Management & Leadership Bloggers

Practical Read ...

I agree 100 percent. A business should be more for your own business uses and goals than any outside parties or investors. Writing a business plan forces you to constantly make plans. After all, like they say, those that fail to plan, plan to fail!

Claimshelpline.com ...

The Workers' Compensation Program processes claims and monitors the payment of benefits to injured private-sector employees in the District of Columbia. The office mediates disputes between claimants and employers (or their insurance carriers), and monitors employers to ensure compliance with insurance coverage requirements. Small-business owners are plagued by rising workers' compensation costs and don't expect any relief from state reform efforts, according to a Nation's Business readers' poll. Since the mid-1980s, costs have been driven up mainly by litigation and new types of compensable injuries. Visit http://www.claimshelpline.com/ for more information.

No class ...

Susan,
Some people just have no class.

Blackberry or not.

The Franchise King
Joel Libava ...

Interesting Article ...

I have personally always believed in hiring people not a resume. It seems in today's world, so many people list previous employers that are no longer in business and it is hard to get a true sense of the potential employee and the background that they have.
I also find it interesting that everyone wants to be successful in the workplace, yet most of them expect it to be handed to them or advancement right away. Call me old fashioned but I like people that want to work hard for what they earn.
These issues make for training a bit more difficult. It seems that people take training as a "Do I really want this job" opportunity. I find that those that really listen will succeed with my company.
During my training sessions, I have picked up on people that seem to not care and have gotten rid of them fairly quickly. One instance i was training a group of 4. Two of the three were "active" in training and taking as many notes as possible. One was more worried about when our breaks were and the other sat there offering advice while taking no notes whatsoever....
I have found your article to provide some insight to things that I might take a closer look at.

Thanks,
Charles Prince
VP Sales and Marketing,
Instinct Marketing ...

Cut All Start Up Costs ...

As a business writer, the successful entrepreneurs that I have interviewed over the years have told me that when it comes to business start up costs, Murphy's Law applies. Now the original Murphy is supposed to have stated that "anything that can go wrong will go wrong and at the worst possible time." The business start up corollary to that is "any start up will cost more than anticipated and take longer to generate revenue than planned."

The long and the short of it is to carefully work up a budget and include all possible costs associated with the start up and your anticipated time to generate adequate revenue to cover expenses. Then add a 50% premium to both numbers.
Can you live with that? Can you survive?

You may get very lucky and begin generating big bucks on Day One but you probably won't.

One contractor we know maintains a reserve large enough to keep his business running for two and a half years. That's from a long experienced business person with 40 years in the business.

The bottom line is that when you figure out all of your expenses, find areas where you can substantially cut costs. Do you need to sign the expensive office lease right now and hire a secretary? Could you instead work out of your home and contract with a business center for a virtual office that will supply you with secretarial help and real offices as you need them. That also saves investing in expensive furniture and office equipment.
There are numerous ways to cut coss and cut them you should even after the business is thriving.

Ron D

http://www.start-a-business-faq.com

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