Feeling Frustrated and Stressed?

Welcome to the world of the business owner.

I remember when I first started in my own business and the unrealistic thoughts that filled my world. Even if I made half the sales I thought were possible, I’d make so much more than working for someone else.

But it didn’t work out like that.

Being a business owner turned out differently than I’d thought.

AND by the time I worked that out I’d sunk a reasonable amount of money into the business.

What no one told me was that being a business owner meant I had to think about the whole business AND make sure all the numbers worked!

The other thing about being a business owner is that there’s NEVER a spare moment.

So if you feel like this? Take the magic pill,

Do a One Minute Business Check Up on your business and see why things aren’t going how you thought they should (and you don’t even need a glass of water to take this pill!).

Matching terms of supply with your terms of sale is often overlooked by business owners, but this is important as it can have a significant impact, (positive or negative) on your business cash flow, and consequently how much money you need to fund your business operations.

Today Andee explains how matching your terms can help your cash flow.

The Vlog series comes from One Sherpa an online global membership community dedicated to helping small business owners succeed and prosper.

The series is filmed on location around Melbourne, Australia and answers questions commonly asked by small business owners

This video is filmed from the Royal Botanical Gardens, Melbourne and answers the question Why Should You Match Your Terms of Trade?

Let’s start today by defining a homepreneur.

They are small business owners running viable enterprises from their home.

I guess you could say they’re a subset of entrepreneurs because being based at home they often have to be very enterprising in order to compete with other businesses.

So what are they like? How would I recognise one if I saw them down the street away from their home?

According to The Small Business Success Index in America there are five defining characteristics

1. Homepreneurs tend to be male, middle-aged and white according to the 2009 Network Solutions survey.
2. 69% of homepreneurs are male, 31% are female.
3. 88% of homepreneurs identified themselves as non-minorities and 11% identified themselves as minorities.
4. 52% were over 55 years old and only 6% were less than 35.
5. 46% of homepreneurs completed college

So you can see they’re not some kind of fringe community. From the statistics they are fairly mainstream and a vital part of the economy and community

So if you’re a homepreneur drop a comment on your experiences

Is there something you could share that would benefit our community?

Business owners sometimes ask us why we don’t include cash when we talk about working capital. This is a great question and it’s very important to understand the answer.

Andee explains in today’s video what cash really is and why it’s not included as part of working capital.

The Vlog series comes from One Sherpa an online global membership community dedicated to helping small business owners succeed and prosper.

The series is filmed on location around Melbourne, Australia and answers questions commonly asked by small business owners

This video is filmed from the Government House, Melbourne and answers the question Why Cash Is Not Part of Working Capital

Are you running a business from home?

Are you frustrated by being considered a hobbyist more than a real business owner?

Well there is good news for you.

There’s a new class of business owners called Homepreneurs.

Small business owners running viable enterprises from their home.

A study by The Small Business Success Index in America last year researched home based businesses and found some very interesting facts.

1. There are about 6.6 million home based businesses that generate at least 50% of the owner’s household income.
2. Homepreneur businesses employ over 13 million people.
3. 35% of homepreneur businesses generate more than $125,000 in revenue; 8% more than $500,000.
4. Homepreneur businesses are competitive, scoring roughly the same on the Small Business Success Index as small businesses based outside the home.

So what can you take from this?

This section of the economy is alive and vital and increasing all the time.

Technology is assisting this and I believe in the next decade we’ll see it increase.

Do you have experiences you would like to share?

What obstacles have you overcome in running your business from home?

Working capital is a term that confuses many small business owners. Today Andee explains in simple terms what working capital is.

Working capital is a very common place for money to hide in your business, so it’s very important to watch closely what it is doing in your business.

The Vlog series comes from One Sherpa an online global membership community dedicated to helping small business owners succeed and prosper.

The series is filmed on location around Melbourne, Australia and answers questions commonly asked by small business owners

This video is filmed from the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Melbourne and answers the question What’s Working Capital

I’m continually amazed at how small business owners borrow against their family home and then think they have CASH to spend in the business.

If you have borrowed money or have a form of borrowing in your business then you are using other people’s money in your business and not your own.

The fact is that to get started most small business owners have some sort of borrowing because just like buying a house it is difficult to save up enough money to launch a business from your own money.

So to get started it is simply a matter of taking a loan against the family and ‘hey presto’ you’re in business.

BUT unless you believe you’re using other people’s money which needs to be paid back you can get further and further into debt without quite realising it.

The fastest way out of debt is a strong cash flow in your business.

The fastest way to get into trouble is to forget about your borrowings and fail to produce good cash flow.

I’m not talking about profit because it is possible to make profit and still have bad cash flow.

There are lots of resources on cash flow available but if you would like an introduction then go to our series of teaching on this and educate yourself before finding the bank breathing down your neck.

There are three key numbers (indicators) that will tell you very quickly how healthy your business is and in particular if you are heading for trouble in your business.

Andee discusses these in today’s video blog and shows you how to calculate these to see how your business measures up.

NOTE: Watch This Space for the new One Minute Business Check up tool mentioned in todays video which will do these three calculations for you (and much more), all in less than one minute.

We’ll be introducing this exciting new development to you right here at www.onesherpa.com very soon, so keep your eyes open for the announcement.

The Vlog series comes from One Sherpa an online global membership community dedicated to helping small business owners succeed and prosper.

The series is filmed on location around Melbourne, Australia and answers questions commonly asked by small business owners

This video is filmed from the Time Ball Tower (Port Gellibrand) and answers the question What Are the Key Numbers I Need To Run My Business?

Imagine going to your internet banking and finding you’re nearly out of money?

What do you do?

Where do you suddenly get more money?

Do you know what an aged trial balance of accounts receivable is?

It’s a listing of all the money that is owed to you from your customers.

Make yourself a promise that you’ll review this on a monthly basis as a minimum.

If you’re in trouble then weekly is much better and you can tick of all the money as you collect it from your customers.

There are many horror stories of small business owners continuing to supply products and services to customers who are not paying, have no intention of paying and are just going along for the ride.

If you are in construction then you will know about this but whenever the economy gets a little tight, you must pay additional attention to getting your money in.

Let’s face it, it’s one thing to make a profit but a completely different story to have money in your bank.

If you’re asking yourself the question “Where’s the money gone?” then a great place to start is your accounts receivable.

What are your experiences on collecting cash from customers?

Have you found this difficult?

Are there any tips you would like to share with others?

Many business owners ask “What is a model business plan?” and we often find people confused about the difference between a business plan and a business model.

Today Andee looks at 3 important tips to consider when looking for a model business plan.

The Vlog series comes from One Sherpa an online global membership community dedicated to helping small business owners succeed and prosper.

The series is filmed on location around Melbourne, Australia and answers questions commonly asked by small business owners

This video is filmed from the Melbourne Arts Centre, Melbourne and answers the question How To Find A Model Business Plan?