Design Projects

Those of you with artistic talents could consider a part-time project that utilises your design skills. Perhaps you have a strong passion for flowers and could side line in designing bouquets and garlands for weddings and other special events. Maybe you’ve taken an evening class in jewellry design and are now ready to bite the bullet and put your pieces up for sale. These are just a couple of examples, and all it takes is a little push and you could be on your way.

Food and Drink Projects

If you’re a skilled home baker then there is huge scope for you to develop a part-time business. After ensuring your kitchen is food-safe you could start up a trendy cakery or whatever your trademark product is. You can cook up a website and sell it to willing customers. This goes for anything culinary, although you must ensure you have the right safety certificates in place.

Technical Projects

Perhaps you’ve always loved designing websites and have many projects running on the go for yourself. Maybe you could turn your hand to a small business through which you design for others or create software options that can be shared. This links closely with the design projects section as you have to have a creative eye and an imaginative mindset as well as being able to follow a brief.

Writing Projects

Could you turn your blog into a profit-making vehicle? Hundreds have managed it through quality content combined with advertisements and sponsored content too. If you love writing and want to make more of it, plough your spare time into making your blog something unique and attractive.

Community Projects

There are many things you could do out in your community which would class as a part-time business. Photography is a hugely popular hobby for many and a talented few are able to turn it into a business. Equally, if you love animals you could consider offering a fostering service to a local shelter or run a dog-walking business.

Keep it Legal

Above all else when you start a business, however small you have to ensure it’s done by the book. This means you register with your tax authority and ensure you’re keeping accurate accounts, using a premium accounting software programme such as Intuit QuickBooks. Without these in place you’re at risk of jeopardising your business and putting yourself at significant risk of going out of business very quickly. You need to keep in mind that it may be an extension of a hobby, but as soon as you’re earning money, it’s a business and will be treated as such by the relevant authorities.

Underestimating Start-up Costs – Entrepreneurs make this mistake by being overly optimistic about how quickly their business will take off and how little financing it will require to begin operations. Thus, they are advised to follow “the rule of two:” Expect everything to take twice as long as initially planned, and cost twice as much!

Failing to budget prudently can also force an entrepreneur into unmanageable debt, just when it’s most necessary to prove to potential investors that the new business model is a viable one. Thus, all debts need to be settled in a timely manner.

Overspending – Overspending on overhead that isn’t necessary can eat away at a young company’s finances. Renting a large office space, buying too much furniture, investing in a lot of expensive office equipment, and hiring employees before they are absolutely needed are all a waste of money. While it is important for an entrepreneur to present a successful image to potential customers and investors, prudent and timely spending will help keep the doors open while the core product or service offered is being implemented and perfected.

Mixing Business and Personal Assets – Leveraging one’s personal assets for the purpose of building a business is a risky endeavor. Some entrepreneurs bankroll their start-ups with loans from themselves or their family members, and that’s not an uncommon way to begin an enterprise.

But continuing to fund the business with personal credit, as opposed to relying upon a business loan from a lender, can wreak havoc on both the organization’s and the entrepreneur’s financial health. It’s always better to apply for a business credit card that is used only for business expenses, while keeping all personal expenditures personal.

In addition, it’s a mistake for an entrepreneur not to pay him or herself at least a modest salary. While it’s tempting to keep the cash flowing into the business, it’s just as important to stay personally solvent, especially if the business doesn’t succeed as planned.

Foregoing Professional Help – In an attempt to save money, some entrepreneurs will forego the necessity of seeking professional help for things that they cannot do well themselves. In the long run, this can be a costly mistake. For example, a qualified accountant can help avoid penalties by making sure tax payments are made on time, organize the payroll, and otherwise keep the books balanced by tracking all income and expenses.

Entrepreneurs need to focus on their core competencies — developing and refining the business’s products or services. Any task that can be done better, and ultimately more cost-effectively by a competent professional, should be contracted out.

Failure to Understand the Market – Before a start-up venture can be successful, an entrepreneur must perform a complete and thorough analysis of the business’s prospective  customer base and how long it may take to reach short- and long-term sales goals.

Testing the product or service being offered, and then drawing reasonable conclusions from test results, before presenting it to the larger marketplace, is an absolute necessity. Testing also helps an entrepreneur price a product or service at a point that reflects its true value.

Over-promising the potential profitability of a business to investors or other stakeholders is also a common mistake that must be avoided. Rosy scenarios that don’t pan out will tend to undermine their confidence, especially if initial returns are far below projections. In other words, it’s important to be positive, but also realistic about the business’s viability.

Since 2003, many smokers have made the switch from conventional cigarettes to electronic cigarettes. Some of the reasons for this switch is the ability to save money, eliminate the cigarette smoke smell, and still have an authentic smoking experience. E-cigs work by heating a liquid containing a flavor and nicotine and transforming it into a vapor. This replaces cigarette smoke with an exhaled mist. This raises the question though: should you also ban e-cigs in your new business if you also ban cigarettes? Depending on your clientele, the answer may not be straightforward, and many businesses are choosing to not just allow but to advertise that they allow e-cigs, particularly in the nightclub, bar and food service industry.

So What’s The Difference?

While e-cigs are less intrusive than common cigarettes and safer than cigarettes where fires are concerned, many establishments still treat them the same as cigarettes, while state regulations in many places remain unclear. Airlines have banned the use of e-cigs and the Department of Transportation has made it clear that they are not permitted on planes. Many bars that are non-smoking are beginning to include e-cigs in their ban as well.

All that said, e-cigs are more discreet, and may not have the same effect on your business as normal cigarettes. Consider whether your customers are the type that enjoy smoking, and whether allowing e-cigs in your establishment might provide them with a more welcome environment than a completely tobacco-free one. Allowing e-cigs may be a point of differentiation for your new nightclub or bar versus competitors.

What To Consider When Determining Your Policy

Consider also what your competitors are doing and they may have already determined whether e-cigarettes should be permitted in your type of business. This is where it is beneficial to cross over the aisle and talk to competitors and see how they are handling it and what their existing policies are. This is also helpful when it comes to business types where the regulations may not be clear when it comes to e-cigs but do clearly ban cigarettes, and you may want to go with the crowd and protect yourself from future regulation. Many bars and nightclubs have already approved the use and establishments that advocate e-cigs are making it known.

Some places are even going as far as placing a sign in their windows and doors that show smoking is not permitted, but e-cigs are, and if your customer base is one that this would appeal to, you may consider the same. This will help attract more e-cig users and eliminate any questions about whether they are allowed or not.

As electronic cigarettes grow in popularity, researchers are diligently working on finding any health risks for those who use them as well as those around the users. In the future current bans may change if the research is positive, or the ban may expand if they discover any risks or dangers. Only time will tell if the laws will change, in the meantime it is up to the business itself to determine if e-cigs are permitted. Carefully consider the pros and cons of your policy, and then make it clear to your customers.

Wendy Williams is a freelance blogger writing on behalf of v2cigs.com, a website that offers electronic cigarettes.

Imagine that a person, let’s call him Peter, has just purchased a new notebook. He is glad and burning with impatience to start utilizing his new device. Peter comes home, tries to switch on his new notebook but suddenly it becomes clear that this technical novelty is broken. What to do then? There are two obvious variants of development of events. In first case, if there is no qualified customer service in the company which has created this notebook, Peter will feel angry and unsatisfied and he will definitely tell the people from his environment not to buy such notebooks. And, certainly, Peter will never buy some other technical devices in this IT organization. And the organization will face up the necessity to find new customers for its production. And promotion of products and especially advertising of products is very expensive nowadays.

In other case, if there is a correct support service or even support center in a company with friendly and helpful staff, events will unfold differently. Attentive specialists will consider Peter’s claim about the notebook with the help of special workflow management software and will help him to solve the problem or just replace the notebook with a serviceable new one. So, Peter will feel that such company appreciates the customers and respects them. Peter will experience positive emotions, and his feeling of dissatisfaction caused by a broken laptop will become less than earlier and gradually come to naught. In this situation Peter will be satisfied as a customer; he will recommend this company to his relatives or friends and will more likely buy some other technical devices there.

Which variant is more attractive? Of course, perfect support service is worth spending time and efforts. Moreover, today by means of special software for support service, it is real to automatize some routine processes of everyday activity. Nowadays it is cheaper to retain legacy clients than to find new customers by means of promotion and advertising, in private. If a company prefers to retain legacy clients, such company will save money, and saved money is also a part of profit.

Give Public Administration Careers a Chance

The phrase “public administrator” probably conjures in your mind a caricature of a lazy, ineffectual bureaucrat content to push paper across his or her desk from here to kingdom come. “Public administration,” on the other hand, may well bring to mind the worst stereotypes of corrupt or bloated government agencies. On behalf of the millions of hard-working public administrators who keep the nation’s clocks running, so to speak, it’s time to drop these outdated notions. Not only is public administration a noble calling to which educated professionals can aspire, it’s also one of the fastest-growing career choices in the country today.

Popular Public Administration Careers

Not everyone who works in public administration is a government employee. In fact, as state and local agencies outsource many administrative functions that were previously performed in-house, the private sector now has a hand in creating the bulk of new public administration jobs. Promising careers in this broad field include:

• Legislation and governance. State and federal legislatures can’t function without the efforts of behind-the-scene support staff like legislative aides, lobbyists, and clerks. The labyrinthine city hall complexes of the nation’s bigger cities probably couldn’t, either.
• Revenue and record-keeping. As a kid, you probably never dreamed of being a tax collector or auditor when you grew up, but there are worse things in life. Holding positions like these, with hard-to-shake negative connotations, is the perfect opportunity to fight the worst stereotypes about public administration.
• Aid and development. Then there are the public administration jobs that don’t need any help from boosters like you. As a grant writer or financial aid coordinator, you’ll be responsible for changing the lives of college-bound underprivileged kids and breathing new life into struggling non-profits.

Preparing for a Public Administration Career

Beyond entry-level and temporary positions, most public administration jobs require at least an associate’s degree, and bachelor’s degrees are becoming more common. One major exception is the armed forces, which is technically a public administration organization.

Once you decide to go into public administration, you’ll need to choose a career track sooner rather than later.

• Associate’s degree. Most community colleges now offer two-year degrees in public administration and related fields like healthcare administration and political science. This degree qualifies you for entry-level jobs that don’t require specialized skills.
• Bachelor’s degree. Public administration is one of the hottest majors at many four-year colleges, especially the main-campus state universities that serve as feeders for state and local government workers. You’ll be even more attractive to prospective employers with a dual political science-public administration degree.
• Advanced degree. You’ll never guess what many politically-focused graduate schools offer: a public administration master’s degree. Armed with one of these, especially if it’s paired with the sort of applied-science bachelor’s degree that would make you a perfect fit at federal bureaucracies like NASA and the Environmental Protection Agency.

If you’re like most aspiring young public administration careerists, you’re likely hoping to have an illustrious career filled with sweeping policy changes and a radical re-imagining of what it’s possible for government to achieve. In reality, you’re more likely to be making incremental improvements to a woefully outdated system of service delivery and a shrill, unnecessarily partisan political climate. This may be more important in the long run, though: A nation can’t dream big if the folks charged with its upkeep can’t agree on anything.

Alex Yang writes for several higher ed blogs. To read more about degrees in public administration click here.

It’s Like Dating

Negotiating for the acquisition of your company is a lot like dating. First, one of your, usually the buyer, will approach the other and express interest. Then, you’ll get to know each other a bit over informal phone calls and emails. It’s important that you feel as comfortable with the potential acquirer as they feel with you, after all, this is your baby you’re selling.

You should look for some of the same things that you would if you were dating: is your company and theirs a good fit in terms of product and brand? Do the personalities and cultures of the company mesh well? Are they serious or just window shopping? And, gut-check time: are you ready?

Also, if you have investors already, now is the time to talk to them. Do they think it is the right time to sell? What do they think about the potential purchaser? You’ll likely need their approval to sell, and so it’s best to loop them in early on (once you’ve decided you yourself are serious about pursuing an acquisition).

Getting Serious

If the initial discussions go well, you will receive a Letter of Intent, or LOI, from the acquirer. This is a non-binding legal document that lays out the general terms of the deal. Once the LOI is signed, you’ll enter into more serious negotiations and get the lawyers involved. This is also when you will enter the due diligence period, where the acquirer (well, their accountants and lawyers) are going to meticulously go through your books and your company records, looking for any weaknesses or problems that you haven’t told them about.

In preparing for a sale, make sure your books and records are in order, your tax filings are all up to date, and you have not misrepresented anything in the initial discussions. The purchaser’s lawyers will likely set up a virtual data room for you to upload your various supplier and customer contracts, leases, and financial data to so they can be securely shared with their side during this process.

Getting Married

If due diligence goes well, then you’re nearly ready to sell your company. You will have worked with your lawyers and the acquirer’s lawyers to hammer out the details of the purchase that weren’t included in the initial LOI, as well as deal with any issues that arose during diligence. Now, it’s time to sign and officially transfer ownership of the company to the new owner.

You’ve probably felt a lot of feelings during the whole process, but generally at closing everyone is happy, not the least of which is because you’re checking account likely got a lot fuller. But what happens now?

After The Honeymoon

Most purchasers will require some type of transition agreement with you and with key employees. This will be part of integrating your company into theirs and teaching your new co-workers your business. You may have been acquired because of you or your staff as well (a talent acquisition), and so part of the purchase may have been in the form of stock options that only vest if you stay with the company for a period of time. It is important to understand before signing what is expected of you during this period and make sure it aligns with your goals. Many a founder has found themselves employees after spending years as the boss and have trouble adjusting, or outright don’t like it. So make sure it is clear what the purchaser expects from you after the sale is done, and how long you have to stay with the company to receive your full purchase price (or what you will be giving up if you leave early).

Starting a business is one of the most exhilarating things you can do; many startup founders have likened it to having a baby or raising a child. If you are successful, you will have many suitors. Just make sure the time is right and you are ready to sell, and keep in mind the process above as you embark on navigating the sale of your baby.

Guest author Daniel Pierce is a serial entrepreneur who has started several and successfully sold two companies over the last few years. He now works as a consultant helping other entrepreneurs with the sale process, including negotiating the terms of the deal and managing the diligence process, including virtual data room setup and management (for more information on virtual data rooms, click here).

While many employers offer company pension schemes, it would seem that many workers are ignoring them and relying purely on their state pension offerings or insufficient private savings contributions. However many people have either no idea or an inflated idea of what they will receive.

This has led to the government’s proposal to introduce a pensions system whereby workers are automatically enrolled onto a qualifying workplace pension scheme providing them with at least the minimum level of benefits. This could be the existing workplace scheme if it meets minimum contribution levels, if not a new scheme which employers will need to obtain.

Will all employers be affected?

Auto-enrolment will apply to all  companies with one or more workers under contract of employment. This includes charity organisations.

Do the new laws apply to all workers?

All UK workers under contract of employment aged between 22 years old and state pension age will need to be auto-enrolled into a compliant workplace pension scheme if they are earning over the Income Tax Personal Allowance of £8,105 (2012/2013), and in addition you will need to offer contributions at a minimum of 3% of penionable earning. This category of workers is known as the “eligible job-holder”. There are several other categories of worker towards which you will also have certain new responsibilities.

What will happen to existing company pension schemes?

If your current pension scheme qualifies then you may not need to seek a new one. Qualifying pension schemes are required meet the minimum contribution levels.

How much do I need to contribute as an employer?

To ensure that each worker receives a fair and adequate pension provision, minimum contribution levels have been set by the government. In order to give employers and workers adjustment time, the compulsory contribution levels will be phased in gradually. By October 2018, all employers will need to offer contribution of a minimum of 3% of the pensionable earnings of a worker, with auto-enrolled employees contributing a further 4% recieving 1% government tax relief.

Will auto-enrolment be effective from October 2012?

Technically yes but the system is being rolled out as a phased process meaning that it will not happen overnight. The date of the ‘changeover’ is mainly based on the number of eligible employees within a company. The staging dates range from 1st October 2012 for employers with workforces of over 120,000 to April 2017.

As an employee, can I opt out of the scheme?

Technically yes you can. All employees have the right to opt out of the scheme. However it may be useful to ensure that you fully understand how the system will affect you and its benefits to your pension provisions before making any decisions.

As an employer, what do I need to do to prepare?

There are a number of steps that employers need to take in preparation. It has been advised to allow yourself around one year in order to make the correct provisions for auto-enrolment. This is important as employers who fail to implement the scheme effeciently may be fined.

Some of the duties employers will need to take include identifying which workers within their company are eligible for the auto-enrolment, ascertaining the payroll and administration implementations and the date your company will be affected. You will also need to identify whether your current pension scheme meets minimum contribution levels or whether you will need to make alterations to your arrangementy. Once the preparations are complete, you will need to explicate auto-enrolment to eligible employees explaining how it may affect them.

The first step for all employers is to ensure that the procedure is fully understood and you have all the information that you need to prepare effectively. It may be advisable to consult an independent financial advisor in order to help boost your understanding of the auto-enrolment and the affect it may have on your business. An advisor can also help you choose and set up a suitable pension scheme for your needs.

This post was written by John Hughes who is the resident blogger at www.independentfinancialadvisor.co.uk, a UK based site that provides access to financial advisors as well as to debt advice charities for those struggling with their debts.

Many companies are choosing to store data online which makes file sharing and collaboration amongst staff much easier. It also means that computer information is stored virtually rather than taking up your own hard drive or server space.

If you’re thinking of moving to the cloud and using online data storage in place of your hard drive then read our useful tips on what features you should be looking for.

Ease of use

Look for a provider that allows you to share files with colleagues easily and where the amount of space you use can be flexible. This way you won’t have problems with large files and you’ll be able to store all the important data you and your staff need access to in a central location.

Flexibility

Flexibility allows businesses to develop more easily so make sure the service you choose provides a flexible price plan. Look for a company that requires you to pay only for the space you use and who can provide you with more space easily if you need it.

In addition to being able to choose how much server space they use, companies will also be able to decide where they access files from. Implementing a file sharing system within your business allows staff to access documents wherever they are, so they can work from anywhere and not just the office.

Security

One thing that puts people off cloud computing is security. To most of us it simply feels less secure storing files online than it does saving them to a hard drive. Choose a provider that offers secure back up for the files you store on an online hard drive, then, in the unlikely event that you lose files you will still have a copy stored.

Author Bio

This article was provided by Tim, Tim works for the online storage company Egnyte. When he isn’t working with online storage he enjoys writing about them.

In the United States, a nascent economic recovery has driven a statistically-significant uptick in the number of company-car leases during each of the past two years, so it’s worth taking a moment to consider the pros and cons of a company car. Should you accept a company car if it’s offered, or is it not worth the hassle? Likewise, if you’re a business owner, should you offer your employees their own company vehicle?

Benefits of Accepting a Company Car

• A new ride. Since most company cars are purchased new, your vehicle will probably be an upgrade over your current ride. If you don’t need a second car, consider selling your personal vehicle and pocketing the proceeds.
• A new image. As a sleek new ride, your company car is guaranteed to turn heads everywhere you go. It will improve your image with clients, which in turn will drive sales, but it may also get you noticed outside of work.
• Less hassle. With your employer taking care of the monthly lease and insurance payments on your car, you’ll have fewer bills to worry about. On top of the obvious financial savings, this will measurably reduce your stress level each month.

Drawbacks

• Accident risk. Should anything happen to your car, your reputation with your employer may suffer as a result, even if it’s not your fault. You don’t want to look careless or irresponsible.
• Ambiguous privileges. Be sure to get your employer to spell out, in writing, exactly what you can and cannot do with your vehicle to avoid awkward situations. Learning the rules as you go is never a smart career move.
• Ownership issues. Remember, the fact that you’re allowed unfettered access to your company car does not make it yours. Your employer will reserve the right to repossess it at any time, for whatever reason. Keep this in mind if you sell your old car to make room for your new company car.

Should You Offer Your Employees a Company Car?

If you own or run a business, you’ve no doubt asked yourself this question before.

• Boosting morale. Cars are expensive pieces of equipment that your employees will appreciate receiving. They’ll likely look at their new vehicle as a confirmation of their importance as an employee and work harder as a result.
• Return on investment. Whereas a vehicle lease payment may cost only a few hundred dollars a month, your employees will likely treat the car as if its value is far greater. As a result, you may be able to reduce raises or year-end bonuses for employees who receive company cars without eliciting a backlash.
• Sense of entitlement. On the other hand, employees who receive a company car may overestimate their importance or feel entitled to other benefits. If you don’t want to deal with this behavior once it becomes an issue, hold off on providing company cars to employees whom you feel may not fully appreciate it.

If you’re a business owner, company cars can be a powerful motivating force for your employees, but they can foster a sense of entitlement as well. If you’re an employee, a company car is a huge image and ego boost, but remember that it’s not yours unless your employer says it is. Keep these tips in mind when choosing whether to provide or accept a company vehicle.

Trent Call lives and writes in Cambridge. She writes for www.carinsurance.org.uk where you can find more information on car insurance.

Public Relations Functions

Public relations professionals perform a number of specialized tasks, depending on their past experience and the size and type of organization for which they work. In general, the public relations field aims to influence voters, clients, customers, and other groups of individuals who use the products and services offered by clients of PR firms. Some common functions of public relations specialists include:

• Press release generation.
  Press releases are valuable because they reach a large number of influential people on a regular basis. Many crunched-for-time correspondents write their articles based largely or entirely on previous press releases, making the first impression generated by a given press release extremely valuable.
• In-house media.
  This is meant for captive audiences that won’t get bored with a media presentation that is more in-depth than a press release or 30-second TV commercial. Public relations firms also film in-house movies that highlight truths or dispel misconceptions about clients. These are especially popular during political elections.
• Social media relations.
  An increasingly important aspect of any successful public relations campaign, social media brings a new level of interactivity to the field. Unlike most other subcategories of public relations, social media allows for two-way communication between marketers and consumers, permitting the former to react ever more quickly to the changing tastes of the latter.

Education Requirements

Most public relations firms require all of their employees, even entry-level hires, to have four-year degrees. If you’re looking to break into the field, your best bet is to get a journalism, business, or English degree with a writing focus, as public relations careers require excellent written and verbal communications skills. More narrowly-focused public relations degrees are increasing in popularity and are often preferable to non-specific communications-oriented degrees, however you still need to demonstrate outstanding written and verbal skills.

Skill Requirements

You’ll ned a few specific skills to succeed in public relations:

• Ability to spin.
  One of your duties as a public relations specialist will be to spin events and information to portray your client in a favorable light. Your press releases, blog posts, and interactions with the media must adhere to a specific storyline; you must “control the message” at all times.
• Networking skills.
  It’s tough to succeed in public relations without a few well-placed contacts in the industry. During your college years, make friends with professors who know currently-active industry players who can land you one or more internships. Use these internships to secure a full-time job when the time comes.

If you’re an attractive, poised and sociable person with great communication skills and a love for putting on high-profile events, public relations work might be for you. If you’re in the market for a public relations job, remember to secure a four-year degree and maintain a strong network of folks who can help land you a job or at least give a good report about you to prospective employers. As always, good luck. It’s a jungle out there!

Sandra Evans is a freelance blogger with an interest in higher education. Sandra understands the importance of earning a public relations masters degree if you want to enter into a career in this exciting career field.