Budget Tips
Tools for Better Living
Friday, April 25th, 2008Although it’s tempting to fill a gift shop with nothing but trinkets and fun items, there are plenty of good reasons to include more practical items, as well. Given that our economy is either in a recession or moving towards one (depending on who you talk to), the idea of buying something that serves no practical purpose is going to get less and less appealing to the average person on the street. If you can provide something they need, however, you stand a great chance of making the sale and keeping their continued business.
One such category of items is the growing posture correction market. Gel pillows, wedges, support pillows, and items like that are very popular because they actually improve a person’s quality of life by reducing pain. Not many people are going to view bodily comfort as a luxury, even during a recession.
Extremely Easy Logo and Business Card Design
Friday, April 4th, 2008If you’ve ever been intimidated by the thought of hiring a graphic designer for a logo or business card, LogoYes logo design is exactly what you need. Instead of dealing with file types and sizes and printers and temperamental designers (I’ve so been there), you can just log on and select the elements yourself. You don’t need any kind of specialized software knowledge at all.
While this may not be the ideal solution for a large company, it’s great for a small shop with a limited budget for this kind of thing. Th e logo you create can also be matched to business cards, which gives your business a consistent, professional look. To give you an idea of how incredibly simple it is, I made this card in less than 30 seconds. Obviously, you can play around with things a little more (colors, size, etc.), but since I don’t currently need anything like this, I didn’t spend too much time on customization.
What if You Can’t Buy in Bulk?
Monday, February 18th, 2008When you’re first starting out (and perhaps for even longer), some manufacturers’ minimum purchase requirements can seem completely unreasonable. I’ve heard of some as steep as $30,000 on an initial order with monthly $10k minimums after that. That’s certainly not something that most small businesses can agree to.
In some industries, there may be alternatives like directbuy. Directbuy lets you join as a member and enjoy wholesale prices at their showroom. While it’s targeted to home design products, similar businesses exist in other industries, too.
Trying to Figure Out How to Fund Your Business?
Wednesday, January 30th, 2008Unless you have spectacular credit and a substantial down payment, funding can be the biggest hurdle to starting a new business. While there are definitely cases where it’s simply impossible to get normal funding, there are also thousands of cases where people give up without exploring all the options.
What a lot of people don’t know is that the SBA (Small Business Administration) is designed to help entrepreneurs start small businesses. The independent spirit is a vital part of our economy, and the government has taken numerous measures to make sure that worthy businesses are able to get the money they need to get off the ground.
I’m not talking about those crazy late night commercials where an insane guy screams at the screen, telling you that the government wants to give you bajillions of dollars for nothing. In fact, there’s a fair amount of research and effort involved in getting SBA funding. It’s not impossible, though, and it’s a heck of a lot more fun than continuing to deal with a boss and commute every day.
If you want to find out about your startup funding options, Express Business Funding has a guide that you can get for $2 in shipping and handling costs. Obviously, they’ll want to try to sell you on some of their other products/services, but if the guide is all you want, you can definitely get just the guide. It’s considerably cheaper than most of the books I’ve seen that offer similar information.
Know of any other resources for locating government small business funds? Let me know in the comments.
Holiday Help Tips
Sunday, November 18th, 2007Getting extra help for your store can be tough during the holidays. Big chains are often just as desperate, and many can offer benefits that most small stores could never compete with. That’s why you’ll have to get creative to get good holiday help. Here are some of the things that I’ve known to work.
-Interns - If there’s a college nearby, you can often get a local student to come help for the entire fall semester by promising to allow him or her to participate in some other aspect of the business in addition to the more menial tasks. Accounting students may be thrilled to help out with your bookkeeping data entry, and marketing students would probably love to help out with a holiday flyer or postcard.
-Mothers - If you are willing to be flexible and allow a young mother to bring a playpen and keep her child in your break room or another nearby area, it’s pretty easy to find someone to help you out. There’s not a Best Buy in the country that would offer that kind of perk.
-Retirees - Often, older women may be interested in getting out of the house for a while each day, but they don’t know where to begin. Ask around your church or at a local women’s group if you’re looking for their help.
-Be Friendly - Don’t play one single holiday CD on repeat. Don’t be a total stickler for uniformity and procedure. Embrace differences and encourage your help to be themselves (as much as is practical, of course).
Buying a Small Business Computer
Sunday, November 18th, 2007If you’re going to run a small business, you’ll almost definitely need a computer. Even if you run an old school cash register in a brick and mortar store, you can improve your business by adding a computer. There’s just no compelling reason that I can see not to make the investment (unless you work in Colonial Williamsburg and you’re going for historic authenticity).
I would offer a set of rules, but it would be outdated almost as soon as I put them onto the screen. Instead, I recommend that you go to a knowledgeable friend, neighbor, or relative (or local student, in a pinch), and ask that he or she come along with you to the store. Before you go, make sure you know what you’re looking for. If your activities will likely be limited to using the web, checking e-mail, doing a little word processing, and possibly using a basic accounting software, you probably don’t need something terribly fancy. The only real consideration would be computer memory, as processor speeds are hardly even a consideration for normal tasks these days.
What you should not do is go out to your local computer store and tell them that you need a new computer for your business. They can and will convince you that you need much, much more than you actually do. Don’t let that happen to you.
Quick Tip - Make Your Own
Friday, November 16th, 2007A lot of small gift stores buy paper products from a number of individual artists and vendors, but if you’re creative, you don’t have to. Instead of buying and doubling the wholesale price to make a profit, try developing your own simple products and enjoy tripling (or even better) your money with each sale. Many web-based printers will give you great deals on relatively small quantities, allowing you to maximize profits. You may even have some luck selling your items to other nearby stores.
Of course, you can also go the hand-made route if you’re especially crafty. The additional upside there is that you can test a very small quantity before you spend hundreds of dollars on printing.
Some things you might try:
-Christmas Cards
-Gift Tags
-Notebooks
-Invitations
That’s just a start - I’m sure you can think of more.
Budget Tip - Before You Dump Your Old Computer
Monday, April 16th, 2007If your computer has slowed down lately and you’re contemplating a new one, hold off before you dump it. You can try a free Windows registry repair download to see if that speeds things up. In the past, I’ve had computers that were ridiculously, painfully slow, and a quick registry cleanup improves things dramatically.
If you’re not convinced that it’s something that you can do for yourself, check out their registry cleaner screenshots. They show you everything in simple, easy pictures - none of that crazy, all text stuff that you would have been dealing with 10-15 years ago. They even have a contact section if you have questions.
Budget Tip - Combine Your Buying Power
Monday, April 9th, 2007Sometimes it’s hard to save up enough money to meet manufacturer and wholesaler minimums. Sure, $150-300 first orders don’t sound like that much, but when you’re trying to build up a substantial product line, it adds up. There are a couple of ways to get around that problem, though.
Order with a friend: Ideally, your friend would be someone who’s also in retail - but in a different market. Maybe you’re online and she has a brick and mortar store. Maybe you have a small local pharmacy and he runs a gift shop for tourists. It could be anything, really, as long as there’s no good reason for things to go sour.
Buy from companies that sell lots of products: Some companies import a ton of similar products, so they can help you get a number of different items while being subject to just one minimum initial order amount. Just make sure you don’t let yourself get suckered into buying stuff you don’t believe in simply because it’s easier.
Sell off the excess: Retail isn’t your only option. Break your excess products up into wholesale lots and sell them on eBay. You’ll need a bit of feedback, but who doesn’t have at least 20-30 feedback in this day and age? Plus, you should build it up even if you don’t intend to do this. EBay comes in very handy during the lean periods.
Getting Your Ducks in a Row
Saturday, March 17th, 2007From time to time I get questions about personal finances, and how you can best prepare for the initial financial burden of your own small business. The e-mails I get range from people who think that their personal finances are completely unrelated to their small business finances (umm, tell me you’re kidding), to those who intend to co-mingle…well, pretty much everything.
So, while we’ve talked about it a bit in the past, I just want to take this opportunity to say this: The better your personal finances, the easier it’s going to be to get your business going (and keep it going).
If you’re the entrepreneurial sort, I’m guessing that you may have had some issues in the past. A lot of things drive people to strike out on their own, and failure to “feel right” in the normal workforce is one of the most common. You may not have been rising through the ranks at the same rates as your peers, or you may have been getting passed over for raises. That’s okay, I get it. I’m sure there are a lot of people here who get it. Or, you might just be sick of working in ways that leave you underpaid for your efforts. That’s pretty normal, too.
That’s all the more reason to get things sorted out before you start into a new endeavor. If you’re in need of debt relief, there’s no better time to do some research than BEFORE you get heavily invested in a business.
Browse around online. There are plenty of resources on managing debt and budgeting - and using the web as a learning tool can leave you feeling a little less intimidated if you decide to seek out help in getting things under control.
I don’t mean to sound preachy, but when I saw this post opportunity (sponsored by CareOneCredit.com), I knew it was something I should bring up. If it’s something you’re dealing with now, feel free to share in the comments. I promise, no one here bites!
Budget Tips - When You Can’t Afford to Buy 30
Friday, December 1st, 2006In many cases, the items we most want to resell are items that cost WAY too much to buy in bulk (at least in the beginning - you’ll get there soon enough). In those cases, I recommend testing the market and earning a few bucks by purchasing single items with online coupons.
By going to a site like CouponChief.com, you can search for codes that let you get items cheaply enough to resell them at a profit. Using Buy.com coupons that I found on their site, I was able to turn a quick profit on several items (Thank you, eBay!). I was actually shopping for something else, but when I come across a good deal, I can’t help but check for coupons to make it even better.
Even if you don’t seek out items for resale, coupon codes can greatly reduce the cost of your holiday/birthday/random gifts, leaving more money for you to invest in your business.