Hot Business Nuggets

Home and Hand Made Bread Basic Requirements

2008-10-27T18:22:00.000-07:00

Bread is one of the commonest foods in the world. It has been in existence even before the birth of Jesus Christ. Its prices has continued to rise over the ages. Bakers even go on strike over price related issues sometimes. The cost of a typical loaf of bread is between $3 and $5 in some countries. And even more in some economically ravaged countries.

In the developing countries banned chemicals like bromate and saccharine are even used. It is considered safer and cheaper to produce your own bread from home. Neighbors will buy bread from you. You will have a ready market when demand grows. A 50kg bag of wheat flour can produce about 100 loaves of large size bread with a handful of other ingredients.

The required ingredients are wheat flour, yeast, salt, sugar, milk, water, oil or fat and may be an egg or two, depending on your chosen recipe.

There are some quick bread recipes that are great alternatives to making homemade bread loaf the old fashioned way. When the demand for your bread grows to about one flour bag per day, you can use a bread maker (worker) that will do the work for you for an agreed amount of wages per month.

Planning is very essential in bread making. You must choose a basic recipe if you are newbie. Plan your production batches in advance. Read through the recipe over and over again to familiarize yourself with the ingredients as well as the process. Get all the equipments and ingredients ready at hand.

Pre-measure your ingredients. Keep records of the timing required.

Bread making is a science and an art. It has formulae in recipes and creativity in the processing and designing. Make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature before you start. Yeast likes warm environment and must not be exposed to air before usage. The measuring of dry and wet ingredients is of utmost importance to create a tender, tasty loaf. Dry ingredients are measured into one mixing bowl while wet ingredients are also measured into another mixing bowl. Each category is properly blended before they are finally mixed together in the process of production.

When all your ingredients are mixed, you will then knead the dough by sprinkling little quantity of dry flour on your kneading table and dipping your hands in the flour so that the dough doesn't stick to your hands or the table top.

Kneading is necessary to develop the gluten in the bread dough, mix in air for rising, and distribute the ingredients so the yeast can feed. The yeast feeds on the sugars in the dough, and creates a fermentation process, which enables the dough to rise properly.

One of the mistakes in bread-making is not kneading the dough long enough. You have to knead the bread between 8-10 minutes.

After you have done kneading, form the dough into a ball and set in a greased bowl. Cover and let rest. Your dough will need to sit for 1-2 hours to rise. Make sure your kitchen is warm to aid the rising or proving process.

At the end of this time, uncover the dough, punch it down, and shape the dough into how you want it to be when you bake it, Put it into the greased baking pan and cover it for another rising or proving session. When it is has risen, put the baking pan that contains the dough into the pre-heated oven for baking. Once your bread is done, let it cool completely before slicing.You may apply light butter on the bread with a clean brush while it is still hot.

Whichever recipe you are using make sure you follow it properly.

Advantages in making your own hand made bread:

· It is a way of doing physical exercise for me

· You will make your home made bread under proper hygienic conditions.

· You will eat delicious fresh and oven-hot produced bread.

· You will be eating bread at a reduced cost.

· It is also a way of providing job for yourself and family members.

· You can grow from hand made to machine made bread.

· You will stick to your best recipe that will also be loved by your customers.

· Designing bread loaves will become fun for you and many more.

You can make loaves of bread in two different ways.

1. You can make it from scratch by hand.

2. You can also use a bread making machine to make the dough for you.

The second yields faster results, but seems to lack that "homemade" quality that comes from kneading and seeing the loaves take shape from your very own hands.

Bread designs will be discussed in subsequent write ups.

Intersted persons should send their enquiries to me through the comment box on this blog. Watch out for more educative articles on this blog from time to time.

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Author: B. O Adepiti

QUESTION: IS ANY AMOUNT TOO SMALL OR TOO BIG TO START A BUSINESS?

2008-04-21T08:44:00.000-07:00

STARTING A BUSINESS WITH 700,000.00 IN NIGERIA
Seven hundred thousand Naira is neither a small amount nor too big amount of money to start a business with.
It all depends on the following and other factors:
The type of business
The level you want to start from
The expected return on investment
The type of technology and machinery to be used. For example, this amount can only buy a medium size camera used in the Nigerian home video industry.
The type of human capital to be employed in terms of their skills and levels
The chosen location for the business. If you are to use some locations at Ikeja, Lagos Island and so on, the cost of renting a good office space alone can gulp this amount
It also depends on the value of your currency and the source of your equipment/machineries and other materials needed for the business.
And many more…factors……..

ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS FOR SETTING UP YOUR BUSINESS
According to various experts on business related matters, preparation of a business plan is an essential first step if you want to set up and work in your own business.
The process of completing your business plan will help you to determine if the business is feasible. It will enable you to know if you need financial assistance to start and operate the business,
The lending organization, e.g. the bank, will insist on seeing and reviewing your business plan.

Ask a knowledgeable person in business matters to draw up a business plan for you, if you can not draw up one for yourself
The essential components of a business plan among other components include:

1. A description of the business which would include an overview of the industry in which it is to operate
2. How the business is to be structured, managed and staffed,
3. Its legal status
4. The products and/or services to be provided
5. The available markets
6. The analysis and description of the market the business will serve, including the size of the market, the customers of the business, the competition, and estimated sales.
7. How the business is to be positioned in the market place
8. The pricing strategy
9. How products/services will be developed and/or manufactured,
10.Direct and indirect costs of production
11.Sales strategy will include methods of sales
12.Marketing strategy will include how the business will be advertised and promoted.
13.Details of ownership and the management team.
14.Financial statements including a balance sheet and cash flow projections

PLEASE ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:
Did you study any course that is related to the business in question?
Do you have any passion for the type of business being suggested to you?
Is it an important area of niche locally and internationally?
Are you just interested in it because it is one of those businesses in vogue?
Have you done a marketing survey on the cost of acquiring an office space, equipments/machineries and other things that will be needed in the business?
Is there a large market for the products and services that will be produced?
Have spoken with any one who is already successful in this business or someone who has a general business exposure or experience?
How did you come across the person(s) suggesting the business to you?
Have you done a p-roper appraisal of those suggesting the business to you?
What will be their relationship in the business (consultants or promoters or management staff)?
Do you have adequate managerial and financial planning and control experience?
Do you understand financial reports/statements and can properly interpret them for managerial or financial decision making process/purpose
Have you properly done a self appraisal as to whether you can effectively and efficiently run a business?
Some people are good at working for others; some can set up their businesses and employ experience and capable hands to run the business in their presence (you still have control over your business for you can hire and fire); while some can set-up, manage and grow their businesses with little assistance from other capable and experience hands.
Do you need to undergo some trainings in some of the above mentioned areas and others
Above all, have you drawn up a business plan for the proposed business
More articles will ben written on this and other business related topics. Keep visiting the blog

Starting a New Business Requires More Than Just A Good Idea!

2008-03-31T04:58:00.000-07:00

The most important thing you can do to prepare for starting and operating your own business is to develop a business plan. This can take time and energy, but it forces you to really solidify your business idea. You can carefully plot exactly what your business, financial and expansion goals are. And this will help you progress in all other areas of starting your business as well. Without funding for startup costs, many successful businesses would never have been able to even open their doors.

Once you've done this, you will realize the significance of unsecured start up funding. Rarely does an individual have the savings or personal resources to put a business plan into action completely on their own. Often, even when one thinks this is the case, deeper development and planning dissuades this initial thought.

Small business funding can be a rather involved subject, filling shelves upon shelves of books at libraries and bookstores. The truth is though, you don't need a how-to book to get good funding. You simply need a good lender. Being able to determine once is what really counts.

A unsecured small business start up loan gives you the startup funding you need, but getting a startup business loan can sometimes be more difficult than it seems. Most lenders today require collateral for small or large start up business loans, but collateral may be something you have never thought of before. When you obtained a mortgage, your home served as the collateral. When you got a car, the vehicle was the collateral. But when you're seeking a new business loan, you probably don't have the commercial collateral you need yet. Your only option then is to offer your personal assets as security for the loan-which is a risk you understandably may be hesitant about.

Collateral is often the biggest obstacle to the prospective business owner. Not only does a new business not yet have any commercial collateral to provide; but it is asking a lot for an entrepreneur to put his hard earned personal assets at risk in order to start a new business venture. Yet, without collateral, getting a unsecured business loan can sometimes seem impossible.

The good news is, though rare, some companies have specialized programs for exactly this scenario. An unsecured business start up loan can get a new business owner the funding he needs to cover initial business costs, without having to provide collateral and place his or her assets risk. With this type of financing plan, the lender utilizes something the borrower has worked hard for and should be able to take advantage of - his good credit. With this approach, the lender can still an unsecured business start up loan at great rates and with a variety of programs.

The small business loan application process can also be made difficult by the imposition of restrictions on how the loan proceeds can be used. This takes away the borrower's freedom to use the funds as he or she may have seen fit. You can escape these hassles by using an online application for a unsecured small business loan.

Today, web lenders offer a new window of opportunity for small businesses and individuals that need a fast start up loan approval process. Time is money! Lenders now offer cash in as little as 72 hours, with no tax forms, no business plans, and no collateral! Such lenders offer the straightest line to unsecured business loan funding, at great rates. In the modern world, financial products as efficient and dynamic as the business world must be available.

Applying for a unsecured small business loan is easy, all the business owner need to do is just go on line and submit their loan details. Then the lenders will refer back to you with the loan decision in a few days.

Wardell Brooks is a current unsecured small business loan analyst for America Funding Network. He has been working in the financial sector for several years. His experience includes banking, mortgages, and sub prime lending. http://www.venturecapital.20m.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Wardell_Brooks

Creative Tips to Obtain Business Finance

2008-03-31T04:41:00.000-07:00

Creative tips to obtain business finance focuses on strategies to acquire capital, which is a vital component for the success of any commerce. Irrespective of whether a firm is in proprietorship or a big organization, finance plays an important role in its development.
Below mentioned are some creative tips to gain business finance. These tips enable the individuals to spark the creative thought-process and obtain the capital required to promote the business.

Useful Hints:
Formation of Strategic Partnerships:
To understand this, individuals have to consider the following concepts.
Find who is reaching the customer or client base. Find out who offers the services or products that benefit the customers or client base. Examine which firm has better business skills or expertise.

All these units will make great potential partners. After identifying such strategic partners, design a fifty-fifty partnership. A prospective partnership can help to achieve sales force, accounting, IT, marketing, and management expertise. These are just a few of the services that entrepreneurs require to pay for.

Barter System:
A business sells products or services that somebody requires, and hence it is in existence. A company can very well barter these services or products to obtain those things that are required by the business to grow or serve the customers.
A firm can also barter for personal things required typically, for which funds have to be withdrawn to pay for. Business can barter for, rules, advertising, accounting or travel services, landscape, television cleaning services and many more.

Go for Strategic Investors:
A business can also obtain finance by finding strategic investors. Firstly, a small venture needs to find out, whether its products or services are directly benefiting a larger organization or not. If yes, then it is better to contact them immediately.

The small venture has to convince the larger company that their products or services have the potential of positively influencing their trade. This way, a firm can obtain finance by the means of direct equity, loan, or prepaid contracts. A company has to search for strategic investors, and there is no dearth of them in the market.

Tap the Suppliers:
If the firm plans to expand its business rapidly and require capital to pay for supplies, then they can ask the suppliers to provide advance payment.

When the business expansion contributes to a substantial portion of the annual receipt of suppliers, the firms can request the vendor to offer a yearly or two-yearly period loan by highlighting the vendor's benefits. Thus, it is fine to negotiate for at least three months payment deal.

Seller Finance is a good option. None other than the person, who sells the business, knows its true asset. Check out seller finance for overall commercial development by purchasing other businesses. Offer them rights against the business to revert their sale incase of a firm's default.
It decreases the risk of company's hidden problems and greatly helps the business owner to set up another challenging venture.

Scot Elton owns and operates a Best Penny Stocks Picks website to help other investors with their stock decisions. He also operates a Home Based Business earn money online site to help entrepreneurs gain experience and wealth."

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Scot_Elton