How is using MyCorporation to form a business different than working with an attorney?
MyCorporation files the corporate documents with the secretary of state. While MyCorporation does not provide legal or financial advice, we do have tools that can help a customer make the decision on entity type.

We also find that many customers consult with lawyers and/or accountants prior to using the services of MyCorporation so that the customer has the information needed to make the right decision about entity formation. MyCorporation, which now offers free incorporations & LLCs is certainly a lot less expensive than a lawyer.

What information do you offer on choosing a type of business entity (corporation vs LLCs, etc)
MyCorporation offers extensive resources on entity types. We offer a learning center with an entity decision tool, comparison charts, and a free incorporation guide to help understand the differences between entity types. We also can provide information regarding state fees and filing times so that the customer understands the fees and time required to get documents filed with the secretary of state.

What do entrepreneurs get when they signup for your incorporation service?
MyCorporation provides the incorporation or LLC filing service for free. With the free service, entrepreneurs will receive their articles of incorporation or articles of organization with a corporate package. The corporate package includes a CD explaining the materials in the package, sample bylaws or operating agreement, sample minutes, and stock/membership certificates. In addition, MyCorporation offers entrepreneurs a free copy of Quickbooks Simple Start with every order.

What’s been the biggest challenge for your customers with business formation and how have you addressed it?
The biggest challenge for customers who form a new corporation or LLC is how to maintain the entity. Entrepreneurs are focused on their business and they often don’t want to worry about what they need to do to maintain their corporation or LLC.

We’ve developed an offering called MyIncGuard, which provides new entrepreneurs with reminders about deadlines such as tax due dates, annual report filing requirements, and end-of-year deadlines. The MyIncGuard product also provides customers with sample corporate documents (Employer/Employee agreements, Consulting agreements, Notices & Waivers of Meeting documents), in addition to a free Nolo book about starting a new business.

What’s the best feedback you’ve received about your incorporation service?
Customers love that we’re a 1-stop shop, and that we’re affiliated with a trusted company like Intuit. Many of our customers were unaware of an offering like that of MyCorporation, and they’re thrilled that they don’t have to pay high attorney fees, as well as delighted that they don’t have to figure it out themselves. Now that we’re offering free incorporations & LLCs to give back to the small business community, customers are beyond happy.

What other services does MyCorporation offer for entrepreneurs?
MyCorporation offers many other business filing services. MyCorporation can help entrepreneurs file for protection of their trademarks and copyrights. We can also file all annual filings required of a corporation or LLC, including amendments and annual reports. We’ll obtain an EIN, file for s-corp election and serve as an entity’s registered agent. We’ll even work with entrepreneurs to register their DBAs and, should the need arise, file dissolutions to dissolve an entity that is no longer in business. Beyond that, we offer many free Intuit products, which is an added value for MyCorporation’s customers.

Thanks to Deborah for taking the time to answer our questions and thanks to MyCorporation for helping small businesses by offering offering free online incorporation services.

“I shoot portraits, headshots for actors and portfolios for models, as well as events. I also consult with models/actors and give them tips on the industry.”

Business Stats

Industry – Photography

Market – Models and actors

Competitors – Many independent photographers in New York City

Need – Models and actors looking for work

Unique Selling Proposition – Photos & Career Tips from years of experience as a model, stylist, photo assistant and art director.

Business Questions

As with most new business owners Danielle has a number of areas in which she’s looking for assistance with her new business such as business entities, tax issues, etc. However, one of the common themes centered around marketing and advertising her services in order to find new customers and grow her business.

As I mentioned above, I think Danielle’s choice to target models and actors will make it easier for her to find customers and to turn them into satisfied clients that will generate referrals.

Serving a Need

Danielle’s service stands out to me since it is key to helping her customers reach their goal of getting a modeling or acting job. I think the fact that she can combine industry tips along with her headshots and portraits gives her a competitive advantage.

Building a Brand

Danielle has chosen the name of Whimsy Photographics for her business, one thing she could consider is a name that more precisely defines the benefit of her services to her customers. Maybe something like Performance Photography, or Audition Images, that gives potential customers the mental image of what she can offer.

I think Danielle should establish her brand by creating an “Audition Success” package that includes both headshots/portraits and consulting on how to get and ace an audition.

Marketing Online

A good way to prove her expertise in the industry would be for Danielle to offer free tips in the form of a website or blog. She currently markets herself on Craigslist and with signs around her neighborhood, she should include her web address on those advertisements and make mention of the audition advice she provides.

A great way to spread the word about her services would be to create a special report about “How to Get an Audition” or “How to Build a Standout Photo Portfolio” and give it away on her website. She could even create an audio version as an mp3 and a video version to share on sites like YouTube. She should offer free access to her reports for anyone that signs up for her “Audition Success” newsletter.

Offering a Total Package

This may sound like a lot of work just to market a photography business but one thing I learned from Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing is that customers are much more likely to buy if you can offer them a solution to a problem rather than just a product.

Models and actors want pictures that will help them get hired. Taking great photos is a useful product but it’s only part of the puzzle, offering a package of photos and consulting/coaching is more of a solution that will help them get a callback.

I would focus on the ability of pacakge to get them the audition, since it’s up to the customer’s own abilities to actually get the gig once they land the audition.

Using Testimonials

I think the first thing Danielle should do is to contact her past clients and ask for testimonials on how her photos and advice helped them land an interview. She should highlight those testimonials on her website and in her free report.

Marketing Suggestions

If you have any suggestions or ideas for Danielle on ways she could market her photography business please leave them in the comments below.

Denise is starting the Senior Assistance Project to help this elderly demographic:

“The Senior Assistance project is a non-profit organization designed to assist low-income senior citizens with everyday, non-health related issues.”

The seniors Denise is looking to help are often plagued by financial issues, confused by dealing with government agencies, and sometimes the target of scams. Some of the things that the Senior Assistance Consultant Project will help with are:

• Obtaining credit reports
• Identity theft monitoring
• Dealing with creditors
• Basic budgeting
• Medicare programs, benefits and deadlines
• Insurance co-payments and coinsurances
• Navigating government agencies
• Dealing with junk mail & tele-marketers

Denise has already started serving a few seniors but is looking for ways to finance the organization. She certainly has a market in need, one of her main problems is finding money to pay for the resources necessary to service these needs ( a job that will likely be even more challenging due to the tough economy).

Fund Raising

Business Sponsors

Denise could approach some of the many senior targeted businesses to be sponsors of her organization. This could be a challenge since a lot of the people she services won’t have a lot of extra income to potentially spend on the proudct or service of these businesses. With this in mind, she could target businesses that sell lower cost proucts that might be more affordable to her low-income clients.

Another offer Denise could make to businesses is to offer testimonials from seniors that are helped by sponsorship. The sponsors could use the testimonials as part of thier marketing materials.

Individual Donations

Asking for money from individual donors is different from businesses, since instead of a financial or branding benefit that companies are looking for, individuals are looking for an emotional return on investment. They want to know how the money they give is going to help others so providing emotional examples and proof will help encourage donations.

Leveraging the Internet

One of the ways to do this is to let donors get to know the people they’re helping by telling the story of needy seniors. The Internet is a great tool for this purpose, with the ability to publish interivews, thank you notes, pictures, and videos of people that are helped by the Senior Assistance Project.

She’ll need to get signed releases, giving permission to publish this information, but the time spent on legal compliane will be worth the ability to publish before and after stories and testimonials.

The website should be setup to not only accept donations but also to allow people to sign up to follow the story of seniors. Even if individuals don’t donate right away, people who are signed up for an email list that delivers periodic updates may donate in the future.

A popular approach that’s worked in other fund raising efforts is allowing donors to “adopt” a person in need, perhaps a “adopt a grandparent” campaign?

Government Funds

I don’t know much about getting government money but I’m assuming that one of the qualifications they look for is the ability to demonstrate and quantify the impact on people receiving the benefits. The testimonials speak to the emotional side of this question but I’d also make sure I kept records of the services provided and the outcomes of the assistance.

If you have any suggestions or ideas for Denise about ways to fund the Senior Assistance Consultant Project or any other feedback please leave them in the comments below.

She works for a restaurant and noticed that the buckles on the high chair belts got a lot of wear and tear and would break 4-6 months after buying new high chairs. She realized that the failure point was typically the buckle and made her own replacement belt with a higher quality buckle.

After installing her belt at the restaurant for a successful trial period, the restaurant manager ordered a set of high chair replacement belts from Nancy.  Realizing she might be onto something, Nancy signed up for some small business consulting:

“I met with a member of SCORE (Service Core of Retired Executives) just before Thanksgiving. During our one hour meeting, they expressed excitement with my business proposition and more so by my projected profit margin.  We talked about the longevity of such a business knowing the need for replacement seat belts are necessity not a luxury.”

Business Stats

Industry - restaurant Service Supply

Market - restaurants that use high chairs to serve young kids

Competitors - Four competing companies

Need - Lack of quality replacement parts

Trends - Disposable income is down for customers and food costs are higher so many restaurants are tight on cash

Unique Selling Proposition - Better quality, stronger buckle

Product Costs & Pricing

The first thing I would do if I was Nancy would be pricing research on her competitor’s replacement belts and on the costs of her own production.  I’m assuming the competitor’s buckles are cheaper to make since they’re a lower quality. 

If they can be more price competitive since thier costs are lower then it could be a hard sell to businesses to buy a more expensive product.  Of course, if Nancy can prove that the belts last 2–3 times as long, that could save the restaurant owners money depending on how Nancy prices her product.

Another area I would research extensively would be the costs to ramp up production of the belts.  If Nancy is profitable making them herself but due to demand has to spend money on people or equipment to produce larger quantities, how will that effect her pricing and profits? 

I would interview restaurant owners to find out who they buy from and why.  I would ask questions about the importance to them of the trade-off between quality vs cost.  Many small restaurants are dealing with higher food costs and customers with less money to spend.  Would these restaurants be looking to spend money on replacement belts in tough economic times?

I know I’ve been to many restaurants where we go to strap in our son and the belt is broken or missing.  So the belts do break, but how often do restaurants replace them?  Are restaurant owners content to let them sit broken from an extended period of time before replacing them?

Legal Issues

Any time you create something for kids you have to deal with legal concerns, especially if it’s a safety or restraint product.  I don’t know if there’s a certification process the belts would have to go through and how that would impact the cost and time of production. 

I would definitely do my research on the liability questions and consult an attorney on the matter.

Marketing

I would come up with a memorable product name that conveys the value of her belts.  Nancy’s unique selling proposition at this point is quality and durability, perhaps a name for a belt that’s secure and durable would be DuraSecure Belts.

Another place I see broken belts all the time is in shopping carts in grocery or retail stores; this could potentially be another big market for Nancy’s product. 

Small Business Assistance

Nancy has designed her marketing postcards and business card through VistaPrint but is still in need of a business logo.  She’s creating a website using Microsoft Office Live Small Business but needs design work done on the site and also wants to set it up so she can take orders through her site.

Nancy is also a little low on funding.  She’s used her seed money to buy the supplies to make her first round of belts that’s shes going to be marketing to local restaurants next month.  Of course if she can win the Small Business Stimulus package she could certainly use the cash prize  

If Nancy’s response from area restaurants is positive and she needs more capital for growth another funding option is to borrow money from Lending Club.  A lot of small businesses are turning to Lending Club to raise money during the credit crunch, this Lending Club review walks you through the process of applying for a loan there.

If you have suggestions or comments for Nancy’s venture, please leave them below.

I’ll paraphrase them below, you can visit the full article for all the details:

• Focus on Profitability over Growth
• Focus on Cash Flow over Sales
• Utilize Lines of Credit, Before they Disappear
• Challenge Assumptions About Your Business
• Cut Costs Now
• Ignore the Stock Market Performance
• Endure – This Economic Cycle Will Pass

“I will be taking calls, scheduling meetings, gathering information, creating reports, and all of the things that a normal administrative secretary does.

 

Many companies are laying clerical off yet they need us.  These businesses will benefit by getting the help they need yet not having any overhead, no benefits or insurance costs to pay and they won’t pay for accumulated sick days or holidays.”

Business Stats

Industry – Business Services

Market – Small businesses and home based professionals

Competitors – Wide variety of individuals (on eLance) and companies (GetFriday.com)

Need – Necessary administrative tasks that small business owners don’t have time for

Trends – Bad economy may send businesses looking to cut costs by contracting rather than hiring full time.

Client Base
Dee is familiar with the role of office assistant and all the services that potential customers might need.

“I’m good at what I do and I’ve worked at home before. I have 10 Sales Executives and one Sales Manager who worked closely with me who will back me up on that.”

There are certainly many businesses, big and small, that are looking to cut costs but if I was Dee I might try and focus on a certain industry.  Every industry has its own vocabulary, deadlines, and regulations that can make communicating through a third party more challenging.  On the other hand, being intimately familiar with those industry details can give a virtual assistant a competitive advantage over general purpose assistants.

Of course starting off, Dee will probably just have to take any customers she can find, but I think it would be wise to target a certain industry.

I would also think it would be wise to target small companies since they may be easier to break into since they don’t have to go through big human resources departments to budgets and legal issues approved.

Unique Selling Proposition

I’ve never hired a virtual assistant but I can imagine the task would make any small business owner nervous.  It’s a customer facing position so communication skills and professionalism are vitally important.  I’d want to make sure that I found someone who represented my business well and portrayed a professional image.

That being said, small business owners always have to consider costs and globalization has made virtual assitants available from different parts of the world for a pretty low price.  I would imagine anyone looking to hire a virtual assistant would be trying to find the right balance between cost and competency of the service provider.

One suggestion for Dee is to compete on quality, not cost.  I’d guess that there are many other virtual assistants out there that could work for the fraction of what she might charge.  However, the quality of their work is unknown, while her service comes backed with years of experience.

An additional differentiator could be focusing on an specific industry so that business owners are getting an assistant that knows the business.

Marketing

My guess is that the best way for Dee to find customers is through word of mouth.  If I were Dee, I would get testimonials from each of the 10 Sales Executives and the one Sales Manager that she’s worked so closely with.  Written testimonials are good, audio ones would be better, and a video testimonial would be best.

Dee was recently laid off, as were the above mentioned sales professionals.  It would be wise to contact them immediately while their memories of working with her and what she’s done for them are still fresh in their head.

Business Press Release

I would also put together a press release announcing her company that focused on her experience and the services she provides, and send it to everyone she’s had professional contact with in her career as an assistant.  The press release should reference a website that contained the testimonials, highlights her experience, details her services, and specifics how people can start working with her.

Dee already has an idea for a name for her business:

“I’ve chosen MsJonesOffice as my business name so that anyone who would like to have me take calls for them will have clients greeted with “Ms Jones Office, this is Dee”.  It’s neutral and professional sounding and a more common last name than mine.”

I’m not sure what I think of the name, what are your thoughts?  You can leave comments or suggestions in the comments at the end.

Small Business Assistance

Dee certainly has the background to launch this business and there is certainly a need for it.  I think that coming up with the proper pricing of services, as well as a good marketing startegy to brand her from a quality and industry perspective are key to making her business a success.

Here are the things that Dee would like assistance with from the Small Business Stimulus package:

“I have already purchased a domain name but could really use help with my website and business plan to get started.”

Please offer your opinions or suggestions for Dee below.

“I live in central _____, and there are no places to purchase cool, modern sewing and crafting supplies other than online. 

I would love to open a small store that would cater to the local area crafters and DIY-ers who are looking for something different than what Hobby Lobby, Michael’s, and Jo-Ann have to offer.”

Business Stats

Industry – Crafts & Sewing

Market – 18-40 year old females that are actively into crafts in her county

Competitors – Jo-Ann, Hobby Lobby, and Michaels. Online retailers.

Need – Lack of local retailers with fun and modern craft materials

Trends – Recession tend to lead to more Do It Yourself’ers

Customer Base
Sara seems experienced in this field so she should be able to connect with the needs of her target market.  Based on her market research so far, demographics suggest there is a large enough customer base in her region to support a store if she can get customers in the door and coming back for more.

Unique Selling Proposition

So how will Sara find and keep these customers? She plans on offering products and services that the big craft stores can’t provide. 

One thing I think Sara should spend the time and money to research up front is what specific items or services the crafters and sewers in her metro area are looking for but can’t find locally.

If she’s going to brand her store as the place to find supplies or services people can’t get anywhere else, I think it would be smart to estimate the cost (time & money) of providing these items and the premium that she can charge for them.

Market Research Tips & Ideas

I think Sara really needs to tap into her local market to find out where the unmet needs are before she puts up any money for rent, supplies, or equipment.  Here are some ideas for reaching out to the craft community.

Become the “Craft Hunter”

One thing Sara could do is promote her services around the metro for a while as a type of craft hunter.  “Can’t find a craft product or service, I’ll get it for you”.

This approach would do several things:

• Brand her as the go-to lady for unique or hard to find craft supplies
• Help Sara understand what types of things people were looking
• Give her a feel for how much unique supplies & services cost her and what people would be willing to pay for them

I like this approach because it’s not just giving people a survey that asks what they’d like to see in a local craft store.  From my experience people’s eyes tend to glaze over when you give them a general, open-ended question that requires them to think or be creative.

If instead you can make it specific, nail it down to a specific project they’re working on and what they need for that you’re more likely to get answers.  Plus you will stick in people’s head if you can help them get what they need.

Create a Web Presence

Sara intends to start a website and I think that’s a great for both brand building and community building.  A small business web hosting service like Bluehost or 1&1 is under $10 a month and a valuable investment in her marketing efforts.  She would also like to sell her products online at some point down the road but for now the site should be about research and branding. 

If I were Sara I would setup a blog on her website devoted to the local craft and sewing community and use it to both showcase her expertise and to spread the word about her Craft Hunter services.  One thing she could do is start a crafts & sewing email newsletter using an email marketing service like Aweber to keep in touch with the people that come to her site.

Finding Potential Customers

Sara mentioned attending local craft shows to meet potential customers. She should definitely take along business cards to hand out to anyone who is interested in her services.  She can actually get free business cards, paying only shipping, by using a VistaPrint promo code.

The business card should at least have her email address listed, it would be best to have a contact phone number as well.  If Sara doesn’t want to give out her home number, or wants a professional sounding setup she can get her own toll free number and voicemail with a RingCentral free trial.

What are some other ideas she could use to connect with people to pick their brain about their craft needs?

SCORE and Visa have created a free online financial management course for small businesses.

The course is broken down into several main areas:

• Income
• Expenses
• Emergency Strategies
• Funding Options
• Accounting Principles & Methods

You can download the workbook to use as you go through the course.  Here’s how they describe the online course:

“That’s why every decision you make in your business—whether it’s creating a website, investing in classified ads, or hiring an employee—has a financial impact. And each business decision affects your cash flow—the amount of money that comes in and goes out of your business.

 

We’ll help you with your decision-making with this online primer. Throughout this guide, you’ll find case-studies, examples, and expert guidance on every aspect of small business finances. You’ll see that our goal is the same as yours—to make your business financially successful.”

You can go through the course at your own pace and skip over topic areas that you already feel comfortable enough with in your business – check out the free small business finance course.

VistaPrint coupon codes can offer 250 free business cards with a variety of card designs for your small business. 

The business card design can be further customized with your brand; you can choose from thousands of business card templates and make your own card by uploading a photo or logo.  Then VistaPrint reviews your design with you using an online proof process before the business card printing process begins.

The website has other packages that offer unique business cards, however the VistaPrint promotion codes typically don’t apply to the premium custom business cards, the free business cards are typically offered for the standard package. 

Click here for your free business cards.

Small Business Branding

Of course VistaPrint has many products other than business cards, they are a full-featured business products website that provides rubber stamps, stationary, calendars, magnets, etc.  Basically every type of promotional material you can think of, easily incorporating your business’s logo in a number of different ways.

The site also has free tools, such as a logo maker, so small businesses just getting started can brand a business without the huge expense of a graphic designer. For all these reasons, you can think of VistaPrint as the Amazon of promotional materials.

VistaPrint Promotional Materials

Unlike other promo product websites, VistaPrint goes the extra distance by providing t-shirts, hats, magnets, sticky notes, lawn signs…the list is comprehensive.  Time is valuable so it’s nice to be able to go to one site for all your company branding needs.

Also, buying in bulk can be the key to saving money on promotional products, so the ability to include many different products in one order will save you both time and money. If you want to create additional promotional materials in the future, your graphics and records will be on file. If you’re pleased with their service then it could potentially be the only promo products vendor that you’ll need.

VistaPrint Prices

For any small business, one of the main considerations when marketing and branding is cost. As mentioned, there are a number of free tools available, including free business cards.

We’ve found VistaPrint to be competitive on price when compared to similar services and they are constantly running promotions for up to 60% off their products. Given the number of products available and the cost, VistaPrint is easily the best product site of its kind.

How VistaPrint Works

Typically users can either select from a pre-made template or upload an original design when designing their promotional product. The site has pre-made templates for a wide variety of industries: Farming, Sports, Real Estate, and so on. These pre-made templates are professional-looking in their own right, so a logo will not look cheap just because it’s free. VistaPrint also has a custom design service as well.

You can give VistaPrint a try for free with one of their promotions to test out their products, selection, and customer service.

Click Here for your free business cards.

Email and internet faxing for smallest businesses is made simple and affordable by a fax service from MyFax. Online faxing can help lower cost for your small business as well as making you more efficient when sending, recieving, and storing fax documents.  MyFax offers a free fax trial period where you can send and recieve faxes free for 30 days to test out the service.

How MyFax Works

With MyFax you get a local or toll-free telephone number; every time a fax comes in, it is routed to your email account. MyFax also has a online interface called MyFaxCentral where your incoming and outgoing faxes are stored.

You can send faxes through MyFax two different ways.  You can email a document to a designated email address, which will then send the contents of the email as a fax.  You can also log into your MyFaxCentral page, click the “Send a Fax” link, and upload the document you want to send. 

MyFax can store your outgoing numbers in a contact list so you don’t have to re-enter them each time you send a fax. They also offer the option of including a cover page and the Preview function allows you to double check what you’re sending before clicking Send.

The Value of MyFax

Everyone with a traditional fax machine knows about the costs. Fax costs include: a separate phone line, fax toner, paper, and other supplies. Additionally, a fax machine can sometimes go down, leading to important transmissions getting lost. MyFax alleviates these problems because users do not need a separate phone line, email account, or supplies. Basically, if you have an email account, you can take advantage of MyFax.

Traveling with MyFax

One of the better selling points of MyFax is that it is portable. If you ever need to take the office out on the road, you’ll know you can fax from anywhere with an email account. For this reason, it’s a good idea for business owners or other professionals who might already have a desktop fax machine but need an alternative for business travel. MyFax is also compatible with hand-held devices, which sets it apart from other services of this kind.

MyFax Costs

What’s also competitive about MyFax is that it’s only $10 a month. This includes 300 free faxes a month – 200 received, 100 sent, which is more than enough for most professional account. It also has the availability to fax from five separate email accounts, as well as provides online storage of faxes – which is not something that traditional fax machines can often provide.

MyFax for Bigger Businesses

MyFax is not just for small businesspeople. It is scalable for the corporate environment as well, providing enhanced security, storage, integration via current business applications, and other features. Corporate fax accounts absorb far greater costs for sending and receiving faxes, so using a service like MyFax has two major selling points: low cost as well as increasing portability for business faxes.

Free Faxing

You can try MyFax free for 30 days.  Using their special offer for new customers, you can send and recieve faxes for free and see if the fax service is right for your business.  To apply to take advantage of the free trial period, simply click here.