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Free Stuff for Small Business Owners

June 16, 2011 By aibusine Leave a Comment

Starting a small business can be very expensive. Many times, entrepreneurs put their financial stability on the line to launch their new venture. While small business owners can spend a lot of money within the first few months, there are many resources available that are absolutely free. The trick is finding these free resources for your small business.

Small Business Resource #1 – Free Business Cards

Business cards can be one of the most valuable tools for small businesses when starting out. It provides a means to quickly and easily distribute your contact information. There are some companies, like Vista Print, that offer to print your business cards for free. In exchange for the free cards, you simply need to allow them to print a small image of their logo on the back of the card.

Small Business Resource #2 – Free Accounting Software

Tracking your income and expenses is just as important as the amount of money that you spend to start up your small business. Oftentimes, new entrepreneurs must rely heavily on handwritten records and journals for their accounting needs. Microsoft offers a free downloadable accounting software package for small businesses.

Small Business Resource #3 – Free Web Hosting

A website is a great way for customers to access information about a company. Unfortunately when starting small businesses, this can be a pricey luxury. After paying for someone to design the website and hosting fees, the price tag can become steep. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be this way. Sites like freeservers.com allow you to create and maintain a basic website for free. You can upload your own website files or simply follow the on-site design wizard. You will also be provided with a free email account so that customers can easily contact you through the website.

Small Business Resource #4 – Free labor

Ok, so this sounds a little too good to be true (not to mention illegal). Believe it or not, you can score free labor from college students in exchange for work experience, college credits, or job references. This is also a great way for you to get help from people who have experience in fields that you don’t. For example, a computer science intern can help you design a website for you company. In exchange, they can add the experience to their resume. Most colleges and universities allow students to earn credits for internships. Contact the school’s administrative office to see if the position that you are trying to fill qualifies for their internship program. You can also find interns by posting your position to campus or online job boards.

Small Business Resource #5 – Free PR and Advertising

A business is useless if no one knows it exists. Promotion and advertising can become a matter of life or death for a new small business. Just starting out, you probably aren’t going to be airing any television commercials or publishing print ads in magazines. You will more likely stick to simpler, less expensive ways to get your company name out there. Fortunately, there are many ways to promote your company for free. Start by listing your company on the web through free online business directories. In this day and age, online sources are where most people start when searching for a company or service. Also, get your company involved in community service and charity events. Organizations often give special thanks to companies that volunteer time to a charity in the form of plugs in press releases, radio broadcasts, and event signage.

Small Business Resource #6 – Free Ways to Connect and Learn

The most successful small businesses are the ones that learn from the market and adapt to conditions to maximize benefit for the company. Information can be one of the best resources for a small business. There are many places where you can acquire good free advice and guidance to succeed. The US Small Business Administration offers free online courses on many topics from creating a business plan to surviving in a bad economy. Also, check out your local business associations. Many are free to join, and it gives you the opportunity to discuss and learn from other businesses successes and mistakes. If you cannot find one, consider starting your own.

Starting a new business can be very exciting, but there is no reason to go broke trying to accomplish your goals. There are always free or low cost resources that are available. Sometimes the hardest part is finding them. Hopefully, this guide will get you pointed in the right direction to making to most of your new venture.

Written by BrandonMiller

www.reachd.com Rodney Bartlett interviews Google’s Matt Cutts at Pubcon 2007 in Las Vegas. Matt had some excellent tips for small business owners and answered a few great questions.
Video Rating: 4 / 5

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Small Business Website Design – Why 70% Of Small Businesses Have a Website

June 16, 2011 By aibusine Leave a Comment

Find Small Business Website Design HERE

Facts about Small Business Website Design:

Did you know that over 50% of small businesses currently have a website? And that 13% of small businesses that do not have a website plan on having one within the next 12 months?
Now you may ask yourself why so many small businesses are searching for small business website design? Well in this article we will help you understand why having a website for your small business is key to success.

First of all the main reason why your business should have a website is to win new customers from the internet, duh! If you don’t have a website then how do you expect to gain new customers from the internet? Its 2010 ladies and gentlemen and today everyone is using the internet! What sounds easier? Looking for your yellowpages book and flipping around pages for 5 minutes looking for a plumber or just typing up Plumber in XX, California in Google ?!

The second reason why you should be searching for small business website design is because your competition is doing it! If your competition has a website and you don’t that means that 100% of customers going on the internet will be finding them and 0% will be finding you. Now ask yourself this: Did you start your own business to have your competition win all the new clients? I didn’t think so.

Another very important reason why your business NEEDS a website is 24 hour access to your products and services. Let me elaborate, just because your work day ends at 5pm everyday doesn’t mean potential clients aren’t searching for you type of product or service. When you have a website your product or service is featured 24/7/365 and is accessible to anyone on the internet. You are essentially winning new clients while you sleep.

All of these reasons and many more bring us to the conclusion that having a website for your small business is a necessity and in this rough economy you cannot afford to not be on the internet, it is where you will gain most of your new business. I would advise any small business owners to start searching for small business website design as soon as possible.

Gain New Clients with Small Business Website Design

Hey Gang my name is Dana aka Small Business Resource Queen. For five years now I have been gathering up resources for small business owners and posting them online. I take pride in my work and my main goal is to help small business maximize their potential in this rough economy.

If you are a Small Business Owner then educate yourself on how to gain new business and thrive in your industry!

Please feel free to contact me with any questions and/or feedback!

Save 20% on all web creation/web hosting products! Use code TWC287 (expires 12/31/10) Small Business Website Design

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Why Small Businesses Fail

June 16, 2011 By aibusine Leave a Comment

Each and every day, there are an alarming number of small businesses that cease to exist. Why do small businesses fail? Well, the fact is, that according to research, around half of all small businesses that begin doing business in any given year will shut down within two years of starting out. Some of the reasons small businesses fail have to do with economic pauses or even just dumb luck, but most of the time when a business fails it is because the business or the business owner has made some sort of mistake or even a series of significant mistakes.

Here are some of the most common reasons small businesses fail.

Insufficient planning. In many cases, a business owner may not spend the amount of time he ought to spend in order to plan before he opens his business. If he is going to be successful in a small business, he has to be able to look down the road at the long term prospects involved in his business.
Insufficient business skills. Just because someone is good at what it is that she does, doesn’t mean she has a good head for business. If she is going to be successful in her endeavors, she has to learn things about bookkeeping, inventory and all sorts of business principles that may not have anything to do with what her actual business is.
Bad marketing. It isn’t enough to have an excellent service or an amazing product. You have to be able to let people know about your product or service. You have to be able to tell people why they need to buy your product or to hire you. If you have poor marketing, you are not going to succeed in your small business.
Insufficient money. It takes time for a small business to turn a profit. Someone can’t open a business one day and expect to be turning a profit in a matter of just a few days. If the small business owner thinks that he is going to become profitable in just a few days, a few weeks or even a few months, he probably has a lot to learn about small business.
Staffing problems. If a small business is going to survive, it is eventually going to have to hire somebody beyond the person that is starting the business. Choosing the right people to hire and knowing how many people to hire and to do what jobs is an important part to small businesses success.
Inability to retain customers. Repeat business is the lifeblood of any successful small business. You can almost guarantee that a small business will fail if it does not have customers coming back more than once. For a business to succeed, you have to be able to get customers through the door more than just one time.

While these aren’t the only reasons a small business fails, they are some of the most common things that can cause a small business to fail.

Written by mrboffo

President Obama speaks about the key role small business plays in moving the American economy forward and the steps his Administration has taken to help small businesses grow and hire new workers during a visit to Woonsocket, RI. October 25, 2010.

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