Small Businesses Looking for Web Design Services - Things to Know

The small businesses in this day and age are aware of the significance of advertising, and aim at accomplishing it by means of limited resources, and simultaneously ensuring that they can reach out to additional audiences. Small businesses can effortlessly reach innumerable probable customers by means of an amalgam of technology, internet plus superior online communication skills.

Availing the services of a firm enabling proficient design services is a significant resolution which is taken by these businesses. In this day and age, as compared with alternate service providing industries, design services were also heightened. In this day and age, there are numerous contributors of web design services, which proffer their services at quite reasonable rates and simultaneously aim at delivering incredible results. It is complex opting for a proficient web services. There are instances during which people have no other option but to depend on word-of-mouth promotion, however this is quite tricky in case you do not happen to have reliable commendation. It is quite difficult ascertaining which service is ideal for your business requirements.

The Arrangement

Prior to availing the services of a firm specializing in web services, it is up to you to ensure that you are aware of your requirements from your website. The initial aim of a majority of the small businesses is to ensure that people purchase stuff from them, alternately to avail their services. The ideal stratagem for planning your website is by initiating the process of assessment of the websites of your opponents.

It is not binding to formulate design services which resemble that of your rival's. This is imperative to give you a basic framework of the things which could be incorporated within your website.

The Budget

The next step entails the process of expenditure which is linked with your website. Design services are a separate service as compared with web hosting, domain name registration plus content management systems. You could avail the services of a firm which ensures all the services collectively, alternately you could settle on purchasing these things individually. You must necessarily assess the average costs of these services so that you can formulate an approximation of expenses.

Web Design Services

When you are in the process of evaluation pertaining to either an entity or a firm in the sphere of web design services, you must cautiously peruse their portfolio. Assess their preceding employers, browse the respective websites and assess their designs. If it is feasible, consider emailing their earlier clients and speak with them pertaining to their experience with the designer whose services you wish to avail.

It is worthwhile to ensure that the provider of web design services, whose services you wish to avail is not working with any of your rivals at present. This could lead to a clash of interest at times which would translate to a bitter experience for you. In order to steer clear of such an incident, it is up to you to vigilantly peruse the portfolio alternately you can have a word with your design firm about this issue. There are numerous ways to review the qualitative aspect of web design services. You could initiate the process by assessing the designed websites` performance as far as search engine rankings are concerned. Alternately, you can judge the usability of these websites. Web design services do not just mean that websites would be good to look at, it literally translates to usability so that you are able to accomplish more than what you had bargained for, within a stipulated space.

CostsIn most of the cases, design firms constituting companies and freelancers, cite their rates on their websites. However, every individual project is disparate and it goes without saying that the requirements of the clients vary as well. Thus, the rates linked with web design services are open to discussion. Thus, you must not vacillate for the purpose of negotiating and seek a concession wherever you deem it necessary. Small businesses can be referred to, as smart businesses and they are capable of accomplishing things in a much more effectual manner, if they depend to a great extent on technology in addition to added small business or service providers. There is a fine likelihood that if you avail the services of a certain small business in the sphere of web design services, they would probably hire you once more, alternately they could advocate you to their clients.

About Pixelsmedia Technologies: Pixelsmedia provides High Quality Web Design Services at extremely affordable prices. Customer Satisfaction, Commitment to Quality, Adherence to Deadlines are the uniqueness which makes it stand apart from the rest. If you would like to avail web design or web development services, you can reach Pixelsmedia Technologies at: sales@pixelsmedia.net.

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Live Answering Services - The Small Business's Best Friend

Every day you miss calls from customers who need your products or services. But now you can get rid of all these problems, your call will be answered by a live answering service with your company name. Representatives at answering services will provide you services like answering phone service, answering message service or even enter data into your web form.

But finding an answering service company is not easy, after all you are going to trust one of your assets i.e. your customer or prospects or clients or patient - to a third party about whom you know a very little. Hence, it is very important to choose a perfect answering service suitable for your business. We recommend you to take a glance of this article before taking a decision regarding answering services.

If you are serious about growing your business and providing superior customer service, you need a solution that provides 24/7 answering services with live operators that handle every call correctly and professionally. Some big companies are available for you to assist you in the regard. These service providers not only serve you with answering phone services, they also assist you with other services like answering message service, pager, voice mail, PDA, live operator and even via web portal to fit your schedules and needs.

People at answering services are consultant. They recommend right products and services to help you accomplish your goals. These answering services are working from the 1980's and developing cost effective, customized answering services to meet your specific objectives.

There services include:

o In-depth, 24/7/365 customer service support

o Dispatch of service, emergency, or technical support personnel

o After hours, weekend, holiday, overflow coverage

o Dedicated receptionist during normal business hours

o Live operator answering service

o Medical service bureau

o Message delivery service

o Toll-free telephone answering service

Whether you are a corporation, an independent professional, in the medical field or related to any other profession that demands round-the-clock answering service and telephone support, companies can deliver the coverage you need and the professional care of your clients, patients and customers.

Leading answering service firms are continually search for pioneering technologies and services to help you better serve and improve your business.

While dealing with leading answering service companies you will be sure about:

o Answering services appoint courteous, professional and knowledgeable agents for your service.

o Dialer systems used at answering services are of good quality so that you can hear crystal clear voice quality.

o Customized answering service with your personalized greeting.

o Round the clock nationwide answering telephone service will give new horizons to your business.

o Multilingual answering message service is also available at answering services 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.

If you are a physician or businessman related with medical field, Medical Answering Services are for you, which is a full-service professional answering service. Medical answering services are medical call center that provides answering phone service, e-mail and fax messaging and other telecommunications services to doctors and other healthcare providers. Medical answering services also help in reminding your appointment, insurance verifications, data management, event registration and custom scripting.

Tyson J Stevenson writes on a wide variety of business related subjects, always with valuable news & reviews. Expect to see his name often.

A related resource is My Answering Service [http://myansweringservice.info]

Further information can be found at HubbuH

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Unsung Heroes! Small and Homebased Business Owners

The homebased and small business owner is the "Unsung Hero".  Why? The small business owner and today even the homebased business owner are the cornerstones of our society. The homebased business owner employs a number of independent contractors. Small businesses account for a large percentage of our economic work force.

Think of the homebased and small business owner as the leaders of a team. They organize their team, tell them the strategy they want to be followed and  how to implement that strategy. The business owner takes their responsibility of that team very seriously. Why? Because it they don't, they won't have those people working for them very long, in fact they won't be in business for very long.

The small and homebased business owner are - Unsung Heroes! Why? Because people do not realize how important they are to our society.

They not only take care of their business and their family, but the families of all their employees. Think about it. Look around at the town you live in. Sure there are Walmarts, Targets, and other large businesses, and malls. However, our malls are not only comprised of corporate franchises but also a lot of small business owners.

Those small business owners are the backbone of your local economy. You might think, Oh, they only employee 6 people. However, multiply those 6 people by 100 small businesses in your area, and it adds up very quickly.

The homebased business owner is also of major importance to your local economy. They contract with other homebased and small business owners. Think of the local contractor. Many contractors are homebased. That contractor needs supplies from the local hardware store. They might have to employ a plumber or an electrician to complete a project, because they don't have expertise in that area. All of these people make up the business spectrum of your local economy.

People are leaving corporate America everyday. Either because they want to run their own business or due to a layoff. These folks are discovering that the only sure thing is to run your own business,  that they only have themselves to rely on.

So while yes, the large corporations are important, REMEMBER, the backbone of our society will always be "the small and homebased business owner".  They are what keep our society going. More UNSUNG HEROES are joining our ranks every day. Let's  give them a HEROES WELCOME!

Copyright 2002 DeFiore Enterprises

Interested in having your own successful, home based creative real estate investing business? Chuck and Sue have been helping folks start successful home based businesses for over 19 years, and we can help you too! To see how, visit http://www.homebusinesssolutions.com for the latest FREE tips and tricks, educational products and coaching in creative real estate investing and home based businesses. No time to visit the site? Subscribe to our "how to" Home Business Solutions Digest, it's like having your own personal coach: mailto:subscribeHBS@homebusinesssolutions.com

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Small Business - To Plan Or Not To Plan, That Is The Question

Almost every small business client I meet is reluctant to commit to completing a strategic business plan for their business operation - yet it is one of the single, most important activities you can do for your fledgling business. When I ask small business owners about the status of their business planning activities, the conversation usually goes something like this:

Karen Paiyo (Business Counsellor): Have you completed a strategic business plan?

Business Owner: Well, no, I know exactly what I want my business to do, I don't have to write it down. Things change so fast anyway that it would have to be updated every five minutes and I don't really have the time to do one because I am up to my neck with other things and they take ages to do. I will have to write pages and pages and I don't really know how to do one and I am not really a good writer and they are way too expensive to pay for one to be written and besides no-one really reads them anyway and it will just end up sitting on a shelf somewhere collecting dust. Even worse, what if my competitor gets their hands on the information some how? They will have all of my business secrets right there in their hands!

I think it is a sure bet that this conversation is being played out between advisors and business owners around the world. Research has indicated that fewer than 25 percent of businesses actually complete a business plan and of those that do, less than half actually continue to refer to the document after it has been completed and fewer still actually apply the strategies outlined in the plan.

I think you get the picture. There are a million reasons business owners use to justify their chosing not to undertake the completion of a business plan for their venture. I would like to challenge this view by offering some compelling reasons as to why a strategic business planning is essential for every enterprise.

Getting Intimate With Your Business

The first key benefit relates to the actual process of completing the plan. Owners who have completed their own business plan become intimate with every aspect of their business. The market research gives them the context within which their business operates. It provides detail and hard facts about the degree of competition and the issues facing your industry. In essence, it forces business owners to remove the rose-coloured glasses and face the harsh realities before them.

Assessing Reality, Planning and Articulating Your Strategy

The business planning process also forces them to assess every aspect of the business, the good, the bad and the ugly, and demands that the business owner, in light of the information they have unearthed, develop a well structured and articulated approach as to how they are going to press forward. It forces them to know each of its strengths and how to play to them and to become familiar with the weaknesses and how to plan on ways to improve on them. It addresses the business risks and forces you to identify and plan mitigation strategies to minimise them. It also assist in the identification of opportunities you may not otherwise have seen.

Facing the Financials

It makes you answer the all important question about money. Specifically, about how much you will need, for which purpose and when. It also forces you to address the key question of where it is coming from and how much you expect to make and when so you know how long it will take before you are expected to breakeven and when borrowed funds are to be returned.

Effective Stakeholder Communications Vehicle

The second benefit is you have a key document for communication purposes. Every time you discuss your business needs with stakeholders you are going to have to communicate who and what your business is, its history, business goals and clearly articulate your strategy for achieving those goals. This includes asking your bank manager or investors for funding, staff who will need to get up to speed quickly and be able to buy into your vision and to rally their activities around your business goals, as well as third-party service providers, such as graphic designers who will need to know your business in order to help you create your image and brand.

Your Business GPS

Another key benefit is that it acts as your touchstone and your compass. When you are buried in the day-to-day activities of operating your business it is often difficult to remember exactly where it is you are headed and what it is you are trying to achieve. Your business plan is your reminder and re-visiting your strategic business goals can help you re-focus, re-task and re-allocate your resources to get your business back on track - ensuring you achieve your goals that much sooner.

Articulates a Shared Vision

A strategic business plan articulates your vision and your goals. Research has shown that businesses who have a shared vision are more likely to grow net profits at exponential rate. Notably, Net Income for those with a shared business vision increased by a whopping 756% compared to a paltry 1% on average for those without.

A shared business vision creates a focus for each of your stakeholders and has them operating in concert with the shared vision. Combined with an appropriately aligned mission statement and goals and you have an effective framework for all decisions within the business, the end result is that all stakeholders are moving forward in unison and reaching your goals and fulfilling your strategic intent that much faster.

Your First Business Test

Think of the business planning process as bit of a test of your entrepreneurial determination, an indicator as to how far you are prepared to go to achieve your dream of owning your own business. There are no guarantees in business and overnight success is often the result of many years of struggle and sacrifice. Seeing how you step up to this challenge is an excellent way to determine if you have what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur.

Karen L. Paiyo is an Australian Small Business Counsellor, supporting and nurturing the spirit of entrepreneurship in the Asia Pacific Region. Karen empowers small business owners by transferring to them the skills and expertise needed to help them take their business ideas from creative concept to profitable reality, faster and with less risk.

For more small business articles, news, tips and business advice, check out her website at http://www.karenpaiyo.com

Subscribe to The Sure Entrepreneur Newsletter on her website today, and you could win one of the latest Small Business titles from the Sure Entrepreneur Small Business Bookshop.

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Selling a Small Business: Seven Common Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make and How to Avoid It

Do you want to sell your small business? Or you are already in the process of selling your small business? If any of the criteria above best describes you, then read on as I share with you seven common mistakes you must avoid when selling a small business.

Selling a small business is a process every entrepreneur wants to experience but unfortunately, only few will build a business that will worth selling. There are several reasons why you would want to consider selling your small business either now or in the future but I won't go into the details here. I have already written an in-depth article highlighting why entrepreneurs sell their small businesses.

But in this article, I will be dealing strictly with seven common mistakes you must avoid when selling a small business. If you are still interested in learning this now; then follow me as I share with you below common business mistakes you must avoid when selling a small business.

Selling a Small Business: Seven common mistakes entrepreneurs make and how to avoid it

1. Impatience

Impatience is usually a common mistake most entrepreneurs make when selling a business. They want to exit the business and the want to do it fast. Being impatience can affect your deal negatively because your potential buyers need time to go over the deal and if you add pressure on them to sign the deal; they will smell a rat.

When selling a small business, it's advisable you keep calm and hide your nervousness or impatience. Even if you are under pressure to sell; don't act desperate as this could scare away prospects.

"Patience; this is the greatest business asset. Wait for the right time to make your moves." - J. Paul Getty

2. Indecisiveness

Are you sure you want to sell your small business? How much do you want to sell? Who have you decided to sell to? These are questions you must put to rest before putting up your business for sale. If you don't find the answers to the questions above ahead of time, you are only avoiding a stumbling block that will get back at you in the heat of the process.

One untold fact in the process of selling a business is that there's going to be behind the scene politicking; whether you like it or not. After putting up your small business for sale, there might be a couple of prospects; which will invariably result to a bidding frenzy and behind the scene lobbying.

"The best thing to invest in your business is your time. To schedule, plan and use time effectively, know your turf and know your objectives. Assess the obstacles and opportunities, then devise your strategies." - The Mafia Manager

If the above situation arises, then you must be prepared to take a stand and decide who gets the deal. You must also be clear and strict on your terms and conditions; you must stick to your agreement. No one wants to deal with an indecisive seller; an indecisive buyer is rather preferred. If you have a reputation for changing your stance when under pressure; then let your most trusted business team member oversee the deal.

"Before making an important decision, get as much as you can of the best information available and review it carefully, analyze it and draw up worst case scenarios. Add up the plus or minus factors, discuss it with your team and do what your guts tell you to do." - The Mafia Manager

3. Not doing a personality checkup

"It takes 20 years to build a reputation and only five Minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you will do things differently." - Warren Buffett

Are you a person of integrity? Do you keep to your words? Do you have a strong positive personal brand? These three questions must be answered before you even put up your small business for sale. In an article I wrote previously, I stressed the need to invest in your own personal branding. I also explained that your personality can be a leverage for you in the world of business.

I have seen entrepreneurs raise billions of dollars in capital simply because they are trustworthy; meaning they have business integrity. I have also seen small businesses sold for millions and even billions of dollars because of the reputation of the entrepreneur behind that business.

So before putting up your small business for sale, make sure you conduct a thorough personality checkup because your buyers will definitely do. Does your personal name reflect a positive or negative image? Do you have friends and associate who are reputable? Can your business partners vouch for you? How easily can you get an endorsement from someone of high reputation?

These are some of the questions that must be answered during your personality checkup. As a piece of advice, if you know you have a bad reputation; don't be the lead dog in the sale of your business. Instead, let your selling team be led by someone of high reputation; it will get you a fair deal.

"The most important thing in your business relationships is your reputation for honesty. If you can genuinely and sincerely fake honesty, you will be a success. Never doubt it." - The Mafia Manager

4. Showing potential buyers the weakness of your business

When negotiating a deal to sell your small business; be strategic. Know your objectives and capitalize on your business strengths. To sell your business successfully and get a fair deal, you must emphasize your business strength or competitive advantage occasionally; not its weaknesses.

Hide your business weaknesses but be prepared to defend it should in case the buyers hits on it. If possible, tactically divert your buyer's attention away from your business weaknesses. There's nothing wrong with this act; it's strictly business.

You have done your calculations so it's left for your buyers to do theirs. If they fail to spot your business weakness, then it's to their own detriment. You just make sure you keep it that way; it's business.

5. Inadequate Legal checkup

Inadequate legal checkup is a common mistake made by most entrepreneurs when selling a business. You must strive to avoid this mistake because it's deadly. One thing with this mistake is that it can earn you a lawsuit, financial losses or loss of certain rights.

To make sure you don't end up committing this blunder, I will advice you hire an external attorney or legal practitioner to go through your legal framework; it will save you in the long run.

6. Shallow paper work or auditing

Before ever listing your business for sale; you must make sure you have thoroughly gone through the paper work. You shouldn't bother with paper work preparation; I think the accounting department should handle that. But you must sit and review this paper works thoroughly with your accountants. You may even go a step by bringing external auditors to pick holes in your paper work.

It is better external auditors pick holes in your financial statements or paper work than your buyers. As a last note, you should try to have some numbers, business ratios and business statistics off hand. This will prove to buyers that you know your business in and out.

"Know your numbers' is a fundamental precept of business." - Bill Gates

7. Letting the cat out of the bag too early

Until the final papers are signed and business assets transferred; don't spill the beans. Not to your friends, not to your employees and not even to your family. Only trusted men, who will add value to sweeten the deal should be made aware; you core business team as well should be involved in the deal.

Don't spill the beans; don't let the cat out of the bag. Don't, don't, don't. The result of revealing the deal before it is concluded might be more than you anticipated. Revealing that your business is on sale may lead to demoralization of your employees because they will be more concern about their welfare than your business.

Spilling the beans may also earn you some unnecessary competition, unsolicited publicity and media misinterpretation. Or worst still, you might end up with several lawsuits dangling on your neck. So once again I repeat, never let the cat out of the bag until the deal is sealed.

As a final note, I believe you will find these points I have made useful. So when preparing your business for sale; be sure to avoid these common mistakes and I will see you at the top.

And just before i drop my pen, if you really want to learn How to Start a Business from scratch; please feel free to visit our blog. In addition, you can also get quality information on How to Become a Millionaire in less than a year.

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Information on Starting a Small Business

So many issues come to mind when thinking about starting a small business: "What form should the business be in?", "Will I have partners?", "How will I market?", and so on. We'll address these issues in a systematic manner, but first we should take a step back and think about what a business is. A business, in the general sense, is a for-profit organization providing goods or services. A business is going to have a value proposition, a target market, processes that develop value, ways to generate revenue, and a strategy to survive in the competitive marketplace. At the initial stages, we want to focus on the business model conceptually before moving on the how that model will be implemented or executed.

Value Proposition

Starting a small business first means to come up with the answer to:

• Who is my target market?

• What service/good am I offering them?

• How does my offering add value to the market? (Benefits)

• What is my response to existing competition - why would people buy from me?

This should not seem like either a daunting task, or simply an academic exercise. The answers to these questions will help define your strategy for marketing and revenue generation.

Business Plan

The answers to the previously listed questions can help you create your business plan. Why do you need a business plan? The answer is both for people within the business, and people outside the business. For outsiders, the business plan gives a summary of the objectives, history, and strategy of the business. This is important for investors, partners and any credit suppliers. Internally, the business plan is important because it forces discipline and focus in defining a vision for the company. Ultimately, business is about planning and execution. The reason this is important is that entrepreneurship requires personal characteristics of focus, fortitude, and conviction to succeed; the plan can help you stay the course. The plan creation forces you to consider, deeply, how you intend to generate and sustain the business.

There is no "right answer" when it comes to a business plan, and that can make some people feel uneasy. Below is a sample template that you can use to get started though (based on the SBA template):

Statement of business purpose and executive summary

Table of Contents

Description of business

Marketing (target segment, means to reach market)

Distribution and Partnerships

Competition Analysis

Operating Procedure

Personnel Insurance

Financial data

Loans and Capital

Capital Equipment List

Balance Sheet

Break-even Analysis

Profit/Loss statements

Historical Summary

Assumptions Supporting and Legal Documents

Tax Return/financial summary of business partners

Rental or Real Estate Contracts

Business License and Structure

Resumes of Partners

Supplier Data

Personal Skills Need to Succeed at Business

The entrepreneurial mindset is elusive, and there is no agreement as to what traits will lead to success in business. However, there are some characteristics which appear again and again when business analysts talk about success in business.

These are:

• Focus - doing one thing and perfecting it. Doing it better and cheaper than others

• Fortitude - continuing to work in the face of adversity

• Accepting Responsibility - owning the business and owning resolution of problems

• Learning from mistakes - continuous improvement

• Internal motivation - being motivated by internal factors (not by quick successes which may not appear)

Starting a small business is easy. Being successful in business is more difficult; like any other difficult human endeavor. The reason why so much emphasis is given to planning and personal characteristics is because of these difficulties. A very common question people who are starting a business are asked is: "Why do you want to start a business?" I think that the underlying question is, "Are you internally motivated to succeed at your business?"

Structure of the Business After resolving the "what and why" of business formation, the next question is "how?" This is where the structure of the business comes in. There are five common forms of business in the United States.

• Sole Proprietorships

• Partnerships

• Limited Liability Companies (LLC)

• S Corporations

• C Corporations

The factors that you should use to decide which type of business you need are the type of liability you are able to accept, the taxation implications, and finally, your record keeping sophistication. Each of the business structures are possible to create by yourself, but if you find that you get lost in paperwork, you may need to hire a professional to get started with a corporation or LLC.

Sole Proprietorship

A sole proprietorship is the most common and simple form of business. Simply put, the owner is the business; the business profits and losses are considered personal, and business liability is personal liability. This type of business is the quickest to start, and the business lifetime will end at the end of the person's lifetime.

Partnership

A partnership business consists of two or more people working jointly; each contributing some skills, capital, labor, etc... to contribute to the running of the business. The share of the partnership does not have to be even, and the distribution of profits is reported on the personal 1040.

LLC

An LLC (C stands for company, not corporation) is a blend of partnership and corporation. It offers liability protection to partners in the company. An LLC is a pass-through entity for taxation, though optionally it can be treated as a corporation via form IRS 8832. An LLC is considered less complex than a corporation in terms of record keeping.

C Corporation

A corporation is like a fictitious person. It is an entity which handles the affairs of the business. Ownership of the entity is via shareholders, who receive a share of profits. The entity is also taxed separately than the shareholders (who are also taxed). Corporate structure is on a state-by-state basis.

S Corporation

A subchapter S corporation is a variation of the corporate entity where the profit/loss of the corporation is passed through to the shareholders. S corporations are legal entities and generally allow for limited liability for shareholders.

Registering a Business

After deciding the type of legal structure your business has and creating it, you will likely need to obtain permits to operate the business. This may include a business license and other licenses if your industry requires it. A city or county office will have the business license registration form available. If you are using a sole proprietorship business structure, you may want to do business under a fictitious name. This is called a DBA and is the name under which you are operating your business. To file a DBA, you generally will fill out a County form, and also post an advertisement in a local newspaper for one to two months to make sure the name has not already been registered.

Next Steps

At this point, your checklist for starting a small business is not complete. You will need a business bank account, a line of credit, or some funding. These are operational concerns of the business. If you are able to market or find customers at this stage, you should because your business will be legally allowed to operate. Starting a small business is not a small endeavor; however the rewards for success will be worthwhile.

William E. Wright invites you to check out his site about Starting a Small Business and also this blog where you will find more Business Start Up Information.

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Structuring Small Business Sale Transactions

Selling a privately held business is often romanticized as face-to-face negotiations over business valuations and purchase price. Whether small or large, business transactions can be extremely complex and require a great deal of work behind the scenes. As the size and/or complexity of a transaction increases, the need for innovative structuring options also increases. Deal structure, financing, and tax management must be a proactive process that is addressed at an early stage. In many cases the Seller and Buyer often place all of the focus on the transaction price at the expense of the 'net results' of a business transaction. By carefully negotiating the terms and structure of the transaction, a business seller could walk away with a deal that provides a significantly larger economic benefit than a transaction that provides 100% of the proceeds at closing. For asset sale transactions, the 'allocation of purchase price' can become another area of negotiation after the price, terms and conditions of the sale have been agreed to by the buyer and seller. Each type of structure carries with it different tax consequences for the buyer and seller, having a material impact on the overall value of the transaction. The type of business entity owned by the seller (C-corporation, S-Corporation, LLC, Partnership, or Sole Proprietorship) in addition to whether the transaction becomes an asset sale or stock sale will have a major bearing on the decisions made in structuring the transaction to afford maximum economic benefits. The purpose of this communication is to advance a few of the techniques available in structuring small business sale transactions and to emphasize the value an experienced team brings in structuring the transaction. Asset sales of pass-through entities (LLC, S-Corp, & Partnerships) are handled very differently than stock-sales of C-Corps and it would be impossible to cover all of the structuring alternatives within this short document. Proper legal and tax counsel should be retained and the cost of these professionals is usually offset by the benefits they bring through their involvement in the transaction.

The following factors will be relevant in structuring the transaction:

1. Legal Business Entity

- LLC

- S-Corp

- C-Corp

- Partnership

- Sole Proprietorship

2. Type of Sale

- Asset Sale

- Stock Sale

3. What is being sold

- Entire business

- Partial Interest / Investment

- Inclusion of Real Estate

4. Installment Sale or component of Seller Financing

5. Who is the buyer

- Financial Buyer (Entrepreneur)

- Strategic Buyer

a. Corporation

b. Private Equity Group (PEG)

c. Family Member (Succession)

6. Plans after the sale (Short term/Intermediate/Long Term)

- Consulting Contract

- Employee Contract

- Covenant not to Compete

7. Personal Tax Situation

STRUCTURING THE TRANSACTION

1. Asset Sale / Stock Sale

Determining what is being sold, the individual assets of a business or the stock in a corporation, will be critical in determining the optimal structure of a transaction. The majority of small businesses that are sold each year are structured as an asset sale. An asset sale is when a buyer purchases all or a portion of the assets of a business (e.g., facilities, equipment, vehicles, real estate, etc) whereas a stock purchase is the purchase of the ownership shares/rights of the corporation - all assets and all liabilities of the entity are retained by the corporation and only a change in corporate ownership has occurred. The following highlights three notable differences between each method; there are many additional considerations so it is critical to consult professional advice to determine the most appropriate method.

Change in Legal/Tax Entity:

With an asset sale, the legal entity and tax identity do not transfer to the purchaser. The Buyer receives a stepped-up tax basis in the assets acquired equal to the FMV purchase price, the point from which new depreciation is started. Under a stock sale, the tax basis of the assets remains unchanged, and all of the tax attributes, including depreciation methods, tax year, corporate tax election, are preserved.

Liability:

With an asset sale, the Buyer's liability is limited. The Buyer is purchasing some or all of the assets and has the option to identify any liabilities they are interested in assuming. Under a stock sale, the Buyer purchases the stock of the company and assumes all liabilities (known, unknown, contingent or otherwise).

Assignment of Contracts:

Most businesses have contracts in one form or another. The most common are commercial real estate leases, contracts involving business relationships, and contracts with employees. An asset sale transaction involving the assignment of these contracts requires considerably more work and has a potentially a different outcome than a stock sale. Contracts need to be evaluated to determine if they permit an assignment without consent. Should they not permit assignment without consent, third party consent will need to be obtained. In stock sale transactions, the legal entity that is the party to the contract continues, and the general rule is that the contract remains in force between the original parties. (No consent to assignment is needed as assignment typically does not occur). There are exceptions, as some contracts stipulate that a change in ownership of the business will be considered an assignment of the contract. If such a 'change of control' clause exists in the contract, the same issues will arise as with an asset transaction. Performing due diligence and having legal counsel thoroughly review all of the company's contracts will be critical to determine the available options.

2. Covenant Not to Compete (CNTC)

A covenant not to compete (CNTC) is a contractual condition by which the seller promises to refrain from conducting business or professional activities of a nature similar to those of the business being sold. In a contract for the sale of a business, a reasonable value can be allocated to a 'covenant not to compete' which is generally enforceable provided it is reasonable and limited as to time and territory. The buyer may amortize this amount over 15 years even though the actual term of the CNTC is usually much shorter. For this reason, buyers often prefer a larger amount be allocated to tangible assets or a consulting agreement with a shorter useful life. In order to be legally binding, it is recommended that some consideration is allocated to a CNTC.

3. Consulting Agreement

Depending upon the goals of the seller/buyer and the complexity of the business being sold, the seller could be retained as an independent consultant. The consulting agreement should specify the schedule of time (days or hours involved), type of training or services provided, the length of the agreement, and compensation. This is a popular structuring method which can benefit both the buyer and seller. For example, the sales price could be lowered in exchange for a lucrative consulting contract. The buyer benefits as they pay less money up front and have the ability to deduct the payments in the year made as a business expense. The seller could benefit by receiving the compensation over a period of several years, possibly reducing the tax impact. There are additional tax related issues to the seller, pertaining to the deductibility of business expenses incurred as a consultant and potential self employment taxes, and it is therefore recommended that proper tax counsel is obtained.

4. Seller Financing / Installment Sale

It is rare for a privately-held business to change hands for an all-cash price. More common in small business sales would be to have a component of seller financing as part of the deal structure. Seller financing is a mechanism where the business owner would fund the sale of their business and/or business assets with a promissory note helping the buyer finance all or a portion of the acquisition of the business and/or business assets, which is then paid back from the business' cash flow. This type of deal can be very flexible - the seller can adjust the payment schedule, interest rate, loan period, or any other terms to reflect the seller's needs, business cash flow, and the buyer's financial situation.

There are several benefits to the business owner in providing seller financing:

Maximization of Transaction Value

Few areas offer more opportunity to negotiate successfully than when it comes to the details of the financing. Many sellers actively prefer to do the financing themselves as they can negotiate the highest transaction value when offering flexible owner-finance terms. In addition, the interest earned on the promissory note will add significantly to the actual selling price. Interest rates are currently hovering at their lowest level in years and sellers recognize that they can get a much higher rate from a buyer than they can get from any financial institution.

Tax Benefits

Seller financing could be a way for the owner to defer tax on the sale of the business. If the sale complies with the IRS installment method of reporting for tax purposes, capital gain taxes could be recognized when payments on the seller financed note are received versus 100% of the gain recognized upon closing the sale. It will be important to consult a tax professional as not all assets would qualify for deferred capital gains treatment. Typically, the assets that have depreciated beyond their original purchase price, such as real estate, are eligible for installment sales, as are intangibles (such as goodwill) that are established during the course of the business.

Completing the Transaction

Seller financing can be a useful tool to complete business sale transactions that need extra financing as part of their structure. The pool of qualified buyers increases exponentially when a portion of the transaction is financed by the seller. For some businesses, carrying back a note for some or all of the purchase price may be the only way to sell the company. The credit market, as a result of the sub-prime financial crisis, is still very tight. The plentiful, easily obtainable, flexible and inexpensive credit that flooded the market several years ago has changed dramatically. Many buyers will leverage bank financing to acquire a business and the majority of these lenders will require a component of seller financing to underwrite the loan. Seller financing, in the lender's eyes, mitigates risk as they will have the additional confidence knowing that the seller has a vested interest in the business succeeding. The seller, in this instance, will be providing secondary financing to the bank's acquisition loan (i.e. subordinated debt) for the remainder of the price.

In the event of a default by the buyer on the seller financing note, the seller would have a number of options for recourse and the specifics will vary per transaction based upon the involvement of a primary (1st position) lender, the extent of collateralized assets, in addition to personal guarantee's made by the buyer. The specific rights will be detailed in the security agreement that is associated with the promissory note and can involve a number of stipulations including restricting the new owner's sale of assets, acquisitions, and expansions until the note is paid off in addition to specifying the receipt of quarterly financial statements to enable the seller to keep tabs on the business. Having an experienced transaction attorney involved in the drafting of the promissory note will be essential.

5. Earn-Outs

An earn-out provision is an excellent structuring vehicle to bridge the gap on a valuation difference between what the seller expects to receive from a sale and what the buyer thinks a business is worth. Earn-outs are contractual contingent payments in which the purchase price is stated in terms of a minimum, but the seller will be entitled to additional compensation if the business reaches certain financial benchmarks in the future. Although the benchmarks can be calculated as a percentage of sales, gross profit, net profit or other figure, an earn-out is most often based on sales (not profits) and is typically tied to increasing revenue over historical levels. An earn-out is a good way to maximize the total selling price of the business, especially if the seller is confident of future sales and the new owner's management ability. It is not uncommon to establish a floor or ceiling for the earn-out, and in a down economy, a seller can use an earn-out provision to obtain a value closer to what the business is worth in a healthy economic climate. Earn-outs are favorable to both the buyer and seller. The seller recognizes earn-outs as payment of money predicated on the future performance of the business and is therefore in a position to potentially obtain a higher value for their business than what would be afforded in a traditional sale in the current market. Buyers, on the other hand, are attracted to earn-outs as they pay less money at the time of sale but compensate the seller based upon the future success of the business. Buyers are protected against overpaying for a business that doesn't meet the projections or growth that the original owners expected. Furthermore, Buyer's recognize the vested interest the earn-out creates with the seller and the shared goal in the continued success of the enterprise. Most successful earn-outs are achieved when they are limited to one or two variables based upon a solid 3-5 year sales forecast. Earn-out provisions require a greater degree of involvement by the seller, and are most often implemented in conjunction with a seller employment or consulting agreement where the seller is positioned to ensure that all of the steps are being taken to reach the goals. Furthermore, it is also important to specify in the contract the person or firm that will be responsible for managing or reviewing the books and verifying the business's performance.

ASSET ALLOCATION

In a small business sale, the owner is selling a collection of assets, some tangible (such as inventory, vehicles, buildings, and FF&E) and some intangible (such as software, customer lists, trade names, trained & assembled workforce, patents, non-compete agreements, and goodwill). Unless the entity is a C-Corp and stock is being sold, the total transaction price is allocated sequentially based on the fair market value of the acquired assets. The Tax Code shows that assets fall into 7 different categories (asset classes) based on IRC section 1060 (Form 8594), and requires that the buyer and seller adopt and maintain a consistent purchase price allocation method for tax future calculations that will determine both the buyer's basis in the assets and the seller's gain or loss. In most cases, the tax impact on the individual assets sold are measurably different for the buyer and seller and therefore the negotiation of the dollar amounts allocated to each of the 7 categories becomes an important element of the business transaction.

Class I - Cash

Class II - Marketable Securities

Class III - Market to Market Assets & Accounts Receivable

Class IV - Inventory

Class V - Assets Not Otherwise Classified

Class VI - Section 197 Intangibles other than Goodwill and Going Concern

Class VII - Goodwill and Going Concern Value (Residual)

Minimizing taxes plays a major role in structuring and negotiating a business transaction. Many promising deals have fallen through because the buyer and seller couldn't agree on how to structure the deal to minimize taxes. Typically, the seller seeks to have as much money as possible allocated to assets that would be taxed as capital gains versus assets that would be treated as ordinary income. The buyer on the other hand strives to have a larger weight allocated to assets that are currently deductible or where stepped-up assets could be depreciated quickly under IRS regulations. Particular attention should be paid to the identification and valuation of the "intangible" assets as they can be significant in negotiating terms. While Buyers are often indifferent to an allocation between goodwill and a CNTC, because Sec. 197 allows a buyer to amortize goodwill or a CNTC over the same 15-year period, they will often prefer a larger allocation to a consulting agreement which is able to be expensed in the year paid. Sellers, however, prefer goodwill & going concern allocations (capital gain treatment) over a CNTC or a Consulting Agreement (ordinary income treatment).

ENLIGN strongly advises its clients to seek independent tax & legal advice from professionals who possess an expertise in business transactions. We often find that many buyers have already completed several transactions and have a team of experienced merger and acquisition professionals in place. Conversely, we find most business sellers approaching the sale for the very first time. The resources in place for the seller traditionally are comprised of general business practitioners lacking the strong business transaction experience necessary to address the multitude of issues associated with complex business transactions. ENLIGN does not provide legal, tax, or accounting advice and, for this reason, we have developed the ENLIGN Professional Partner Program (EPPP) to enable our clients to access the expertise of experienced transaction professionals in both accounting and law practices.

About the Author:
Michael Fekkes is a Senior Broker at ENLIGN Business Brokers. Michael is a Certified Business Intermediary CBI, a member of the International Business Brokers Association IBBA, as well as a former business owner. ENLIGN Business Brokers http://www.enlign.com/ is a Professional Services Firm that is headquartered in Raleigh, NC providing confidential business intermediary services to buyers and sellers throughout the Southeast region.

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Learn How to Start Your Own Small Business

Starting a business. One of the scariest phrases in the world to your average new entrepreneur. Why? Because it's complicated, difficult and oftentimes downright scary. What is even more scary is that most people do not understand exactly how scared of that sentence they should be. Specifically because of one word in that sentence. That word is "start".

Businesses do not fail because of lack of costumers. Or fail do to bad management. Or do to a bad product. Or bad employees. Or not enough money. Or bad luck.

IMPORTANT FACT #1: Businesses and Entrepreneurs fail because they do not start correctly. It is that simple. How a business owner starts their business, either online or brick and mortar, is 95% of the reason almost all businesses fail.

The main key idea most consumers and business owners fail to grasp is that every business, from big to small, from Walmart to Stevie's Lemonade Cart, started due to one man (or woman's) idea. Some did not have experience. Some did. Some wanted to conquer the world and/or change the lives of millions and/or make so much money they would literally have no idea what to do with it all (although most will tell you when they started they did not think that would ever be possible for them). Some wanted to simply conquer the corner of K and 1st Street. Does every business that thinks big grow big? No, absolutely not. Does every business owner who thinks small stay small. No.

What I am trying to show you here is that although the most important document in your businesses entire HISTORY will be its Business Plan, your Business Plan does not have to be set in stone or be absolutely perfect. Most business owners who fail do not get around to writing a business plan because they think it has to be perfect. Your business plan does not have to be perfect.

Why?

IMPORTANT FACT #2: Because the most important aspect of a business plan is that it MAKES YOU THINK! It makes you think about things like payroll, or financing, or things you do not have a chance to think about. It does not have to be perfect. Because the truth of the matter is there is no such thing as a PERFECT business plan. Because the perfect business plan depends on the business. It depends on the product. It depends on the owner and his or her style of doing things.

So when you are starting your business, either online or brick and mortar, stop thinking of your business plan like a fill in the blank official document.   Think of it as you and your business merged together into a single document.   Think of it as a written manifesto of both WHAT you intend to accomplish and HOW you intend to accomplish it.

IMPORTANT FACT #3: YOU MUST HAVE A BUSINESS PLAN!!! Do not put this off!  Do not say you do not need one because your business is too small and simple or because you are still planning.   IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A BUSINESS PLAN YOU DO NOT HAVE A BUSINESS!!!  and you have no business running a business:).

The following is my Basic Building Blocks to Writing a Business Plan.   This is guide.  I am not going to go in depth here about how I start and write my business plans because to be honest it probably will not help you.   These are the foundation of your business plan, what I have found needs to be in every business plan to succeed.   This is just the start.   Where you and your business go from here is entirely up to you:)

Planning your Business. This is the idea phase.   This is were you spend all your random time thinking about how exactly your business is going to run.   You should keep a notepad of paper with you at all times, and write down any and all ideas you have on the subject.   This is the beginning of your business plan.

Begin to Write a Business Plan. This is where you take all the ideas you have collected so far on your notepad and begin to organize them in a Word Document (or computerized notepad of your choice;)).   You should begin to include such things as Business Strategies (what exactly your business is), Financial Projections (how much money you have now, how much money you intend to have in the future (don't be afraid to think big) and where you are going to get more money to start your company) and the all important....

Marketing Plan. Although really a sub-section of and just a tiny tiny tiny bit less important then your Business Plan, your Marketing Plan should be treated with just as much importance.   Why?  Because this is the lifeblood of your company.   This is where your money comes from, whether you are product or service based.   You should include such things marketing strategies, advertising strategies, and promotional strategies (and yes, they are different things).

Who your mentor (or mentors) are going to be. Yes.   Your business plan should include who you look up to.   Why?  Because who you are learning from, studying from, and taking information from plays a HUGE part in what your business is going to become.   You can include anybody from world famous people you will most likely never talk to to your own parents.   They are your mentors, you choose.

How you are going to finance your small business. This section is incredibly important, because it forces you to do research on where you are going to get your money from.   You have options such as Venture Capitalists, Banks, and your own family.   Do not be afraid to beg money from your blood relatives.   If you have a good business plan (which proves you are not just simply looking for cheap money;)) you might get better results then you think.

The Name of your business. This is a incredibly important part of your business.   This is something you CANNOT change, and it will be how and WHY people buy from you.   It's a very public display of who you are and who your business is.

Choose a structure. This is important both from a tax standpoint and also a legal liability standpoint.   The main 5 options are:  Sole Proprietorship (single owner, full liability), Partnership (two or more owners, full liability), Corporation (no liability, expensive and very complicated to set up), S Corporation (only easy difference is for tax reasons), and Limited Liability Company or LLC (created to provide Small Business Owners and Partners removed liability for there businesses.  Most popular if your are going to go big:))  I will go in depth into all of these later but for more information check out http://www.sba.gov/smallbusinessplanner/start/chooseastructure/index.html

Protect your ideas/name/inventions/whatever it is your business is doing. You need to know which permits, licenses, etc you need to run and operate your business.   Check with your local area chamber of congress and local division of the SBA to find out more.

Who your competition is. You need to research and find out about your competition, even if they are not doing exactly what you plan to do.   Why?  Because if they are competition that means they ARE AT LEAST SEMI-SUCCESSFUL!!!   Which means you need to LEARN from them.   *WARNING* Inside secret secret to being successful about to be revealed! I always include one of my biggest competitors on my mentor list in my business plan.   Why?   Because then it forces me to go and learn from that person, even though we will probably never speak and he or she will never openly give me information about their business.   So many people forget this that it makes me just scratch my head as to WHY.   These people are doing what you want to do and they are doing it AT LEAST semi-succesfully.   So study from them.  Learn anything and everything you can.   If you do that, then one day you will be better then them:).  Most likely they will have to start studying you;).

So that's it for now.   Don't worry, I have a TON more articles planned on every aspect of creating your business, both online, store front, and even out of your own house.  Stay tuned and GOOD LUCK!!!

To learn more top secret information about starting your own small business visit the Ultimate Wealth Experts at [http://www.ultimatewealthexperts.com]

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Innovation - Small Business Imperative

When I think of innovation, I think of creative people, people that have changed the world with new ways of doing things. In the business world, you'd be hard pressed to find better examples of the success that constant innovation breeds than Microsoft and Apple. And I believe that it is no coincidence that these two massive companies have come to be known as innovation leaders. This is not a matter of their success coming despite the ultra competitive market in which they operate, but because of it. The more competitive the market you operate in, the more you will be forced to innovate in order to survive. It is easy to think that innovation is a trait that belongs exclusively to the huge multinationals like Microsoft and Apple, but you have to remember that both these companies were essentially started in their founders' garages - they weren't always big, but they were always innovative. And the competition between them and other early players in the market drove their innovative tendencies even further.

Businesses today face competition on more fronts than ever before. Your competition doesn't even have to have a point of sale in the same country as you anymore. The internet has enabled almost anyone to chip away at your market share from almost anywhere with just a few thousand dollars worth of software and some clever website design. Innovation has become an imperative for doing business today. But don't take my word for that. What do Bill Gates and Steve Jobs think of innovation and its importance to a business?

"We are always saying to ourselves, "We have to innovate. We've got to come up with that breakthrough." In fact, the way software works, so long as you are using your existing software, you don't pay us anything at all. So we're only paid for breakthroughs." - Bill Gates

Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower. - Steve Jobs

I can hear you saying, "Great for you Bill & Steve, but I don't have all the money in the world for R&D to come up with the next big thing in my industry". But innovation requires only one thing - a focus on starting down the path towards innovation, even in the most seemingly mundane areas of your business. According to dictionary.com, innovation simply means the introduction of new things or methods. That means you don't have to be at the forefront of cutting edge technology, you simply have to come up with something different or a different way of doing things.

I've put together a few ideas to get you thinking about how to get started with making innovations in your business that can lead to tangible, sustainable competitive advantage. They are simple, yet profound. It's not always the "greatest thing since sliced bread" kind of ideas that make the biggest difference in business. Sometimes, it's simpler ideas that can more quickly and easily be implemented that can have the greatest impact. Before you continue reading, prepare your mind to be open to the possibilities that exist for your business right now - think about things that might be staring you right in the face. You don't necessarily have to reinvent the wheel, just figure out how to make more people not want to buy wheels from anyone else but you and you're off to a good start.

Idea #1 - Spread your "unique-ness".

What is the biggest difference your customers notice about doing business with you as opposed to doing business with your competition? What do your customers LOVE about doing business with you? What are you always being complemented for? Do you have a better product? Do you have a better way of delivering your product? Are you more "user friendly"? Are some types of customers better suited to using your product than your competitor's? Have you found a niche? Take the answers to these questions and start exploiting your "unique-ness". Think about what makes you and your business one of a kind, especially if those points of difference would be difficult to duplicate, even if your competition wanted desperately to copy those very aspects. Now, think of how you can apply these aspects of your business or product more widely to all the other aspects of your business, your industry, your people, and your supply chain. You should seek to apply these points of difference across as many areas of your business as possible so that every element of doing business with your company gives you that same competitive advantage over and over again. This is the most basic form of innovation. By taking what is unique about your business and applying it to more and more of your business until practically everything you do is as unique and special as what you have come to be known for, you tap into the most powerful innovation of all - brand innovation. Creating an innovative brand can speak volumes about your business without having to say a word - and it can make your customers into stark raving FANS that don't want to do business with anyone else, regardless.

Idea #2 - There's more than one way to skin a cat.

Think about the "inputs" that are relevant to your business. How do you get your product ready to sell? If you're a manufacturer, what are the component parts of what you build? If you are a service firm, what are the steps involved in delivering your service to the end user? Now think about what your product or service ultimately delivers to your customers. For instance, many people would assume that McDonald's is in the food business. But let's face it; even if you are particularly fond of McDonald's food, it is neither the most nutritious or most satisfying option out there. But McDonalds remains one of the most successful businesses in the world because they consistently deliver not just food, but convenience. It is by being convenient, even more so than other "fast food" outlets, that McDonald's has maintained its amazing momentum over decades. Once you've analysed your business inputs, the "how" of getting your product or service into the hands of your customers, consider them all in light of what you are ultimately delivering that is of value to the people that buy from you. In other words, focus on the outcome for your clients. What are they really buying from you? Can you change or improve your inputs to get your customers what they really want in a way that saves them money, saves them time, or makes their experience even better in some way? If so, do it! We tend to stick with doing things the way we've always done them (the same old inputs) instead of exploring ways to make things better through thinking differently about how we deliver the outcomes. Your customers are really only interested in the outcomes your product or service delivers to them. The inputs or the methods you use to deliver those outcomes are usually secondary or even inconsequential to them. Therefore, it makes sense to focus more on how you achieve results and deliver value to your clients than on what specific "formula" you use to get them what they want.

Idea #3 - Get out of the box.

You've heard "think outside the box" a million times. But innovators know that in order to generate new thinking, you have to get away from the daily business routine. If you're having trouble seeing the proverbial forest for the trees, the best solution can often be taking a long hike up the nearest mountain. When I meet with my clients, I try as often as possible to meet with them outside of their offices. This does two things. One, it gets us away from the constant threat of endless interruptions. And two, it always helps to give us a bit of much needed perspective. I don't know how many business owners I've dealt with that are genuinely afraid that their company will collapse in a heap if they so much as go out for a cup of coffee. But time after time, when these same people get outside the four walls of their business, new ideas and clear thoughts about ways to attack problems and take advantage of opportunities begin to flow freely. Innovative thinking rarely occurs when you're locked in the day to day operation of your business. And there is a great deal of scientific evidence out there today that tells us that being in completely new or novel situations actually causes our brains to rewire themselves in order to attack old problems from new angles. Simply put, it's always going to be difficult to "think outside the box" when your head is stuck inside it. My standard advice to business owners with regard to strategic planning and long-term vision for their company is to "take five". As in five days. At least five days each year should be set aside for you to completely avoid the office so you can think only about your strategic direction and longer term plans for growing your business. Anything less than that and you're really going to struggle to do anything much more than what you've "always done".

Idea #4 - Get out the binoculars.

This is about shifting your focus. Many businesses are forever focussed on the here and now. That's good to a point, but if you're only ever thinking about today, you're not necessarily going to make your decisions on the basis of what is best for the long term sustainability of your business. Large, publicly listed companies often fall into this trap when they make decisions based on what effect they will have on tomorrow's share price instead of what will deliver the most value for their shareholders over the next 10-20 years. Building a truly sustainable business, one that is environmentally, socially and financially able to withstand the test of time requires long-term thinking. And the long-term viewpoint can lead to innovations that a short-term viewpoint overlooks. Changing your thinking about your business from a "what will we be doing next week or next month" viewpoint to a "what will we be doing in 20 years" viewpoint will focus your attention in many different areas that will frequently lead to improved business sustainability across the board. Think of how differently you would choose stocks to invest in if you were given an investment window of 20 days as opposed to 20 years. One of the key elements to business sustainability is investment. Innovative thinking about how you make key investments in your business can be the difference between success and failure in the long term, but that same innovative thinking can also be the source of significant competitive advantage in the short term. If you've been in business for over ten years, it might be useful to ask yourself what you would have done differently starting out in business if you knew then what you knew now. Now take those kinds of scenarios of what you would have changed and project them 20 years into the future. What should you be doing now in order to be ready for "your business v.2030"?

I hope those ideas have given you the appetite for innovation and a few thoughts about where to start. If you'd like to get more ideas about how to better manage your business, prepare it for the future or grow it up to the next level, sign up for my monthly eNews. And if you would like to receive my Top 10 Ways to Start Thinking Innovatively, just write to me at bankable@hotkey.net.au and put Innovative Thinking in the subject line. By the way - it's all FREE!!!

Alan Blair
The Bankable Business Builder
http://www.alanblair.com.au

I've been a successful advisor to middle market and SME businesses for the past 14 years. Working for some of the world's leading banks in the United States and Australia, I've had the privilege of sharing my expertise with literally hundreds of businesses, becoming a trusted advisor to many of them and helping them all to make their businesses more bankable.

A bankable business is one that can go to any bank assured of being able to secure finance on their preferred terms instead of having to "take it or leave it" by the bank's conditions. A bankable business is one that isn't just a "job" for its owners, but a growing, thriving enterprise that is built to last. A bankable business is run by people that are confident and capable of making the tough business decisions necessary to make sure that the business is sustainable over the long term. But too many business owners become overwhelmed and frustrated to the point that they aren't able to put all the pieces of the puzzle together in order to make their business truly bankable.

That's why I decided to start my own consulting company dedicated to helping business owners build their businesses and their personal skill levels to enable them to fulfill their aspirations and enjoy a level of satisfaction that, quite frankly, many small business owners fail to achieve on their own.

If you'd like to learn more about the essential skills you need to be successful, contact me today for a no obligation conversation about how I can help you achieve your business goals.

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Why You Want to Partner With A Small Business Coach-Advisor

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. Reasons for failure cited by the SBA include: limited vision, over expansion, poor capital structure, over spending, lack of reserve funds or too little Free Cash Flow, failure to adjust to market changes, underestimating competition, poor business execution, poor business location, failure to establish company goals, poor market segmentation and strategy, poor knowledge of the competition, no management systems, over dependence on specific individuals, and/or focusing on the technical aspects more than the strategic aspects of the business, and an inadequate business plan.

Developing and growing a small business enterprise, either from a new venture or as an existing one, is difficult in a bull market, where the economy is growing. The difficulty factor is there none the less. However, in a down economy, in a recession, where the risk of business failure is magnified several times, the difficulty factor is increased by a significant magnitude. Entrepreneurs and small business enterprises find themselves working in their business as opposed to working on their business. That is, when times are tough, the small business owner feels compelled to spend all his or her time on operations just trying to keep the boat afloat, while putting off where the boat may be going. It is particularly critical in a recessionary economic cycle to spend as much time as possible on the direction of your boat, as it is on operations. If the vision is lost or clouded, it won't really matter how hard you try to keep things afloat, at some point you may well run aground because you were not watching where you were going. Having an extra pair of eyes to help stir your ship and keep you in the right direction is critical to not only maintaining your business, but helping you to grow it. And as the principal in your small business, this is where you want to position yourself; at the helm stirring your enterprise in the direction of your vision.

Successful athletes typically hire a coach to help them achieve success. Certainly this is the case in professional golf. It is the case in the world of professional cycling. And it is the case in professional team sports, such as baseball. For the entrepreneur and small business enterprise, having a coach, advisor, on the sidelines as well as in the game, to provide critical objective guidance to help them attain their business objectives can be the difference in achieving real success. As a small business enterprise, you want to be in the category of a 'small business growth' company, positioned for IPO, acquisition, merger or growing into a medium-sized company. A Business Coach and Advisor will work with you to help avoid becoming an SBA or NFIB Education Foundation statistic on their list of small business failures. From time to time we all need outside guidance, counsel, mentoring and advice. A Business Coach/Advisor will actually help you to become a success story. The benefits of partnering with a Business Coach/Advisory far outweigh the costs. Five critical benefits of partnering with a Business Coach/Advisor include, but are not limited, to the following:

1. Accountability. A Business Coach /Advisor will help you to maintain focus on driving your business forward, and helping you to work through the temptation to work in your business and not on your business. A good Business Coach/Advisor will insist on holding you accountable for achieving your goals and objectives, and work with you to delegate operation tasks that need to be performed by key personal, and guiding you towards providing the strategic vision your business needs to grow. Your Business Coach, acting in an Advisory capacity will work with you to develop or refine strategic short- and long term goals and then hold you accountable to achieve them. You want your coach to be tough, yet personable having the capacity to understand your business and where it is you want to take it. There job is to help you formulate that and to get you positioned to attain it.

2. Formulating Strategic Goals, Ideas, Objectives. A Business Coach/Advisor will work with you to develop and refine your goals, ideas and objectives. A combination of coaching and advising is necessary here, and your Coach has the acquired expertise and experience to work thru these with you and knows how to adapt them to your business.

3. Contributing Business Growth Strategies. A good Business Coach/Advisory will have the ability to share and communicate their experience and expertise in developing business growth strategies. Remember, no one has all the answers. No one. Not a coach or a business executive. Sharing ideas are critical. Thinking out of the box is essential. So, when you've just "run out of ideas" on how to market and sell your products and services, your Coach will work with you, as a partner, to develop and then implement the business growth strategy or strategies that are specific to your company and market to meet your growth objectives. To be most effective, weekly communication with your Coach will keep you on track.

4. Resources. When it is needed, your Business Coach/Advisor will provide referrals to contacts or resources for your business, such as expansion capital, legal and accounting services, social media marketing, technologies, and other resources that are relevant to helping you meet your goals and objectives. My view here is that it is incumbent on a business coach and advisory to have a teaming or partnering viewpoint, and it is essential for them to do so for the benefit of you, the small business owner.

5. Objectivity. A Business Coach/Advisor provides you with the necessary objectivity to see your business as it really is. This is essential for an honest assessment of where your business is in its life cycle. When you get used to the same processes and procedures, tasks, basic routine, you lose the ability to see your business with the same objective clarity that you once did. Your Business Coach provides you with a double perspective; looking into your business from the customer perspective, and looking out at the customer from your perspective. And then provide you with feedback about what works, what doesn't and what your options are. To be effective, weekly communication with your Coach will keep you on track.

Partnering with a Business Coach/Advisor should be on a retainer basis for three to nine months, preferably six months. It will normally take a good Business Coach/Advisor two months, sixty days, at least to become fully knowledgeable about your business, its practices, your strengths, weakness, your vision, and your objectives. Then another month to begin working with you to arrive at your business objectives. While three months is the minimum time needed for a good Business Coach/Advisor to begin making a difference under a single retainer agreement, nine months is the maximum under a single retainer agreement, where six months is the optimal. During a six month retainer, a Business Coach/Advisor should be able to meet all goals and place in to practice the critical elements that a small business needs to attain strategic objectives. Typically, once a small business has partnered with a Business Coach/Advisor, they retain them continuously, or as needed.

In today's troubled economic climate, the use of a Business Coach/Advisor makes strong financial sense. While you might feel you can go it alone, the resulting cost may far outweigh what it would be had you partnered with a Business Coach/Advisor when needed. It's sort of like the old TV commercial about changing your oil, you can either do it now at the cost of an oil change, or wait until your engine blows and pay the cost then. Waiting will certainly cost you infinitely more. If you are facing a limited vision, over expansion, poor capital structure, over spending, lack of reserve funds or too little Free Cash Flow, failure to adjust to market changes, underestimating competition, poor business execution, poor business location, failure to establish company goals, poor market segmentation and strategy, poor knowledge of the competition, no management systems, over dependence on specific individuals, focusing on the technical aspects more than the strategic aspects of the business, or simply need help in growing your business, then partnering with a Business Coach/Advisor makes good financial sense.

Gerald S. "Sandy" Graham is the Managing Partner for Sequoyah Associates, a Small Business and Entrepreneur Advising, Coaching and Consulting Practice focused on providing winning business strategies for business growth and full business optimization. His book, "See the Green $: The Achievement of Your Entrepreneurial Dreams" is schedule to be published by LOGOS, January 2011.

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Business Ethics - Why Are They Important in Small Business?

Rarely is there the individual who does not encounter an ethical or moral dilemma at some point in his or her business life. Whether that individual is the owner of a multinational corporation, a small business entrepreneur, or a new or established employee, everyone is likely to have to face such an instance eventually. Much like a personal ethical dilemma, an individual is faced with making a decision based on how it will affect not only himself, but on how it will effect the organization as a whole. One of the major problems when dealing with an ethical dilemma in business is that individuals are often swayed by business profits and the legality of a decision.

The Institute of Business Ethics, whose slogan is "doing business ethically makes for better business", describes the term business ethics as such.

Business ethics is the application of ethical values to business behaviour. It applies to any and all aspects of business conduct, from boardroom strategies and how companies treat their suppliers to sales techniques and accounting practices. Ethics goes beyond the legal requirements for a company and is, therefore, discretionary. Business ethics applies to the conduct of individuals and to the conduct of the organisation as a whole. It is about how a company does its business, how it behaves intrinsically.

As clear as this definition is, it is certainly open to interpretation. Therefore it must be understood that the application of business ethics to any situation is entirely subjective.

One can also understand business ethics, and ethics of any kind, as applying a sense of fairness to a situation. Even with a sense of clarity applied to the use of business ethics, reaching a just and moral decision can be a complex process for most individuals. The subject of business ethics has been a source of great debate in recent years as the heads of major (and minor) corporations are revealed as less than ethical characters both in the way they do business and in their personal conduct. However, it may be said that any individual who does not practice business ethics cannot be personally ethical even though the reverse may not also be true. Ethics in generally has a long history of applications. Centuries ago a man's ethical practices defined who he was as an individual. However, as populations grew, the necessity for incorporating the best business practices into a company became somehow less important because there was always another customer around the corner and the owner of a business was rarely the focus of attention in a community the way he or she may have been in the past. A company's administration took a seat in the background and hired representatives to deal with any fallout. Ethics rely on several factors, one of the most important of which is culture. Again, like the business person of the past, a culture's ethics practices will largely depend upon the value that is placed on them. Business ethics have the unappealing conflict of often being contrary to what is legal. Often what is "right" is not necessarily what is legal, and a business must consider this conflict when making ethical judgments. Although there are many in the business world who believe that a business has no room for ethics if it is to function competitively, the numbers of corporate whistleblowers indicate that there is still room for ethics in business.

Western societies place a great deal of emphasis on success. However, in business, there are often conflicts between ethical behavior and business success. This disparity is often multiplied for the small business owner. To compete with larger businesses, it may be tempting to abandon ethics just to make an adequate profit. Additionally, the small business person is relatively autonomous in his or her decision making; he or she does not have to answer to a large employee base or a corporate governing board. It is also interesting to note that the small business leader often has his or her decisions impact a greater number of individuals than does the employee of the small business. For instance, a small business owner may have his or her decision affect his or her customer base as well as his or her employee base. The employee will likely find that his or her decision will only directly impact his or her immediate circle of coworkers. However, the pressure to succeed is both an internal and an external pressure and often leads individuals to make ethical decisions that are based more on those pressures than their own moral judgment. As consumers grow wary of those that they do business with, one must understand that there is just cause for such wariness. The cynical American consumer has learned, often the hard way, that there is little room in business for ethics. In a society where the customer used to be king, the consumer has more often than not experienced several distasteful experiences with business both large and small.

Some experts argue that any focus on profitability is bound to test the limits of ethical practices. They assert that to assume that the primary function of a business is to serve its client base in an ethical manner is idealistic and that the nature of a free economy dictates that ethics must take a back seat to increasing profits. Although it is rarely the conscious intent of a business to harm the public interest, reality dictates that the businesses ability to increase profits will determine its success. Publicly owned companies experience extra pressure in this arena. It is difficult to draw investors to a company based on its ethics. Investors are looking for a return on their investment and ethical performance does not equal dollars. There are economists that assert that, in any competitive economy, ethics are impossible to uphold; that a company can legitimately bypass ethics with the excuse that unethical practices are the only way to make a profit.

Unlike the larger corporations, the small business leader is in a unique position to shape the ethical practices of his or her business. Small businesses have a smaller employee base to police when applying ethical policies than do larger businesses. It is important to understand that, similar to the ethical dilemmas of the large corporations, although an individual surely knows the difference between the correct ethical decision and the wrong road, the choice to throw ethics to the wind is often made because the unethical choice is more profitable. This may, however, happen much less often in smaller organizations because the individual or individuals who are harmed by the unethical decision and someone is always harmed, is more visible to the small business. Major corporations and their decision making machines are often far removed from the individuals that their immoral and/or unethical decisions effect. This may make the wrong decision much easier to make.

The unique position that the small business owner is in regarding the formation of an ethics policy yields a great responsibility. A proactive business leader formulates a statement of organizational values that employees of the company are expected to embrace - at least while performing duties in the service of the company. An organizational ethics policy is an announcement to the employees, the customer base and the community as a whole that the business is prepared to conduct itself and its practices on an ethical level. Such statements invite the respect of all parties involved in doing business with such an entity. However, it is imperative that the small business owner not make the same mistake that larger organizations often do; the ethical policies that a business develops must not be in conflict with the organizational goals. It is unethical in itself to develop an ethical policy that an employee cannot possibly follow and maintain his or her employment. When faced with the decision between an ethical decision and his or her job, an employee will almost always choose the job.

Therefore the policy must be in reasonable alignment with the organizational goals of the business. It is equally important, and maybe more so, that the small business leader lead by example. Employees, especially in a smaller organization, are less likely to conduct themselves ethically if they receive implicit permission not to. The end result of such a practice is that the small business owner can be assured that he or she is conducting business in a manner that encourages the trust of his or her customers as well as his or her employees. And since consumers have become very wary of doing business with an entity they feel they cannot trust, the small business can enjoy the profits of a loyal customer base. The small business owner has an advantage over the larger corporations in that it can elicit the trust of the consumer by applying ethical business practices that give the customer the feel of an equal business relationship rather than one where the consumer buys based on need alone. There are many that believe that such practices are capable of drawing business away from the large corporate entities and back into a customer-focused business format.

Rebecca J. Stigall is a full-time freelance writer, author, and editor with a background in psychology, education, and sales. She has written extensively in the areas of self-help, relationships, psychology, health, business, finance, real estate, fitness, academics, and much more! Rebecca is a highly sought after ghostwriter with clients worldwide, and offers her services through her website at http://www.forewordcommunications.com/

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