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Featured Tips for Small Business
Every month a new tip for small business is featured on our home page. On this page you can read this month's tip, as well as tips from previous months. Note: Most tips are from the reference books that can be found at your local AERN center.
Featured tip for September 2008
There are four different ways to organize your business: the sole proprietorship, the partnership, the corporation, and the limited liability company. The legal structure you choose will determine how much paperwork you will have to do, how much personal liability you will incur, how you will be able to raise money, and how your business will be taxed.
Steps to Small Business Start-Up, p. 59
Featured tip for August 2008
Your choice of location should be made early on in your plans to start a business. The first thing to consider is whether the location you choose is right for your type of business. What has your study of demographics and your market identification shown you? Base your decision on the type of products and services you provide and your target market rather than on your personal convenience. Your most important consideration in choosing a location is your ability to satisfy your target market. Retail stores and restaurants have to be located where customers can reach them easily and safely…. Make sure the site you choose is appropriate for your market.
Steps to Small Business Start-Up, p. 39
Featured tip for July 2008
Your product or service may be in demand and your pricing competitive. You may have found the lowest prices for your raw materials and secured adequate financing for your business. All of this will be of no use if you have not taken the time to identify your customers and found the means to get your product or service to them. The key word here is time. It takes time to research a business idea, but it is time well spent. It may mean the difference between success and failure. Find out now if there is a need for your product or service before you commit a great deal of time and money to the project.
Steps to Small Business Start-Up, p. 17
Featured tip for June 2008
When recruiting employees, as when searching for investors, many small companies rely on family. When family members display talent, drive, and desire, merging home and business represents the best of all worlds since you keep profits and goals within the family.
Beware, however. Although your spouse and children might represent a convenient source of help, make sure that each contributes to the business. Countless small businesses have disappeared because they made do with subpar help when they should have hired the best. Businesses that choose professional, loyal, responsible, competent, hardworking, creative employees stand a much greater chance of prospering. Treat your staff with fairness, pay employees well, and reward individual contributions to the business.
101 Best Businesses to Start, p. 12