Category: Uncategorized

Hiring Garcia Financial is a great way to prevent mistakes in your income tax return. Lear how we can help.

Continue reading

Once you have secured funding for your startup, either by the means of bootstrapping, angel investors or venture capital investors, you will need to make smart decisions to get the most traction for your company’s money.

Lessons To Learn About Allocation Of Resources from Pets.com

If you were watching Superbowl XXXIV in 2000, you probably remember the final play, Mike Jones’ legendary tackle to Kevin Tyson, just a yard from the goal line. By a long shot, you might also remember the nameless Pets.com sock puppet, who made his television debut during the company’s Superbowl commercial.

The notorious sock puppet garnered a cult-like following, and went on to appear on Regis and Kathy Lee. He even had a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Float in his honor later in the year.

Poor allocation of resources killed Pets.com in just 2 years, ending the short-lived fame of the sock puppet mascot as well. It was not as though the pet supply company didn’t have a large pool of financial resources – it burned through a total of $300 million in investment capital.

An oversized advertising budget, paired with unsustainable discounts and free shipping promotions for customers and a lack of sufficient revenue brought Pets.com to a quick end.

So, lesson learned: it does not always matter how much money your business acquires in funding. The way the money is spent is much more critical to its success.

How To Allocate Resources For A Healthy Startup

Whether you are starting with a $100,000 from investors or $100 from your aunt Margaret’s lipstick-stamped birthday card, the fundamentals of startup resource allocation are the same.

• Identify core objectives. Go over your strategic plan, making alterations if your priorities have changed.
• Invest in market research. Set aside some cash to stay up-to-date on what your target audience really wants.
• Plan operations and projects. Use your operational plan to set budgets for upcoming projects and ventures.
• Create department budgets. A generous sales budget is essential to helping your business grow, especially in the early stages.
• Don’t splurge on your product. Keep your costs of production as low as possible without sacrificing the quality of your product. Don’t worry about fancy packaging or waterproof business cards.
• Plan for a rainy day. If you fall behind revenue goals or need to change your plans, you will need to have room for flexibility.
• Hire slowly. Talent doesn’t come cheaply, but fast hiring could burn out your funds more quickly than expected, especially if it takes more working hours than anticipated to get your business running.
• Be flexible. As soon as you realize a project or investment, or even a client is not working out, scrap it. Don’t worry about sunk costs, because these timewasters can cost much more in wasted energy and money if you let them drag on.

Make sure to account for three kinds of business costs: fixed costs, such as wages and space rental, variable costs, such as raw materials, and one-time costs such as computers and equipment. You can integrate your budget into your operational plan for simplicity. Refer to it often to measure your business’ performance and evaluate your progress throughout the year.

As an entrepreneur, you are working every day to manage and grow your business.  The day-to-day operations of your business can be overwhelming, making it possible for you to lose sight of your long-term business goals. This where strategic planning comes in. Strategic business planning maps out your goals for the next couple of years.

While your marketing plan (hyperlink to Marketing Plan) will largely detail your short- to mid-term goals in the next 12 months, your strategic planning is all about everything beyond that. Do you plan to sell your business at a healthy profit in the future? Do you hope to sell your product worldwide? Your strategic business plan will help you answer these questions so they will not be forgotten amid your day-to-day responsibilities.

Why Entrepreneurs Need Strategic Planning

If you are already swamped with fulfilling orders, creating marketing campaigns and managing employees, you might feel as though you do not have time for long-term planning. However, you need to have more than a loose idea of your long-term goals to help you make decisions in your everyday operations.

While you might not buy into the whole “The Secret” and “The Law Of Attraction” hocus-pocus, having a clear vision of the future of your business really does make it more likely for you to succeed. When you have ideas about building a highly profitable business, you will have the anticipation of success to keep you going, even when the going gets rough. An even more tangible benefit is the fact that you will have these objectives in mind when solving problems during daily operations. You’ll be more likely to find solutions that work in the long-term, rather than quick fixes for immediate problems.

Your Strategic Planning Mission Statement

Begin a strategic plan with a vision statement, or mission statement. This is where you will briefly describe how you expect your business to grow in the next couple of years. You can choose the timeframe; three to five years is optimal. Aim high, and remember, you are the founder and main visionary of your business. When you’re putting all of your blood, sweat and tears into your business, it’s not unusual to start feeling more like an employee than a boss.

Creating A SWOT Analysis

A SWOT analysis help build your strategic business plan. What is a SWOT analysis? Well, SWOT stands for “Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.”

Strengths. What are your businesses’ strengths in relation to the goals outlined in your mission statement? Your unique product features and up-to-date equipment technologies are strengths that will help you become an industry leader.

Weaknesses. Do you have high overhead costs? Maybe your competitors offer a wider selection of services. Fill out your “weaknesses” section with honesty and completeness. Recognizing your business’ real weaknesses, instead of only focusing on your strengths, will allow you to think critically to overcome them.

Opportunities. Are you releasing a new, premium product? Do you know of a fast-growing market in another country? Go over any opportunities you’re planning to take advantage of in the next few years.

Threats. What could be threatening to your profits and the future of your business? Maybe you only have one supplier, making your business vulnerable to their rising prices or changes in operations.

If you have employees or business partners, make sure to hold a brainstorming session and get them involved in your strategic planning process. Now is the time to bring up new ideas and opportunities, as well as create a realistic understanding of upcoming challenges to overcome.

Starting an online business is very appealing to entrepreneurs. You can start reaching out to customers in just hours with no financial investment – as well you should. Even if you plan to serve local customers, creating a website will help you get the word out and put your business on the map.

Entrepreneur Online Business Ideas To Get You Started

The internet has opened countless doors for making money. But, as an entrepreneur, it’s important that you look for more than just ways to make money. Aim to birth a business that will hire employees, become a leader in its industry and persevere and adapt, even in hard economic times.

Here are some ideas:

• Monetized blogging
• Online storefront/E-commerce
• Information products or consulting
• Life coaching
• A dating site or app for a specific group of people
• Web design agency
• Software development agency
• Resume writing service
• Current events website

Creating A New Website For Your Startup

If you’re even slightly tech-savvy, you can create your website without any hired help. All it takes is a domain name, a host and some content. As your business evolves, you’ll want to have a professional logo and theme designed to ensure you create a great first impression. But for now, let’s start with the basics.

Your domain name should be simple and easy to remember. You’ll have many options to choose from for a top-level domain (TLD), or the .com, .net, .org or .gov portion of your domain name. Choose .com as often as possible. It’s easiest for your customers to recognize and remember.

Choose the best web-hosting plan you can afford. Look for services that offer security and data backups. A poor choice in web-hosting can mean downtime and spammy Viagra links popping up all over your front page.

If you do not know how to design a website, the easiest way to start adding content is to install WordPress. From there, you can choose a theme and begin writing content right away. WordPress is not just for blogs; you can create a static page website, or even use a plugin for e-commerce capabilities so your customers can shop.

Using Social Media To Promote Your Business

Social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are all good ways to access millions of consumers and broadcast your brand and foster personal relationships with your customers.  LinkedIn and Google Plus can help you connect with business owners and professionals. Social media is a great source of traffic and “shares” that link to your website help you gain exposure.

With that said, setting up and maintaining these profiles takes a lot of time away from running your business, especially if you’re working towards better time management. If possible, hire a professional social media manager to look after your profiles. Or, you can use Hootsuite to coordinate your postings so you won’t need to update statuses automatically at all times of day.

Getting Paid Online

Because you can’t simply have your online customers hand you a wad of cash, and mailing a check takes too long, you’ll need to become familiar with payment options on the internet.

PayPal is the most prominent name in online payment processing. Many consumers prefer it because it does not require them to dig their wallet out of their purse and scrounge up a credit card, copy the numbers, and so on. Instead, users just log-in to Paypal and pay you with just a few clicks.

The downsides? Just Google “PayPal horror stories.” Or don’t, if you want to get any sleep tonight. The site has a reputation of locking users out of their accounts with no explanation, often with tens of thousands of dollars in their account balance. Even so, you should be safe if you withdraw funds to your bank account regularly. It’s worth checking out alternative payment methods such as Amazon Webpay, Dwolla and Paydivvy.

Starting a business online is a powerful venture for entrepreneurs of all ages and funding levels. It’s the easiest way to find out if your idea is really profitable. While making contacts and selling to customers face-to-face is invaluable, introducing yourself online will put your foot in the door to making those connections and learning about your market. 

If you need help with your business taxes for your online business, contact us for a free quote.

A service-based business is just what it sounds like – a business that makes most of its revenue from the sales of services, rather than products. Some examples of services include nail salons, dog groomers, landscapers and consultants. A majority of existing businesses are service-based, rather than product-based, and with the ease of providing services via the internet, this gap is steadily widening.

Advantages Of Starting A Service-Based Business

Starting a company that sells services is relatively affordable. If you plan on funding your business on a modest or non-existing budget, particularly if you’re bootstrapping, you will not need to worry about the extra costs that come with product-based businesses. These costs include rent, manufacturing equipment, product stock, storage, shipping and packaging. Physical products are also vulnerable to inventory shrinkage; they can be stolen, defected or damaged during shipping.

Service-based businesses can be launched extraordinarily quickly. The moment you connect with your first client, you can begin generating income. There is no need to find suppliers, hire product designers, or even apply for a business loan. Most service businesses can, in theory, start up tomorrow. While it’s essential that you research your market and create a tentative business plan before making any major investments in time or money, your best source of knowledge is experience. If you’re ready to start finding your first clients, go for it.

Many services make a majority of their revenue with a small number of repeat clients. When your service proves to be well-trusted, your clients will come back every time they need their hair trimmed, their computer maintained or their packages delivered. Product-based businesses definitely have repeat customers as well (when was the last time you switched shampoos?), so aim for developing customer loyalty regardless of your industry.

Disadvantages Of Starting A Service-Based Business

The barrier to entry for starting most service businesses is especially low, meaning almost anyone has a chance at succeeding. While this is a potential advantage, it also means you will have more competition. The markets for services tend to be more saturated, and settled companies have long-standing clients who may not quickly give up their most trusted service providers to give you a chance unless you have a particularly attractive unique selling proposition.

While you stand to profit more at first with a service-based business, given that you have few costs, you might not have much room to grow. If you owned a landscaping company, for example, you can only bill clients for workable hours in which you are providing landscaping services. When you sell products, you can make money while you sleep. Additionally, you can make larger orders with your supplier to sell more products, but you cannot sell more services than you have time to provide. To combat this, you can hire employees and delegate tasks in order to serve more clients.

Ideas To Get You Started:

Business-To-Business

• Consulting
• Marketing
• Social media management
• Bookkeeping
• Package delivery
• Janitorial and maintenance
• Tech support
• Trade staffing agency

Business-To-Consumer

• Carpet cleaning or cleaning machine rentals
• Mobile dog grooming
• Childcare
• Clothing repair
• Home appliance maintenance
• Consignment
• Grocery delivery

You do not necessarily need to learn fresh skills or start studying for a new degree to sell a service. You can hire talented employees or contractors to fulfill orders, or even start an agency to unite clients with service providers. It is more critical for you to understand your market and develop a strong idea of what your clients want.

The flexibility of selling non-physical goods allows you to take more entrepreneurial risks and experiment without creating more costs. Use this to your advantage. When the basis of your business is giving your clients the reliability and quality they crave, there’s no stopping you from growing a truly profitable business.

If you need help with your business taxes for your service based business, contact us for a free quote.

A product-based business generates most of its revenue from the sales of physical or digital goods, either to other businesses or consumers. Some examples include bakeries, boutiques, florists, online shops, e-book sellers, smartphone app developers and department stores. Product businesses have a tendency to require a higher level of commitment and investment, but they also tend to pay off when they’re successful.

Advantages of Starting A Product-Based Business

Designing and manufacturing a product is an opportunity to sell something totally unique – an innovation.  You’ll need to patent, design, manufacture, and market your new idea, but if it takes off, you’ll be a sole source with no competitors. Designing a new product is more achievable than ever with crowdfunding. All you need is a sea of customers lined up and ready to buy. You won’t need to spend a penny on creating your product until you’re sure there’s a demand for it.

Selling a product also means you can scale more quickly. You won’t need to fulfill a service for each customer, or even know their names. You’ll never get more time in the day to work, but you can always make larger orders with your manufacturers as your customer base grows.  

Disadvantages of Starting A Product-Based Business

Cost and time to startup are drawbacks for entrepreneurs, especially if you are starting small. There are other challenges unique to product sellers. All of these hurdled can be conquered. They won’t necessarily stop you from becoming a success.

Many products, particularly those related to fashion, technology and children’s toys, rapidly go out of style. You’ll need to be on your toes if your niche comes with fast-changing trends. Otherwise, you’re bound to end up hoarding outdated stock that nobody wants. Women’s fashion is the worst for this, as you’ll need to buy seasonal stock months in advance. Unless you know what Jennifer Lawrence will be wearing next October, steer clear of women’s fashion.

Where To Get Products To Sell

If you’re starting a retail business, you’ll need an EIN number and resale certificate before beginning a relationship with a supplier. These documents allow you to purchase items for resale at wholesale prices, and most likely without tax. Only use suppliers that ask for copies of these documents, otherwise, they might sell to just anybody, meaning you won’t get exclusive products.

How Drop-shipping Works

Instead of purchasing or manufacturing products to ship to customers, you can choose to base your business on drop-shipping. This means you will take orders from customers and pass them on to your supplier, who will ship products directly to customers’ homes. You won’t have to store products or package and ship them yourself.

Very few manufacturers drop-ship, and even fewer do it reliably. You will also need to compete with other drop-shippers who sell identical products. For best results, avoid widely-known drop-shipping suppliers. Some manufacturers might be willing to drop-ship with you, even if they do not advertise that they do. You’ll need to look beyond the first page of Google results to find your ultimate supplier.

• Gourmet sauces and condiments
• Artisan soaps and candles
• E-books and digital downloads
• Pet supplies
• Spice garden kits
• Sewing project kits
• Subscription box services
• Solutions to everyday problems (e.g. the Snuggie, The SlapChop)
• Home-delivered, homemade food
• Weight loss products

Product-Based Business Ideas To Start With

Selling physical products can be complicated and costly, but that shouldn’t discourage you from building the business you really want. Make sure you have more than enough funding to take care of the complexities, the setbacks and yourself in the few years it will take to make a profit. Otherwise, start low and slow and find your market online before taking the plunge.

If you need help with your business taxes for your product based business, contact us for a free quote.

As of the last couple of years, subscription box services have been taking the internet by storm. You may have heard of booming businesses such as Barkbox, Dollar Shave Club, and Birchbox. This highly profitable online business model has a great potential for success. Customers absolutely love to have a package full of surprise goodies to look forward to each month – it’s like a monthly birthday present – so it’s an easy premise to sell.

Advantages of Starting A Subscription Box Company

There is the obvious advantage of selling subscription boxes; most of your customers will receive and pay for an order every month. It’s especially prone to creating repeat customers, so you will have to worry less about customer acquisition and retention than you would with other business types. You’ll still need to market your service, but every sign-up will be much more valuable and your revenue will be relatively predictable.

Disadvantages Of Starting A Subscription Box Company

Since your customers will expect new and exciting items every month, you’ll need to be especially savvy at connecting with vendors and finding innovative products to offer. You’ll always have to be on the lookout for the latest and greatest products in your niche, or your subscribers will get bored with your selections and cancel. In some situations, this won’t be the case. A subscription service that sells diapers to busy parents, for example, will deliver the same product each month, making supplying a no-brainer.

Some Subscription Box Business Ideas To Get You Started

• Cosmetics
• Snacks
• Coffee
• Socks
• Fitness supplements
• Children’s toys
• Pet supplies
• Romance kits
• Art supplies

How To Start A Subscription Box Website

If you’re not familiar with web design, or don’t have a huge budget for creating a highly functional e-commerce website, don’t worry. Platforms such as Subbly and Cratejoy make it easy. For a monthly fee, these platforms help you set up and maintain a website with all of the functionalities you’ll need to sign up and manage customers. You can begin collecting pre-orders for subscriptions before moving on if you’re not sure if your idea will flourish.

To make the monthly fee as inexpensive as possible, you’ll need to purchase products at wholesale prices from vendors. Look for small brands to partner up with that do not sell their products in major stores. Small vendors will often be happy to offer you a bulk discount and get their products into the hands of brand-new customers.

Your customers will be thrilled to receive interesting new products, rather than the same old items they can easily find at Wal-Mart. Opt for premium, high-end or gourmet, even if it means offering higher subscription fees.

The optimal way to price your service is to offer three levels: a basic, cheap option, a mid-level option, and a premium option. This allows you to serve a range of customers without overwhelming them with choices.

This subscription box fad does not seem to be going away anytime soon. It’s nothing new, either; fruit/cheese/wine-of-the-month clubs have always been popular, and now it’s easier than ever before to create a fun, recurring delivery service. If you love discovering new products or serving up convenience this could be the perfect entrepreneurial venture for you.

If you need help with your business taxes for your subscription box services, contact us for a free quote.

As an entrepreneur, you’ve made the bold choice to lead your own career. You’ll develop professionally and adapt and grow as you run your business. But you also need to make a point to learn as much as you can. The lifestyle of an entrepreneur demands constant professional development as you seek out new opportunities for growth, overcome challenges and chase trends in the ever-changing business world.

Why Entrepreneurs Need Side Projects

Your startup will need your constant attention in the beginning; you won’t have time for side projects. As it grows and becomes more successful, you will hopefully find that the work begins to plateau, and it’s easier to delegate responsibilities to your team.

Meanwhile, you’ll have enough time and energy to work on a something new. It doesn’t need to be highly profitable, and you don’t even need to lead. It can be as simple as publishing a own book or creating an online course. Side projects give you the opportunity to stretch creative muscles that you do not normally use in your startup. If your primary source of income should dry up, a profitable side project could take its place.

Going Back To School

An entrepreneur never stops learning. Taking classes is an excellent way to keep your skills up-to-date. Online courses are becoming increasingly more advanced and more useful for entrepreneurs. Many are run by accredited instructors who are always available to answer questions and clarify concepts. Look for online courses that allow you to network with other students and participate in group discussions and projects.

While it’s more time consuming, taking classes at your local community college is highly valuable. Many of the world’s greatest entrepreneurs meet their trusted business partners in college. If your college days have passed, you are still at liberty to take classes, network and benefit from the clubs and services available on campus.

The classes you select do not have to have anything to do with your industry. A painting class might be the perfect way to relax at the end of the week – and getting creative will help you think outside the box. There’s no need to take a difficult class for which you will not have time to study; you’re busy running your business, after all. Take a fun class and look forward to it all week while you’re working hard at your business.

Meeting New People For Professional Development

If you have not already, get to know your local Chamber of Commerce, and get involved with any business associations and industry groups in your area. You’ll meet more experienced entrepreneurs from whom you can learn, as well as fresh new talent to add to your team.

Wherever you go, be receptive to meeting new people, even if they may not have an obvious impact on your career. Sometimes, being around others in your industry and those with whom you work can give you tunnel vision. Meeting new people enriches your life in general, but it also exposes you to new perspectives – an asset for exploring undiscovered markets and understanding customers from all walks of life.

Skills become outdated, markets dry up, but a well-learned entrepreneur always adapts. Nurture your professional development, and you’ll always find ways to turn a profit.

Project management skills are absolutely essential for entrepreneurs. You will need to make deadlines to get your product on the market in a reasonable timeframe. You will also need to work on limited resources to create and distribute the best possible product.

What A Project Manager Does

Some entrepreneurs delegate startup project management to a trusted and experienced project manager. In the early stages of your startup, however, it is more than likely that you will be your organization’s primary project manager.

Timeliness, cost and quality are the three key areas of concern when managing a project. You will need to allocate resources and time efficiently for optimal results and on-time completion. You will also need to establish working relationships with everyone on your team and communicate every step of the way to ensure the project milestones are met.

The Steps Of Project Management

The process of managing a project for your startup can be broken down into seven steps.

1. Project selection. First and foremost, choose a project that is worth pursuing. Define a main goal and a tentative end date. Your project might be to design and launch a new product, to create an advertising campaign, or to market to a new audience. It should be specific; rather than “increase sales,” start a project to “increase international sales by 25 percent.”

• Break it down. Set mini-goals that lead up to completion. Goals should describe actions, such as “complete draft of print ad” and “distribute customer survey.” Create deadlines by which each mini-goal should be completed.

• Set a budget. Break down the overall project budget to correspond with mini-goals. Allow room for revision.

• Manage risk. Your project may cost more than expected, or a team member may suddenly drop out of the job. While you cannot predict all mishaps, having backup plans helps prevent delay.

• Delegate responsibilities. Choose a skilled project staff with which you have established working relationships. Discuss each role, and make sure your staff agrees that the deadlines are reasonable and achievable.

• Start the project. Request updates and check in with each department on a daily basis to ensure each milestone is reached on time.

• Complete and evaluate. As you wrap up the project, evaluate the results, as well as the total costs.

Helpful Tools For Project Managers

Assign one of your project staff members to be a scribe during your meetings. This person will take notes and submit a summary of the meeting to each member. A coordinated summary puts everyone on the same page.

Online project management apps are a godsend for startup projects, especially if some or all of your staff works remotely. There are numerous tools available for different operating systems. Choose one that creates a mutual workspace where team members can share files, updates and notes. This ensures nobody gets left out of an email correspondence or misses an update.

Communication failure is one of the biggest obstacles to working with a group. Your staff should be able to communicate problems to you as soon as they arise for swift resolution. A great project manager communicates well and sets clear guidelines that lead to optimal results.

It’s likely that you have heard of a mission statement. It may sound like a wishy-washy buzzword, but it’s actually a very purposeful way to begin your marketing plan and communicate your company’s founding values to customers, investors and employees. If you’re in the beginning stages of starting a business, or if you think your existing statement needs a makeover, read on for inspiration.

Your business’ slogan is a different element entirely. While your slogan should be catchy and memorable to customers, your mission statement is written on the behalf of your company, your employees and your brand. It will be between one and five sentences, and its style and focus is entirely up to you.

3 Examples Of Mission Statements from Fortune 500 Businesses

What could be a better way to drum up your new mission statement than by drawing inspiration from the greats? Use these examples to explore a few different types. There’s no one way to create a brilliant, substantive summary of your business’ objectives and philosophy. You can choose whichever way best represents your company’s persona.

1. The Walt Disney Company: “The mission of The Walt Disney Company is to be one of the world’s leading producers and providers of entertainment and information. Using our portfolio of brands to differentiate our content, services and consumer products, we seek to develop the most creative, innovative and profitable entertainment experiences and related products in the world.”

The Walt Disney Company uses two long sentences to describe its entertainment and production business. They have chosen to mention their use of innovation to lead the whole world in entertainment. While not as magical as everything else that comes from the world of Disney, it succinctly and accurately describes just what the company strives to achieve.

2. CVS Corporation: “We will be the easiest pharmacy retailer for customers to use.”

CVS Corporation uses just 11 words to convey a customer-centric philosophy. It is clear that CVS does not make a priority of being the cheapest or most widespread pharmacy retailer; just the one that gives customers the easiest and most convenient experience.

3. Dole Food Company: “Dole Food Company, Inc. is committed to supplying the consumer and our customers with the finest, high-quality products and to leading the industry in nutrition research and education. Dole supports these goals with a corporate philosophy of adhering to the highest ethical conduct in all its business dealings, treatment of its employees, and social and environmental policies.”

Dole Food Company’s mission statement, like Disney’s, is composed of two long sentences. However, many goals are detailed in these sentences: a high quality standard for their products, fair employee treatment, good ethics and concern for the environment.

Length does not denote quality or completeness. In fact, you might be surprised to find that it is more difficult to condense your business objectives into fewer words. Coming up with a page full of information on what your company is about will be easy. Abridging it to just one or two sentences will take much more thought.

An excellent mission statement serves as a reminder to yourself and your employees as to what your company strives towards. It will help guide your decisions that those of your managerial staff. You might decide to focus on your product’s affordability, your service’s high quality standards, your fair treatment and compensation of employees, or just what exactly it is about your business that makes it the best.