. You could look up the SBA website or federal government regulations to find out if your small business startup loan or small business loan for expansion qualifies. Your business has qualified then the next question that any lender would ask you, is: Do you have a business plan?

Most lenders would require a detailed description of the business you are going to start up or expand. Look up the SBA site http://www.sba.gov/starting_business/index.html for planning options and counseling. The many things that SBA helps you is

o Writing a business plan

o Getting the loan

o Marketing

o Licenses and Laws

o Patents and copyrights

o Selling to government and abroad

o Hiring employees

o Buying the right equipment.

Notable among it various programs are Small business loans for minorities, Small business loans for Women, Small business loans for veterans and young entrepreneurs. The various small business loan programs offered by SBA are.

Basic 7(a) Loan Guaranty

This is the primary business loan program. It is offered to those who do not qualify for loans through the normal lending channels. The terms offered by SBA are more flexible. Valid loans are those where the proceeds of the loan are used for sound business purposes. The maturity is 10 to 25 years depending upon working capital and fixed assets. http://www.sba.gov/financing/sbaloan/7a.htm

Loan Prequalification

Low income borrowers, disabled business owners, exporters, rural and specialized industries are the target for this program. Bad credit small business loans do not fall in this category. The applicant has a credit merit then it is easier to secure the loan. http://www.sba.gov/financing/sbaloan/prequalification.htm

Certified Development Company (CDC), a 504 Loan Program

This is a variant of the Basic 7(a) loan to obtain real estate or equipment for expansion or modernization. http://www.sba.gov/financing/sbaloan/cdc504.htm

Micro Loan, a 7(m) Loan Program

This is available in selected locations in most states. The SBA stand as guarantor to organizations that provided the loans, technical assistance and management for small scale financing. Not-for-profit child-care centers can also avail these loans for working capital or purchase of inventory or supplies. http://www.sba.gov/financing/sbaloan/microloans.htm

Disaster Recovery

Home owners, Property owners in disaster areas qualify for this loan program. Term of the loan is 30 year and the rate of interest is below 8 percent for those who can obtain credit elsewhere and below 4 percent for those who cannot obtain credit elsewhere. http://www.sba.gov/disaster_recov/loaninfo/property.html

Best Business Loan Options Guide: Learn About Several Funding Options for Businesses and Pros & Cons

Considering that there are so many funding options for businesses – including start-ups – these days, you really don’t have to settle with trying to get a bank loan in the traditional way. However, since every business is unique, the best business loan options for you might not be the same as those for your competitors or other businesses in your industry. It depends on your needs, goals, size of business, specific requirements, what kind of business you’re running, credit rating, location, your risk level, and so forth.

One type of financial option to look into is a term loan. This is a common form of financing with which you get a lump sum of money upfront, which you will be required to pay back with interest over a predetermined period. You don’t have to apply through a traditional bank, as there are plenty of small to medium sized online lenders in the 21st century. A great thing about this option is that if you qualify, you’ll get the cash upfront to invest in your business. The downside is you will likely have to put up collateral, and if you are a new business and lack a good credit rating, the interest rate will likely be higher.

SBA loans have always been popular with smaller companies, as they offer some of the lowest rates and long repayment terms. The repayment period depends on how exactly you plan to use the money. If it’s for real estate purchases, you’ll have a longer period of time to pay the loan back. If you need money as soon as possible, then you probably won’t consider SBA to be the best business loan options, since the application process can be long and rigorous and there is no guarantee your application will even be approved.

Don’t forget about lines of credit for business purposes. A business credit card can come with some great rewards as long as you make payments on time. They are usually unsecured as well so you won’t have to put collateral up. Of course, you’ll need to already have a good credit score in order to qualify for good terms. Otherwise, you might end up with additional costs such as draw fees and maintenance fees.

What Are the Best Business Loan Options to Consider

A few other business funding options to consider include:

• Angel investors

• Crowd-funding

• Factoring

• Purchase order funding

• Equipment loans

• Venture capital

Take the time to research everything and consider which options you’ll want to try. Make sure you have all of your financial statements and documents organize and ready to go, as well as a detailed business plan showing what you plan to do with the funds you receive.

You’ll find some of the best business loan options for just about any type of business in all industries with US Business Funding. This organization has helped thousands of businesses nationwide get the funding they need in a fast amount of time.

The Top Ten Ways To Grow Your Business

Following startup, many small businesses are so concentrated on daily business operations that they do not, or cannot, take the time to actively focus on business growth. While others are focused on growth but do not have a strategic plan to achieve it. The Top Ten Ways to Grow Your Business is provided to help your small business enterprise attain growth beyond startup on a continuous basis, and is based on my experience working with small businesses from startups to expansion.

Know Your Market Opportunity – When I work with small business executives and entrepreneurs, one of my first questions, if not the first, is-“Do you really know your market opportunity”, or more succinctly, “Do you know your strategic market opportunity?” And then, “How well do you know your strategic market opportunity?” These are your common how, where and what questions that a small business owner or entrepreneur must ask. For instance, how do you see your market?, where is your market”, and what is your market? Business growth is extricably linked with and to market opportunity, and how well you capture it. In my experience business growth is a function of envisioning your strategic market opportunity, planning how to acquire it, executing your plan, and then working your plan to attain it.

Know Your Customer – Your customer is the primary focus of your business enterprise. Identifying who your customer actually is, followed by knowing your customer needs, is essential in meeting growth objectives. Staying connected with your customers via email, web site, face-to-face conversations, and special customer appreciation programs, such as offering a monthly customer discount, strengthens your customer base and lets you know who your customer is. Think of it this way; a customer-centric organization gains a competitive advantage over competition, which typically results in a bigger share of the market.

Cultivate and Maximize Your Brand – Brand recognition has become critically vital to small business growth as much as knowing your market, customer development, product and service credibility, growth strategy, pricing, cash flow, and having the right executive team in place. Your brand is the ‘face’ of your small business enterprise and how well recognized it is well directly impact your business growth. Cultivating and maximizing brand recognition is crucial to your business success. The new marketing media approaches include social networking venues such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, YouTube, etc, which need to be exploited. Global companies have realized the enormous marketing opportunity these venues provide and have established social networking as a primary business function. The small business enterprise can likewise take advantage of this expanded, nearly free, marketing approach to reach customers and increase brand recognition. Cultivating and maximizing your brand distinguishes you from competition and allows your customers to link your business with your brand.

Develop Your Growth Strategy – Developing a growth strategy is a best-management process which involves determining long-term growth objectives and developing a specific action plan for attaining these objectives. The process involves an assessment of your market environment from the perspective of having the relevant market experience after startup; performing a SWOT analysis; selecting a set of alternative growth strategies based on changing market conditions, and then implementing your strategy. Note that this is in reference to the ‘envision, plan, execute and attain’ model I mentioned previously. The strategic growth plan is developed from the viewpoint of your small business corporate entity, where the focus is on the accomplishment of your strategic business objectives based on four critical questions: Who are we? What do we do? Where do we want to go? How do we get there? The answers to these questions will give you the information necessary to create your strategic objectives for your growth strategy.

Get The Right People On The Bus – This is one of my favorite discussion points, concerning leadership and relates to the strength, character and capability of your executive team. Here we use ‘bus’ to refer to the small business enterprise or organization and comes from Jim Collins’ book, ‘Good To Great”, where he quotes Ken Kesey’s reference to a bus as being the company, organization or firm. Collins found”…if we get the right people on the bus [in the company], the right people in the right seats [in the right executive roles], and the wrong people off the bus, then we’ll figure out how to take it somewhere great [to attain the founder’s vision]…” As a small business owner, it is incumbent upon you to ensure you have the right executive team in place that will take your vision of where you want your company to go, and achieve it. Business growth at all levels is largely achieved with the right people on the corporate ‘bus’, driving it to success.

Listen To The Experts-Hire a Business Advisor, Coach – According to The National Federation of Independent Business [NFIB] Education Foundation, over the lifetime of any small business, 30 percent will lose money, 30 percent will break even, and just fewer than 40 percent will be profitable. The Small Business Administration [SBA] reports that 50 percent of all small business fail after their first year, 33 percent fail after two years, and nearly 60 percent fail after four years. A Business Coach and Advisor will work with you to help avoid becoming an SBA or NFIB statistic, help you to maintain focus on driving your business forward, work with you to develop and refine your objectives, help you to develop critical business growth strategies; and provide an honest assessment of where your business is in its life cycle.

Follow Your SOLE – It has been my experience that the small business executive responsible for business growth almost always follows and prescribes to a framework that embodies the envision, plan, execute and plan strategy in achieving business growth. Often this resembles what I have developed for my clients as the SOLE Framework. The SOLE Framework provides the context for accomplishing business growth optimization where you: Solve a critical market problem or need; Optimize growth by meeting customer needs in solving a problem, Leverage your principle business core competency, and Establish a competitive baseline to achieve business growth.

Be A Hedge Hog – The Hedge Hog Concept was developed by Isaiah Berlin in his “The Hedge Hog and the Fox” Study which divided management, leadership and professional positions into two clusters: hedge hogs and foxes, based on Greek mythology, where the fox knows many things, however the hedge hog knows one big thing. The fox is a sleek, cunning, fleetly, crafty and beautiful animal. On the other hand, the hedge hog is a dowdier creature, more like a cross between a porcupine and a small armadillo who when faced with danger rolls up into a very prickly ball and spends his days looking for food. However, Berlin points out that this otherwise simple creature is certainly not stupid, or simpletons; they have a piercing insight that allows them to see through complexity and discern underlying patterns of behavior. The hedge hog sees what is essential, critical, and important, and ignores everything else. To be a Hedge Hog, the small business executive must see only what is essential and focus on it, exploiting the essential in a positive, productive manner and concentrate on three key dimensions: what you can be the best in the world at; what you are most passionate about; and what drives your economic engine.

Establish a Competitive Culture – A competitive culture concerns how your organization is structured for market competitiveness. In fact, corporate culture is a competitive advantage for a small business focused on growth by following a rather simplistic approach, based on organizational shared values, direction, mission and belief that the primary focus of a small business is to first meet customer needs, followed by employee empowerment to meet those needs, then community involvement, using common business sense approaches towards conservation, and then attention to investor interests. This hierarchical organization places the most important focus on meeting customer needs, followed by empowering employees to meet those needs creating a company structure that is positioned to be highly competitive.

Optimize Business Growth – What is Business Growth Optimization? I think a good way to initially answer this question, is to draw an analogy to a perfectly timed automobile engine running on all cylinders, smoothly, fully optimizing its capability to produce maximum power. Similarly, the small business growth company that is fully optimizing its core business competencies is structured to maximize competitive advantages and has a strategic business growth framework; running smoothly on all cylinders if it were, is attaining Business Growth Optimization. In my experience, attaining Business Growth Optimization is a three-tier process involving the SOLE Framework, achieved through the establishment of the Hedge Hog Model and implementation of the Cultural Competitiveness Organization structure.

Restaurant Success Factors – Questions to Ask Yourself Before Opening a Restaurant

When it comes to starting a restaurant, many entrepreneurs jump in and risk their time and startup capital without giving the idea proper consideration. Like other business models, restaurants have a high failure rate and owners quickly realize that being in the restaurant trade is not as glamorous or enjoyable as they first imagined.

That said though, for the right type of people who have done the right preparation, restaurants offer some excellent business opportunities. Many end up thriving and enjoying the lifestyle that goes with owning a business in this industry.

Before deciding to take the plunge and open a restaurant take some time to consider the following restaurant success factors. These are set out as a series of questions to ask yourself to see if you have what it takes to open and manage a restaurant business.

1) Do you Need Experience and Qualifications?

It is still possible for someone with no formal training or experience to open a restaurant and succeed. However, you will increase your chances of success dramatically if you have had some kind of formal training, experience or both. There are numerous culinary schools throughout the United States offering a variety of courses of various durations.

If you are able to get some experience working in a restaurant then this is also a great way to learn about how things are done and to get ideas for running your own business. Start off doing one role and persuade the owner to let you work a variety of roles so that you can understand the whole operation.

2) Do you have General Business Management Skills?

Having good money management skills will be useful when it comes to handling cash and budgeting for expenses. While not absolutely necessary, restaurant owners that understand all the cash flows coming into and flowing out of their business are more likely to feel in control and turn a profit. Doing a course in small business administration or bookkeeping would be extremely useful if you don’t possess these skills already.

3) Do you have Creative Talent?

While you can rely on the creative talents of others, such as chefs and interior decorators it will be helpful if you are a creative person. You can then have considerable input into creating a unique and workable restaurant concept, menu design and dining room decoration among other things.

4) Can you Face Long Working Hours?

Running a restaurant business will require you to spend a good deal of time away from your family if you have one. When your children are home from school in the afternoons and evenings it is likely that you will be working as most restaurant business models follow these hours (unless you focus on breakfasts and lunches). Weekends are the busiest days of the week for most restaurants so it is likely that you won’t see your family much on Saturday and Sunday as well.

5) Do you have Full Support from your Family?

Clearly you have to have the support of your spouse, at least in the early days until you are able to step back and have managers run your operation in a way that allows you to have some time off. And if you will be working with your spouse then you must make sure that your relationship is strong before going into business together.

6) Do you have enough Startup Capital?

You will need to make sure that you have access to the funds required to get your business up and running as well as to cover operating costs in the early stages. You will also require funds for your personal living costs over the first few months of your businesses life while you are getting established and revenues are still low. Unexpected expenses will undoubtedly arise as well so make sure that you don’t get caught short.

7) Are you a People Person?

As a restaurant owner or manager you will have to relate well and communicate effectively with all kinds of people.

With your staff you will have to show strong leadership skills and communicate clearly to them in order to maximize productivity and maintain good relations with them.

Restaurant owners that have strong personalities and get to know many of their guests often become the face of the brand. Sometimes the owner even ends up being part of the attraction that draws customers to dine at specific restaurants. As a restaurant owner you should be prepared to get out on the dining floor and mingle with your patrons whenever possible. Be sure to do it in a way that doesn’t interrupt their dining experience.

With your suppliers, city officials, inspectors and other parties you will also have to have the ability to communicate with them in a way that allows you to get what you want and to build strong relationships.

8) Are you Hard-Working and Organized?

As a self-employed restaurant owner you must be motivated and disciplined if you are to get everything done and achieve your goals. Being organized is the key to managing your time and the time of your employees effectively.

9) Can you Keep Cool in a Crisis?

In the day to day running of your restaurant you will encounter lots of small and large problems, especially in the early days. To keep things running smoothly you must be able to take control in a crisis situation, calm your employees and offer quick, practical solutions that avoid stressing everyone out. As the owner and manager you then have to work on eliminating problems so that they don’t occur again.

There are many assets, personality traits and other attributes that the ideal restaurant owner should have. To some extent these restaurant success factors can be acquired, learnt or developed before you open your doors for business.

While you should always keep financial rewards in mind when you start up in the restaurant trade it is also important to have other reasons for going into this business. If you have a love for people, food and hospitality then there is nothing that you can’t pick up along the way to turn yourself into the perfect restaurant manager.

Business Failure Rate – What is the Real Business Failure Rate and Why Businesses Fail

Ever wondered what the business failure rate is? Between 75% and 90% of all new businesses fail within the first 10 years. If we also take most dotcom startups into consideration, 9 out of 10 new businesses won’t make it to their third year. The actual figures vary according to the source, but it looks like the overwhelming majority of startups end up failing.

In my opinion, in most cases startups don’t fail, they just run out of money. Let me explain.

When they start a business, the first thing that most people do is write a business plan explaining how you are going to promote your business, how you are going to find your customers, and what you are going to offer them. You come up with sales projections and make a lot of assumptions.

If your startup capital is $20,000, maybe you will spend $10,000 to launch the business and promote it. But here is the problem. When you start a new business, no matter how much you think you know about it; you have no clue. Most businesses have to change their business models at least five times during their first year.

Maybe you thought that your target market was stay-at-home moms but they are not buying your products; high school girls are! What are you going to do about it? Are you going to start thinking what is it that you are doing wrong and how to get stay-at-home moms to start buying your stuff? Or you are going to understand that the market defines your business, not the other way around, and change your business model to start selling to high school girls?

Flexibility and observation are two of the most important qualities an entrepreneur should have.

What happened with your target market will happen with almost every aspect of your business. The promotion methods that you thought were going to work actually don’t, you need more employees, and your expenses are higher than you anticipated.

Socrates lived a long time ago, but something he said still applies: “all I know is that I know nothing”. Planning is very important. Making assumptions and forecasts are vital. But don’t think for a second that you are going to get it 100% right, especially if this is your first business.

I said earlier that the main reason why businesses fail is because they run out of money. And they run out of money because they expect everything to work as planned and when it doesn’t they have very few resources left to keep the company alive.

I believe that 90% of the companies would become successful if they could make it through the stage when they are trying to figure out their business model. It is just a matter of surviving until you can learn what works for your business and what doesn’t.

Be humble, you don’t have all the answers. The market is going to teach you what works and you have to keep your eyes open and learn. Instead of investing all your marketing money at once in huge newspaper ads targeted to stay -at-home moms, use that money to test 10 different promotion methods and two or three different target markets. Learn from the experiment. Now you have a much better idea of what you need to do more of and what you need to stop doing.

They say that entrepreneurs have to love risk. That’s not true. You have to minimize risk as much as you possibly can. Isn’t testing, learning, and putting your money where it is proven to work a lot smarter than guessing what’s going to work for you and betting all your funds on it?

Remember, one of two things will happen to your business: you can run out of money before succeeding or you can succeed before running out of money. Take care of every dollar as if it was your own life. Test a lot before putting all your eggs in your basket. You will eventually figure out the perfect business model. Just make sure your money lasts long enough.

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