• Choose your charity. Research and select one charity organization to support with your time, money and advocacy. Choose a charity that shares your passion for helping a particular group of people or advancing a certain cause. (For example, BizLaunch supports a non-profit organization that works with young entrepreneurs.)
• Donate your expertise. You don’t have to write cheques to your charity. Consider joining one of their committees, sitting on the Board, or volunteering to work directly with its clients.
• Be a hero. From time to time you may be approached by a person seeking your services who can’t afford to pay you. Perhaps that person really needs your help or wants to achieve the kind of success you enjoy. Decide now to help those who can’t help you.
• Join the club. Every business and profession is represented by an association. Your association may work to raise the profile of its members, lobby to change laws, share best practices among members or to set performance standards. Such organizations will give you a bigger voice, add credibility to your profile and help you to make a difference in your chosen field.

When you are developing a business plan, keep these objectives in mind:

Develop a business that works with or without you: You may think of your business as your baby, and just like children, you have to raise them to be self-sustaining. Build a business with a solid foundation and infrastructure, not a business where you are juggling all the balls yourself.

Develop a business that allows you to enjoy your life: When your home life suffers so does your work life. While developing a business, make sure you have accounted for some free time. Create a structure that allows for time to enjoy family and friends as they are your pillars of support. Find time to pursue other hobbies. The things that make you enjoy life will propel and motivate you in business.

Develop a business you can sell: Although this might not be your ultimate goal, it is still important to create something viable to sell. Developing a business worthy of acquiring means building a business that has mass appeal, is a strong competitor in the market and has great potential to grow.

Remember that a business that works:

• Offers its customers consistent value
• Offers consistently good service
• Has great systems
• Projects a professional image
• Can be replicated or franchised

Have you developed this kind of business yet?

Read the: The Emyth Revisited by Michael Gerber to learn more

Traditionally, it was standard to want to hire based on qualifications determined by standard education and past work or volunteer experience. The higher the level of education, the better.  The more years of relevant work experience, the increased likeliness of being a trustworthy employee.

While this standard is not necessarily flawed, neither is it complete. If you are looking for a staff to complete the day-to-day and nothing more, this measure might be enough. If you are looking for people who will go above and beyond to innovate and grow your business, try hiring beyond their CV.

So what else should you be looking for?

• Proactive problem-solving: Has this person every tackled a problem without being asked to and did they communicate their solution to a superior in order to create a better way for every one else? This quality separates
• Thinker versus Doer: Being intellectual is great for conversation and idea generation, but if you want your business to grow, you need to hire people that execute action plans, not those who just write them.
• Fearless: Joining a small business is always a risk. The returns are not always apparent and sometimes the work can be draining. Find people that thrive on challenges and doesn’t mind teetering on the edge from time to time. These people rise to the occasion with a better work ethic and increased respect for the work and success of small businesses.
• Passion for life: This might seem obvious or even silly, but if you want someone to sink their teeth into their role, they must possess an innate desire to learn, succeed and grow. Those who work for wealth may never invest themselves in your vision.  They should take pride in themselves and have an insatiable curiousity.

IDEAHUB Port Hope’s Business Incubator at 260 Peter St. in Port Hope, Ontario is the place to be. Established this April 2010, IDEAHUB is for entrepreneurs ready to launch a business or move from home-based operations, graduate students looking to execute a business plan, or existing organizations with a small team developing new products or services. Supported by private and public partnerships, IDEAHUB offers business support services and high quality offices at low entry lease rates.

Business incubation is unique. It provides a venue with administrative and business support services to help entrepreneurs establish a strong business base in the critical first three years of operations.

IDEAHUB models other business incubators across the nation with the idea of helping new small business prosper; 87% of incubated businesses are still in business 5 years after graduation[i]. What IDEAHUB has in common with other incubators is professional office facilities designed to nurture and grow new and emerging small business.

There are several amenities an entrepreneur can need: office space, a desk, chair, phone and internet service, meeting space, a professional atmosphere and publicity. Especially important are know-how and perseverance. IDEAHUB provides all of the above support and allows entrepreneurs to decrease the time and financial investment it takes to get set.

New companies at IDEAHUB can grow with the necessary support services in place, and focus on marketing their new company while engaging with like-minded professionals.

Business Plans are accepted and reviewed in confidence by IDEAHUB’s Business Incubator Management Advisory Committee. Aspiring entrepreneurs who would like to become member companies, but don’t have a complete business plan, IDEAHUB staff and partners can help. Just email info@myideahub.ca or call 1-877-356-IDEA

Visit www.myideahub.ca for more information.

• The Innovator of the Year (someone who uses innovative practices – like Twitter – to engage and attract customers).
• The Family-Run Business of the Year.

Entries are accepted until August 15th at www.ebay.ca/entrepreneurs. Feel free to share the full details (included in the release below) with others.

Did you know?

• Last year, the average Canadian eBay user purchased almost $400 worth of goods.
• Over the last 10 years, Canadians have purchased more than $7-billion worth of goods on eBay.
• More than 5.7-million Canadians have bought an item on eBay.
• Approximately 850,000 Canadians have sold an item on eBay.
• Since 2000, 114-million items have been sold by Canadians on eBay.
• Canadians now buy more than $1-billion worth of goods on eBay every 12 months and sell more than one-million items every month.

One of the decisions you will need to make is what type of ownership is suitable for your business venture. The form of ownership you select will depend on your future plans.  The majority of small businesses start out as sole proprietors, but this may not be suitable for you.  The structure you choose all depends on your future business plan and the vision you have for your business. In this series we’ll outline the basic advantage and disadvantages of each legal structure of business.

Part One: Sole Proprietorship

Advantages

• It is simple to start-up
• Profits earned through the business are for the sole proprietor.
• The owner can operate the business as she/he sees fit.
• Once you have registered your name and obtained a business license, you are a legal entity and able to operate your business.
• The termination of the business is simple.
• Bookkeeping for a sole proprietor is simple.
• There is no limit to your liability.  You can be sued for the debts of the business.  All your personal assets can be sold off to repay your business debts.
• Your name is not protected.
• An employer/employee relationship does not exist between a sole proprietor and his/her business.  Therefore as a sole proprietor, the owner cannot contribute to the business pension funds, provident funds and fringe benefits which employees are entitled to.
• The business terminates on the death of the owner.
• Obtaining finance for the business will depend on the security you have to offer financial institutions.
• You are taxed as an individual, so the more your business earns, the more tax you pay.
• You have no partners to share ideas and goals with.

Disadvantages

• There is no limit to your liability.  You can be sued for the debts of the business.  All your personal assets can be sold off to repay your business debts.
• Your name is not protected.
• An employer/employee relationship does not exist between a sole proprietor and his/her business.  Therefore as a sole proprietor, the owner cannot contribute to the business pension funds, provident funds and fringe benefits which employees are entitled to.
• The business terminates on the death of the owner.
• Obtaining finance for the business will depend on the security you have to offer financial institutions.
• You are taxed as an individual, so the more your business earns, the more tax you pay.
• You have no partners to share ideas and goals with.

Also for more information on business name registration and other details, be sure to check out http://www.canadabusiness.ca

Get advice from a good small business lawyer and accountant

1. Using cloud computing I can work from anywhere in the world. I presented my regular webinars using WebEx.
2. If you give people a deadline they’ll often achieve it. Most people said that South Africa would never be ready for the world cup but they were.
3. Small business is thriving in South Africa. Remove red tape and let small business do their thing. small business owners were selling hot chocolate, coffee and “boerewors” rolls (South African sausage) at all the stadium parking lots.
4. Sport encourages people to be more patriotic. Everybody in South Africa participated in the world cup and encouraged  tourists to enjoy the country
5. There are great opportunities to do business in South Africa. It has a thriving economy that is growing
6. Relationships are important in business. People I did business with  7 years ago asked to meet with me to discuss business opportunities
7. South Africa has some superb locally grown retail and franchise businesses that just as good or even better than many retail stores in the “1^st world”
8. Small businesses face the same challenges globally

Every business needs a business plan, whether you are in your fifth year or about to start your first. Whether you are running a home-based business or building the world’s biggest corporation.

By writing a business plan, you are setting yourself up for greater success. Your plan will show your employees, suppliers, bankers and investors how you intend to achieve your goals.

Before writing your business plan, you should have already determined the type of product or service you want to deliver, completed market research, determined the type of business structure you want and developed a vision for the company. With these steps complete, you are ready to work on your plan.

Keep your plan simple and short…talk about the next three years, and limit your plan to ten pages.

Of course, not everything will work out according to your plan. Be prepared to adapt to unforeseen events or marketplace changes. Be true to your goals but remain flexible in terms of how you will achieve them.

The objective of market research is to find out as much as possible about your market.

If you haven’t yet researched your market properly, now is a good time to start.

Market research helps answer the following:

1. Who is your customer?
2. Is there a need for your product or service?
3. Where do your potential customers currently get this product or service?
4. How much are customers prepared to pay for your product or service?
5. Who are your competitors
6. Is there space in the market for you?

If you want to find your potential customers and better understand their needs, here are a few simple ways:

• Ask current customers.
• Hand out questionnaires.
• Do telephone surveys.
• Run consumer competitions that can be used as a means of obtaining the required information about your customers.
• Have brainstorming sessions with potential customers to come up with ideas to improve your current products or services, or to develop new ones.
• Speak to potential customers and get their opinions of the products and services they require.
• Speak to suppliers to find out what products are selling and what trends are taking place in the market.
• Look through your current customer purchases; can you see any trends?
• Install a suggestion box on your premises so that customers can make comments and offer

Like a movie, the pre-screening can gauge viewer reaction and can help locate dragging plotlines or uncover a better way to end a movie. Do your market research for your own business and make the difference between a “straight-to-dvd and a blockbuster”.

Often, small businesses shy away from online tools such as social media marketing because either they don’t understand how to use them or they cannot perceive their value.

Creating an online hub for your business, aside from your website, opens up a two-way channel that:

a)      collects your most loyal supporters and allows you to share news, promote products and events

b)      empowers your customers to be able to speak to you and others about your brand, which in today’s age is what they have come to expect.

If you do understand the multiple benefits of social media marketing, the most daunting thought is the time it will take to grow your community. Who has time to post all day or inundating family and friends to follow or fan?

Instead, here are 5 easy ways to grow your online following:

1. Create an interactive experience: if you have an event or trade show, ask permission for pictures or videos and let them know where to find them post-event
2. Offer online coupons exclusive to that channel
3. Run short-term, targeted ads (i.e. Facebook ads)
4. Email your existing database with an announcement of your new channel launch
5. Build up your email database and following using contests that promote sharing and mass voting

At the end of the day, you have to offer a value proposition to your customers – make sure they understand the extra benefits they’ll receive by joining your online communities.

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