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Small Business Q&A With Tim Knox
Tim is a syndicated newspaper columnist and contributing business expert writer many media outlets. Tim's column, "Small Business Q&A with Tim Knox" is one of the most popular business columns on the Web and The Tim Knox Newsletter is read by over 65,000+ subscribers each and every week.
To learn more about using Tim's articles in your newletter, magazine, or on your website contact Paul Finley at 256-509-3053 or click here to email.
We Don't Need No Stinking Permits!
So far in this series we've talked about finding a location for your retail business, negotiating the lease, and securing a capable contractor to build out the space. Unless you're renting simple office space odds are you will need to make some modifications to the space, be it adding walls, flooring, paint, electrical, plumbing, or any combination thereof. Rarely will a space be perfect from the get go and building out can be expensive; especially if you're an idiot who doesn't do your homework about building codes and permits. But I digress… Read more
Dealing With Contractors? Get Your Hammer Ready
This week continues my series on opening a brick and mortar retail store from scratch. This week we discuss how to find a capable building contractor to build out the location. And as this series has been thus far, this segment is based on my personal experience and offered to you warts and all. As with all of my columns only the names have been changed to protect the innocent, the ignorant, and the overly litigious. Read more
Signing A Lease? Get Your First Born Ready!
This week we discuss the negotiation and signing of one of the most dreaded legal documents any entrepreneur will ever fail to read: the commercial lease (insert scary music here). Before we dive in, understand these points; there is no such thing as a lease that’s in favor of the tenant. Trying to break a lease is like trying to sweet talk your way out of Alcatraz. Landlords are your best friends until you miss a rent payment or two. And although I could find no written record of anyone actually having turned over their first born at a lease signing, I’m pretty sure it’s happened many times over the years. In fact, there’s a rumor that Donald Trump has entire warehouses full of nothing but his tenants’ first born children.
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It's Not All About "Location, Location, Location!"
One point that I have yet to cover is that when it comes to finding space for your business, be it retail, office, or warehouse, you should not only consider the location, but a number of other areas, as well. Unfortunately, these are areas that many entrepreneurs don’t even consider until after they’ve signed on the dotted line. Depending on your type of business you should also consider some or all of the following. Read more
How To Find The Best Location For Your Business
I spent a lot of time sitting in parking lots. You can learn a lot just watching cars go by at different times of the day. For example a location may be great in the morning, but lousy in the afternoon. Or maybe the parking lot is full at lunch, but empty the rest of the day. You should also consider which side of the road works best for you. For example a drive thru coffee shop has a much better chance of success if it’s located on the side of the road with the morning rush hour traffic, while a takeout joint has a better chance of success if it’s located on the side of the road with the going home traffic.
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Selling Digital Downloads Via eBay Classifieds Is Still A Crap Shoot
Last week I told you that eBay had decided to ban the sale of digital downloads via its traditional auction system. This means that digital media sellers will have to deliver their goods via CDs or DVDs, or post them for sale on the eBay Classified system. This week I'm hearing from lots of folks who have tried to post sales to the eBay Classifieds only to be denied the privilege of doing so or having the ad cancelled by eBay for policy violations that no one - not even eBay staffers - seem to understand. Once again eBay has everyone confused and upset. Same stuff, different day. Read more
eBay Changes The Rules On Digital Downloads Again
Well, folks, eBay has done it again. You hear those beeps? That's the sound of eBay backing up. Just when you thought eBay was FINALLY catching up with every other website on the planet by allowing the sale of downloadable products they decide to toss a monkey wrench into the process with this statement that released on March 24, 2008... Read more
Conduct Market Research To Avoid "Ugly Baby Syndrome"
Starting a business without doing market research is like stepping out onto a tightrope without bothering to check the tightness of the knots that are holding the rope in place. You're halfway across when the knots loosen, the rope wobbles; you lose your balance, and fall to the ground with a splat. It's odd how many of my business analogies end in the horrific death of the entrepreneur. It's odder still that conducting market research is something many entrepreneurs either forget to do or more often than not, choose to ignore. The problem is they're afraid their market research will tell them what they don't want to know, i.e. their big idea - their baby - ain't so cute after all. They become victims of "The Ugly Baby Syndrome." Read more
Never Dive Into Business Without A Startup Plan
This week begins the tale of my recent foray into the world of brick and mortar and the startup lessons learned there from. The lessons to come over the next few weeks are many and not just for those milling around in the brick and mortar crowd. Whether you're starting a retail business in a strip mall or building a virtual business online, many of the fundamentals are the same and the principles for a successful startup apply. You must begin with what I call a "Startup Plan." Read more
Brick & Mortar? Boy, What Were You Thinking?
When I was a kid there were five words I heard more than all others combined. Usually coming from my father, they were, “Boy, what were you thinking?” Those words typically came after he caught me doing something I shouldn’t have been or more often, after talking my younger brother into doing something really stupid that could have – but never did – end in his demise. I hadn’t heard those words in many years (at least since my younger brother got taller than me). And I haven’t really missed hearing them (no sentimentality there). But a recent business venture of mine had everyone I know asking, “Man, what were you thinking?” Read more
Be Careful What You Wish For; You Just Might Get It
In spite of my professional and personal accomplishments I had always wished for something more. I can't really explain it other than to say a misfiring electron somewhere deep in my brain caused me to always dream of writing a best selling business book and traveling the country to promote it. I wanted to be the southern fried Steven Covey; traveling from town to town spreading the gospel of entrepreneurship for all to hear. It would almost be a religious experience, as I foresaw it in my mind. I envisioned throngs of the entrepreneurial faithful coming from far and wide to hear me speak, to hang on my words, to bask in my wisdom, to pony up $22.95 for the hard cover. Read more
How To Really Get The Competitive Advantage
One of the cool things about being an entrepreneur and business author and speaker is that I get to use all kinds of big words and phrases that make me sound much smarter than I am. For example, just saying the word “entrepreneur” makes me sound quite educated and continental, despite the fact that the only subject in school I failed miserably was French. After an entire school year the only thing I learned to say was, “Mon professeur est un porc de verrue, “ which loosely translated means, “My teacher is a wart hog.” You can see why I got “la F.”
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What Would You Do With A Second Chance?
We’ve all wished that we could go back in time with our heads full of knowledge and our belts busting with experience and do it all over again. The proverbial “second chance” is something we’ve all wished for - some of us more than others. Imagine how different our lives would be if we came equipped with unlimited “do overs.” Read more
Biscuits & Bizness - Tim Knox Serves Up Business Advice With Humor, In New Book
The title was pretty easy for Tim Knox to come up with. "I've always been a big mama's boy,'' Knox said. "She taught me everything I know." So when the Huntsville entrepreneur and author got a publishing deal for a business book, its title became "Everything I Know About Business I Learned From My Mama."
Aside from being part of the title, his mom, Gertrude, also got the first copy as a present for her 80th birthday.
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Like Books, Entrepreneurs Are Always Judged By Their Covers
In business and in life people judge you everyday, just as you judge everyone else. And most of us base our opinion of others on our first impression of them. We make the decision to either like them or loath them within the first minute and you know as well as I do, my holier-than-thou peers, that we do not do business with people that we don’t like. First impressions are hard to change, so make every effort to make every first impression a good one. Read more
Entrepreneurs Learn This Lesson: Stop Sweating The Small Stuff
Is the pressure of being in business getting to you? Do you feel like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders? Do you lie awake nights with a thousand points of worry flashing through your poor, tired brain? Welcome, my friend, to the wonderful world of entrepreneurship. Come on now, you really didn’t think it was going to be that easy, did you? Forget all those reasons you’ve heard as to why businesses fail. It’s the pressure of entrepreneurship that sends many folks running back to the supposed security of a real job. I’ve seen perfectly good businesses flushed down the tubes simply because the owner couldn’t handle the day-to-day pressure of keeping the doors open.
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How To Go From Worker Bee To Entrepreneur Wannabe
When it comes to careers and business, my radio show partner and author of the best selling career advice book “48 Days To The Work You Love,” Dan Miller, is a walking, talking encyclopedia of precise industry statistics. While I’ve always been comfortable using such statistically noncommittal terms as “many, most, and some,” Dan prefers to remember and espouse accurate numbers. I’ve told him time and again that most people don’t mind fuzzy statistics. He keeps telling me that 58.9 percent prefer to have accurate numbers. Who can argue with math like that?
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How Do You Keep Your Best Employees From Jumping Ship?
Before becoming a full time entrepreneur (or ontamanure, as my daughter calls me) I worked my share of jobs and had my share of bosses. Some of the jobs I enjoyed, some I did not. The same is true for the bosses. Some were decent folks who treated me with the same respect I gave them while others would have been better suited running a concentration camp. I shouldn’t complain, though, because it was the worst boss I ever had who ultimately motivated me to start my own business as a way of escaping the shackles of employment. Read more
When It Comes To Starting Your Own Business Never Say It Can’t Be Done
I ran across an interesting article in Wired magazine this week that told the tale of Kolo Soro, an elementary school teacher in the tiny village of Tomono in the northern Ivory Coast of Africa. This is an area so remote and void of technology that for generations communication between villages has been done by tying notes to rocks and having passing trucks toss them out the window at pre-described locations. Kolo Soro changed all that when he purchased a cellphone during a visit to a larger city and found that if he held the phone seven feet off the floor in a corner of his bedroom he could get a decent signal. Being an enterprising young man he hung the phone on the wall, hooked up an earbud, and started charging his fellow villagers 80 cents per minute to make calls. He earned $200 the first month. Read more
Use Email Marketing To Keep Customers Buzzing About Your Business
The other day my radio show cohost, Paul Finley, mentioned that he had received an email from his dentist. The point of the email was to let Paul know that his office would be closed for a week and included instructions on what to do in case of a dental emergency. Obviously Paul’s dentist reads my column because I’ve been preaching about using email to keep in touch with customers for years. OK, maybe he doesn’t read my column and is just a brilliant guy in his own right. Either way, the point is clear: using email - no matter what type of business you’re in - is an excellent way to keep the lines of communication buzzing between you and those folks who keep you in business.
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What’s Stopping You From Starting Your Own Small Business?
"I Don't Syndrome" (IDS) is a sad malady that affects many people who claim they want to start their own business, but never seem to get beyond just talking about it. The symptoms of IDS are a lack of belief in themselves, a fear of failure and ridicule, a misguided belief that lots of money is required to start a business, and lousy time management skills. IDS can even cause an otherwise intelligent person to question their own sanity. It’s a sad disease that has prevents thousands of people every year from achieving their American Dream. Read more
Learn To Focus On What's Important And Farm Out The Rest
How many times have you looked around your small business and said, “There just isn't enough time in the day to get everything done!” Welcome to the biggest realization you will ever make as a small business owner, my friend: there are only so many hours in the day and there isn’t a darn thing you can do about it. So, instead of beating yourself up at the end of the day over how much you didn’t get done, you should learn to make better use of the time you have. Your time should be spent doing only those things that help build your business and increase revenue, not mundane tasks that could be handled by someone else. It’s called “working on your business instead of working in it.”
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Do You Want Fries With That Management Style?
I’ve written many times about my vast experience in the fast food industry, not as a worker, but as an often mistreated customer. Each story typically involved bad food, apathetic employees, horrible customer service, and a vow never to return. That vow usually ended up in the dumpster when my craving for a chicken burrito got the better of my logic and principles. Read more
What Can American Idol Teach You About Business?
Well, folks, as luck and ratings would have it, it’s time for yet another season of that train wreck of reality TV, American Idol; the show that attempts to separate the talented from the terrible and brings them all into your living room each week for you to enjoy. Get ready to call in and cast your vote for who should be applauded and who should be muzzled. How fortunate we are to be living in a time when we can judge our fellow man via text message. Read more
Good Help Really Is Hard To Find
A few years ago I wrote a column in which I compared managing employees to herding cats: just when you think you have everyone organized in a happy little group and going in the same direction one cat breaks from the herd and heads off to do its own thing. Then another cat falls out of line, then another, then another. Finally two more cats ask to go home sick and three others just wander off after lunch, never to be heard from again. Read more
Mastermind Your Way To Business Success
This is the time of year when our thoughts turn to ringing out the old and ringing in the new. It’s the time for wiping the slate clean and starting over; a time for new beginnings; a time for making New Year’s resolutions that, while spoken with the best of intentions, are usually forgotten by the time the black eyed peas are gone. Read more
Don't Start Your Business In "The Land of Most"
Most people lack the ability to take responsibility for their own lives and thereby fail to plot their own course. Most people will never write down their goals or work to achieve them. Most people fail because they are too afraid to try. Most people are so broke they can’t pay attention. Most people are miserable and let everyone around them know it. Misery is a shared emotion. Oh goody. Read more
Are You Willing To Do Whatever It Takes To Succeed In Business?
Ladies and gentleman, meet Mo, Larry, and Curly Entrepreneur. These fine fellows are here today to help answer the age old question: Why do some entrepreneurs achieve stellar success while others achieve only moderate success while still others fail in business miserably? Read more
It’s A Baby Booming Time For Business
The first wave of Baby Boomers turned 60 this year and as many approach the traditional retirement age of 65 they are finding that (a) they are still vibrant and don’ t want to stop working; and/or (b) their life expectancy has been extended and they will be dead broke long before they are dead and gone. As a result Baby Boomers are not slowing down now that they’re approaching what once would have been considered their “golden years.” If you were a man you expected to retire at 65 and die at 75; and if you were smart you banked enough dough to see you comfortably through that stretch. We figured we’d get at least 10 good leisurely years before the grim reaper shows up without having to worry about money. Turns out, we were wrong.
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What The Heck Is A Podcast And What Can It Do For Your Business?
Now I’m a pretty high-tech kind of guy. I pride myself on having all the latest and greatest techno gadgets for my personal and business life; including multiple laptop computers, the most modern cellular phone, and a Global Positioning System in my car to always tell me where I ain’t. I know, it’s supposed to tell me where I am, but my brain doesn’t work that way. Read more
How To Create Your Own Roadmap For Success
When I was a kid my family often participated in that grand tradition called, "The Sunday Drive." You remember those long Sunday drives in the car with your family to nowhere? Sure, it was better than sitting at home because we only had three TV channels to watch and cartoons were only shown for a few hours on Saturday morning, but when you got back home didn't you always feel that you hadn't really gone anywhere. If you leave your house and don't stop until you reach your house, what's the point? I always hated those Sunday drives. Read more
Put Your Faith In Contractors, Then Pray Like Mad
Earlier this year I was convinced by my loving wife and adoring kids that if I truly loved them I would have a swimming pool installed in our back yard. The experience did introduce me to an interesting class of entrepreneurs collectively called, “contractors.” I don’t mean to generalize, but the contractors I’ve been dealing with are a stereotypical bunch who drive really big pickup trucks and wear worn work boots and dirty jeans and torn t-shirts and sport three-day whiskers and go by names like Buddy, Bubba, Junior, Earl, and of course Tiny, who was the largest guy on the crew.
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Learning About Life And Business From The Back End Of A Boat
In my last column I told you about the skewed parenting skills of my father, who, without ever realizing it, was quite the entrepreneurial genius. Though he never dabbled in business and it certainly didn’t occur to me at the time, many of the lessons I learned from him about life can be put to practical use in your business today. Read more
Sometimes Business Is Like Fishing In An Empty Pond
I’ve never been much of a fisherman. Sitting in a small boat for hours watching a red and white bobber float atop the water holds about as much interest for me as watching paint dry. My old man, on the other hand, would have rather fished than breathe. In fact, his favorite Bible quote was: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and he’ll sit in the boat and drink beer with you for life.” Needless to say, my old man wasn’t much of a Bible scholar, but he was one heck of a fisherman. Read more
Piercings, Tattoos, and Other Important Matters Of Business
I've been expanding my entrepreneurial horizons lately by meeting entrepreneurs in businesses I'd never been exposed to before. I learned that there are many kinds of entrepreneurs and each dances to his own drummer. Some do it the right way while others do it however they dang well please. I have found that their attitude determines the quality of work they do and most likely how long they will stay in business. Read more
When It Comes To Marketing Your Business Think Creatively
If your business doesn’t stand out in today’s hyper-competitive market place there’s a good chance that you won’t be in business very long. There are countless others vying for the same slice of the pie that you are. There are dozens of competitors just up the road doing all they can to get the attention of your customers and take money out of your pockets. It’s called “marketing,” and some are probably doing a better job of it than you are and some probably worse. What can you do to position your business as the one customers notice? The secret to effective marketing is: think creatively.
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Operator Error Is Why Most Businesses Fail
This is the column that probably gets me kicked out of the entrepreneurial chapter of the Priory of Scion. I look silly in those long robes anyway, so here goes. A thousand apologies to my entrepreneurial brothers and sisters, but. I think the more important question is: do businesses fail or does the entrepreneur in charge of them fail? I have to be honest and tell you that I think most business failures must be laid at the feet of the person in charge.
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Women Entrepreneurs Prove It’s Not Just A Man’s World
I had the honor of speaking this week at a women's business association luncheon on the topic of entrepreneurship. When I mentioned to my wife the day before that I was speaking to a group of women entrepreneurs she asked, "Why on earth would they ask you to speak?" Read more
6 Ways To Fund Your New Business
I’m often asked: what is the best way to fund a new business? This question is usually followed by “So, do you ever invest in new businesses?” The answers, respectively, are 1. there is no “best” way to fund a new business; and 2. I do invest in new businesses, but darn it I can’t today because I left my checkbook in my other suit. Read more
Companies Stifle Intrapreneurs At Their Own Risk
I've noticed an interesting trend lately. Usually the e-mail I receive in response to this column comes from rookie entrepreneurs or established business owners seeking my input on startup matters, financing, employee relations, general management and leadership issues, policy matters, etc. Lately, however, many of the messages are coming from employees of medium-size and large companies who are growing frustrated at working in an environment that they deem (to quote one e-mail) "Intellectually stifling and (that) offers few challenges of one's creativity and innovation.''
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Which Affiliate Programs Do I Personally Recommend?
I personally receive over a dozen checks and commission payments
every month from various affiliate programs that I promote. Last month, those checks totaled more than $10,000 and some
months they have been as high as $25,000. Given my success as an affiliate marketer, I'm often asked what
affiliate programs I personally recommend. The answer is easy because it's actually a pretty short list. Read more
The Reasons Why Most People Will Never Find Online Success
There is no such thing as a real get rich quick opportunity.
If someone tells you that you can start with no money and no
experience and make hundreds of thousands of dollars overnight
they are lying to you and you are a fool for believing them. Yes,
you can make lots of money in a short period of time as an
Internet marketer, but you're not going to get rich this week
unless you hit the lottery or your rich uncle dies. And you have
a better chance of getting hit by lightning than either of those
things happening. Be realistic, be smart, be logical. If it sounds
too good to be true, it is. Read more
11 Ways To Find Products To Sell On eBay
I was part of an eBay Roundtable discussion recently with six
other experts and we all agreed that the number one question most
new (and even old) eBay sellers ask is: "Where do I find things to sell on eBay??" To help answer that question I have compiled 10 ways that anyone can use to find products to sell on eBay. Read more
Is Bad Customer Service Killing Your Business?
It’s time to beat the old bad customer service drum again. I know, I’m sick of beating the drum, too, but as long as bad customer service runs rampant through so many businesses I feel it is my entrepreneurial duty to bring it to your attention. So grab a pew and prepare to listen to the sermon I’ve preached before: bad customer service is the bane of business. If the Almighty smote down every business that dispenses bad customer service the world would be a much friendlier, albeit much sparser place. Consider a world without malls and fast food joints… would it really be so bad? Read more
It's All Up To YOU
If you're waiting for Ed McMahon to show up on your doorstep
and proclaim, "This is your lucky day!" you are going to have a
long, miserable wait. Ed can't make you a success. I can't make you a success. It is all up to YOU. Read more
Santa: The Consummate Entrepreneur
You've probably never considered the fact that Santa is the CEO of a large organization that not only distributes a vast assortment of products throughout the world, but does so in a single night with just a sleigh and eight tiny reindeer. Sam Walton would have killed to have Santa's logistics manual. Read more
The Entrepreneur's Checklist
I was asked the other day what personality traits I thought were important to entrepreneurial success. I immediately gave my preprogrammed reply about passion and dedication and hard work. After taking some time later to ponder the question a little deeper (I normally operate in shallow waters), I came up with a more detailed checklist for entrepreneurial success. Read more
Please Don't Buy Anything From Me
This week I had one customer threaten to hunt be down and shoot me like a dog. Another said that if she could get her hands around my neck she'd strangle the life out of me. And still another sincerely hoped that I "burn in Hell for all eternity." What did I do to deserve these threats? That, my friend, is the rest of the story... Read more
What's Your Company's Email Policy?
Does your company have an email policy? Did you even know there was such a thing? Well, there is, and if your company doesn't have one you are not only risking the professional image of your firm, but also risking potential liability issues that may arise from the misuse of your company email system. Read more
What Do Your Business Emails Reveal About You?
Why should you worry about how your emails are reviewed by their recipients? Because in business, you are constantly being judged by your customers, your employees, your investors, your partners, and your peers. Read more
The 8 Things You Must Know To Build A Great Website
Last week we talked about how a bad website can do your business more harm than good. That column brought several emails asking what is the key to building an effective business website. I replied with the same answer I always give: building an effective business website is a simple matter of definition. Read more
The Bad Guys Are Phishing For Your Personal Information
The latest attempt by phishers (identity thieves) to steal the
personal information of eBay members hit my inbox earlier this
week and I have to say, this one is pretty convincing. Even this
old dog did a double-take before realizing that the identity
thieves were phishing for my personal information again. Read more
Why A Good Credit Score Is Important To Your Business
Whether you're in business or an individual, you should have an
idea of what your credit score is, even if you're not currently
applying for credit.
Knowing your credit score and occasionally checking your credit
reports also helps you protect yourself from identity theft and
credit fraud. Read more
The Time To Consolidate Your Student Loans Is Now
Most financial pundits recommend that the sooner you consolidate and refinance old high interest student loans, the better off you will be. Federal student loan interest rates are at an all time low, but that can't last forever.
By refinancing your student loans now, you lock in the interest
rate for the duration of the consolidation loan. The first thing you need to do is find out if you are eligible for student loan consolidation. Read more
Dropship Your Way To eBay Success
Dropshipping has been around since Sears first started selling goods from its mail order catalogs over a hundred years ago. However, the idea of dropshipping still confuses many people who don't understand exactly how the process works. Read more
How To Make Big Money On eBay Selling Other People's Stuff
Since eBay launched the Trading Assistant program last year, over
50,000 eBay sellers have registered as Trading Assistants to help
other people sell their goods on eBay. As a result, eBay consignment businesses have sprung up all over the United States and are now starting to appear in Germany and the UK. This means opportunity for you... Read more
What Makes A Good Leader? Ask Uncle Sam
In a recent study conducted by the Army War College, subordinates of the major generals who are leading the war efforts in Iraq were asked to rate the performance of their superiors. Read more
How To Create Your Own eBay About Me Page
Regular readers of this newsletter and my newspaper column know that I am a big fan of eBay's About Me Page feature. This is a special page you can create as part of your eBay account that is linked from your eBay ID (with a little About Me icon).
You can use your eBay About Me Page as a sales tool. Customers can click on your About Me icon to get to your About Me page, which you can set up to include information about you, your interests, and Read more
What Is The Best Selling eBay Book Of All Time?
I really can't say which one is the best selling eBay book of all time, but I can tell you there is one book in particular that I have been recommending for over a year now and the reason is that it is, quite simply, packed full of useful information that will not only increase your eBay sales, but bring more customers to your website, as well. Read more
Do I Really Need A Business License and Tax ID?
I've gotten quite a few emails recently from ebusiness owners who
seem to think that just because their business is conducted online or from the comfort of home that the rules and regulations that govern brick and mortar businesses do not apply to them.
The ebusiness questions I get most often do not involve building
websites or conducting ecommerce... Read more
How To Make Money As A Self-Improvement Guru
As you know, I'm always on the look out for new and exciting products that will make you and me money. That's partly what this newsletter is all about: when I find new opportunities that show tremendous promise, I feel obligated to share them with you. Read more
How To Boost Your Bottom Line With Just Two Little Words
I hate to sound like one of those cheesy get-rich-quick commercials, but this week I am going to let you in on a little secret that is so powerful that it will immediately change the way you do business. In fact, this little secret is so powerful that you will be amazed at its immediate effect on you, your employees, and your bottom line. This little secret is guaranteed to improve your relationship with current customers and if used wisely, can get you lots of new customers without spending a dime on marketing or advertising.
Read more
How To Create Multiple Streams of Online Income E-course
I love the E-course concept because it gives you the opportunity to learn from the comfort of home. There are no heavy books to lug around, no rushing off to class, no smelly dorm roommates :o) Read more
How To Profit Using eBay's Saved Search Feature
Did you know that eBay will help you locate products you can buy cheap, then flip for a quick profit? No? Then listen up, because I am about to let you in on a little known feature of eBay that can literally stuff wads of cash in your wallet in less than 24 hours. Read more
Are You Mentor Material?
Typically, there are three things every good mentor should have: time, patience, and a genuine desire to help another person succeed without expecting anything in return. If you have an abundance of those things, then being a mentor can be a highly rewarding experience. If not, please see the rubber plant reference. Read more
An Entrepreneur and a Life To Be Remembered
Most of you who read this column probably have no idea who Corey Rudl was or what he accomplished during his short life, and that’s OK. You also have no idea of the imprint he made on me and millions of others who make our living (at least in part) as online marketers. Again, that’s OK. For all his accomplishments, those who knew him well have said that Corey was more concerned about building his businesses than being a public figure. By those accounts, Corey never really cared about being in the public limelight, even though he was probably the most visible and successful entrepreneur in his field. Read more
The Latest Email Scam Is Nothing New
The eBay scam is just the latest in a long line of sophisticated attempts to steal personal information through online means. Customers of PayPal, Amazon, Dell Computer, eTrade, Bank One, and many other online merchants have been the target of such scams in recent years. Read more
Is Brick and Mortar A Passing Fad?
During the dot-com boom the mantra was “Brick and mortar is dead!” Then when most of the dot-com’s crashed like an elephant sitting on a wicker chair, the mantra suddenly changed back to “The Internet is dead! Long live brick and mortar!” Read more
For Entrepreneurs A SIMPLE Plan May Be Best
Let me give you a quick overview of a few of the retirement plans available to small businesses so you at least have an idea of what’s out there before you start your search for a good financial advisor. Read more
To Go or No Go, That Is The Question
Many entrepreneurs would rather have their front teeth pulled without anesthetic than go to the time and trouble of creating a feasibility plan; often because they are afraid of what it will reveal. Read more
Just How Good Is Your "Really Big Business Idea?"
Every business idea, no matter how good it sounds while bouncing around inside your head, should be put to the test before you invest time and money into its execution. Success lies not in what you think of your idea, but what the buying public will think. Many entrepreneurs find out too late that the public’s opinion of their idea differs greatly from their own. Read more
Veteran Entrepreneurs Are Growing In Ranks
What my eldest offspring doesn’t understand is I have a great life. In fact, I am living the life I have always dreamed of living. My life just happens to revolve around Planet Business. I am an entrepreneurial addict, a business junkie. Business is my chocolate, my Krispy Kreme donut, my nicotine, my caffeine, my crack. Maybe I’ll start a 12 step program for entrepreneurs who want to kick the habit and charge a cover to get in. Hi, my name is Tim, and I’m an entrepreneur... Sounds like a great business idea to me. Read more
Opportunity Does Not Knock
I can tell you that as a breed, entrepreneurs are an impatient lot and many jump on the first business bandwagon that comes along just for the sake of being in business. That’s a big mistake that usually comes back to bite them in their entrepreneurial behinds.
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Teaching The Big Boys To Think Small
Last week I told you about a recent report from The Conference Board that has a lot of big company CEOs concerned about competition from smaller, more innovative and entrepreneurially-minded companies. To refresh your memory, The Conference Board's CEO Challenge 2004 reported that 87% of the 540 global businesses surveyed cited innovation and enabling entrepreneurship as priorities for their companies, and 31% considered these issues of "greatest concern.” Read more
Teaching Large Companies To Think Like The Little Guys
The fact that innovation and entrepreneurship run rampant in smaller companies, but is often suppressed in larger companies is nothing new. Management guru Peter Drucker first addressed the issue in his 1985 book, Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Drucker wrote that one of the most often-asked questions in many a 1985 boardroom was, “How can we overcome the resistance to innovation that plagues most organizations?”
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Don't Be Afraid To Give Problem Customers The Boot
We have all had customers who expected far more than was their due: customers who were unreasonable, overly-demanding, condescending, hard to please and sometimes, even dishonest in their dealings with you. When a customer's reasonable expectations become unreasonable demands you must decide whether or not that customer is doing more harm to your business than good.
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Cut Start-Up Costs By Using a Dropshipper
Dropshippers, as they're called
--are an excellent way to start your e-business and, if done properly, don't have to be a costly endeavor. There are literally hundreds of companies out there that will dropship products for you, everything from gifts and housewares to power tools and furniture. Read more
Is Your Website Credit Card Friendly?
If you think hooking up a brick-and-mortar location with a credit card system stymies most bankers, try asking them how to do it on your website. Read more
Business Is No Guarantee of Riches
Many entrepreneurs build solid businesses that provide a very comfortable living and many others do indeed get rich. Others simply find out that they have traded one job for another and still others discover that business really wasn't for them. Read more
Do You Pay Taxes On eBay Income?
Last week's column on whether you were required to report income earned from eBay sales to the IRS sparked a number of additional questions and comments from eBay sellers who were hoping that I could somehow validate that their eBay activities were mere hobbies instead of actual businesses and therefore not susceptible to IRS taxation. Read more
Credit Cards, Merchant Accounts, and Your Bottomline
The decision to accept credit cards is a wise one for any retailer. I agree with financial guru Dave Ramsey's teachings regarding the use and abuse of credit cards. Many people dig deep holes with credit cards that are hard to climb out of. But, from a practical business point of view, any retail business that does not accept credit cards is leaving money on the table. Read more
What's In A Name? When It Comes To Your Business, Plenty!
In fact, deciding on a business name is one of the most important decisions you will ever make. The right business name can help you rise above the crowd while the wrong business name can leave you trampled in the rush. Read more
With a Lease, The Devil Is In The Details
This week we'll discuss the most important aspect of the process: signing a commercial lease (insert dramatic music here). One of the biggest mistakes many entrepreneurs make when leasing commercial space is not reading the lease. Forget reading the fine print. When it comes to a lease its ALL fine print. Read more
The Internet Tax Man Cometh
If your small business is like most, the majority of your large purchases are made locally from companies that already collect sales tax. Furniture and computer equipment are typically the largest ticket items a small business buys, so unless you bought your desks and computers off of Ebay (which is highly possible these days) you should be OK. Read more
The Business of Identity Theft
The allure of PayPal is that it does not require the seller to have a bank merchant account through which to process credit cards. Anyone with a verifiable email address and bank account can use PayPal and the service can be implemented almost immediately after registering. Read more
Online Payments Make It Easy For Your Customers To Buy
I have helped many clients set up online credit card processing systems and more than once I've had to sit down with the bank issuing the merchant account and educate them on how online payment systems work. Don't believe me? This is a direct quote (here's the Bible, here's my hand) from the manager who was in charge of processing Internet merchant account applications at a local bank, "When someone pays online how do they swipe the credit card in their computer..." Read more
Maintaining Your Business Website
If you want to be a web designer, be a web designer. However, if the key focus of your business is building widgets, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that your time would be better spent building widgets, not Web sites. Read more
If You Build It, Will They Come?
Assuming that a website will automatically attract customers is the single biggest mistake that many business owners make. It is this mistake that eventually leads them to dismiss their website as a failure and abandon their online sales efforts. Read more
Franchising Pros and Cons
Some folks offered helpful insights and suggestions on how to pick a franchise and a few things to watch out for, while other emails came from current franchise owners asking me to help them sell their operations to Anthony R. Read more
Taxing eBay Part Deux
Several folks argued that just because their little eBay hobby generated a little cash, that didn’t make it a full blown business. It seems they consider the income from their little hobby to be financial manna from Heaven and thereby not taxable by earthly tax collectors. I’ve always been amused by folks who try to impress me with talk about their “little side business” but when the subject turns to taxes they suddenly refer to it as “my little hobby.” Read more
Taxing Your eBay Profits
As a small business person-slash-advice columnist I dread the first quarter of the new year. Not because in my mind my own business fortunes start at zero again every January or because I have already dismissed every New Year’s resolution I made when the clock rang out the New Year.
No, the reason I dread the first quarter of the new year is that my email box floods with questions about business taxes and the IRS, my two least favorite subjects on earth. It’s not that I am opposed to paying my fair share of business taxes. It’s that I consider the IRS to be a little like Beetlejuice, the movie demon who appeared only after his name was called three times in a row. My fear is if I write too many IRS columns their dark agents may appear on my doorstep, ready to drag me away to an uncertain fate. Read more
Do You Have What It Takes To Be An Entrepreneur?
There are a variety of skills you'll need to succeed as an entrepreneur and chances are do not possess them all. One of the great things about being an entrepreneur is that if you lack certain skills you can always hire people with those skills to help round out your company skill set. Read more
How To Create Multiple Streams of Online Income
One of my favorite things about being an Internet Entrepreneur is that I can literally wake up in the morning with an idea for a new product and have it become a reality by the afternoon. Or I can find new ways to promote an existing product. Or I can join a new affiliate program or pursue a joint venture. Every time I repeat this process I create a new stream of income to add to my existing revenue base. Read more
The Secrets Of Starting A Successful Ebay Business
If Fred Sanford were alive today, Alex, I'm sure he'd be earning his ripple money by selling quality junk on eBay. While it's also true that one man's junk is another man's treasure (I have a garage full of treasure to prove this point), your chances of building a profitable business selling "junk" on eBay (or anywhere else, for that matter) are slim to none. Read more
How To Handle Customer Billing Snafus
Seriously, whether the client owes you the money or not is a moot point. Yes, you made an accounting mistake, but if the client agreed to pay you a certain amount each month in exchange for certain services rendered, and you have been under-billing that client for delivering those certain services, the client owes you the money, period. Read more
Entrepreneurs Just Get Better With Age
According to recent studies 22 percent of men and 14 percent of women over 65 are self-employed. That's compared to just 7 percent for other age groups. According to a Vanderbilt University study the number of entrepreneurs age 45 to 64 will grow by 15 million this year alone. Read more
When It Comes To An Office Lease, It's ALL Fine Print
One of the biggest mistakes many entrepreneurs make when leasing commercial space is not reading the lease. Forget reading the fine print. When it comes to a lease its ALL fine print. Don't believe me? Let me tell you the true story of my friend, Homer, whose name I have changed to protect the ignorant. Read more
What's The Customer Service Buzz About Your Business?
If you're a regular reader of this column you know that my number one pet peeve is bad customer service. Nothing chaps my backside more than paying hard-earned money for a product or service only to have the provider of said product or service become apathetic, obnoxious or just downright rude after the transactional smoke has cleared. Read more
There Are No Dumb Business Questions, Not!
I've gotten a few head-scratchers in response to this column. You know who you are, but don't worry, your secret is safe with me. I have a confession to make. Writing an advice column, whether it be advice for love or money or business, is often hard to do with a straight face. Occasionally a question comes over the digital transom that just makes me go, "Huh?" Read more
The Thick Line Between Buddy and Boss
I have made just about every business blunder you can imagine. I am like the Evel Knievel of the small business world, if Evel Knievel wrote a weekly column on motorcycle safety. One of the more unpleasant things I've had to do is fire a good friend who was not doing the job I hired him to do. He needed a job, I needed an employee, so I thought I would give him a shot. Read more
The Business Autopsy: A Fact Of Life
Last week we discussed the importance of performing an autopsy on a dead business. No, I haven't been watching too many of those wonderfully graphic, TV forensic investigation shows. The reason I recommend you do a business autopsy is to uncover the exact reasons why the business died. Read more
The "Other" New Year's Resolution
"This year I will start my own business!" I call it "The American Dream Resolution," and like most New Year's resolutions it is a proclamation of intent that is often made, but seldom carried out (at least in an effective manner). Read more
Perceived Value Is In The Eye Of The Beholder
Pricing is an important aspect of every business because price is used to create financial projections, establish a break even point, and calculate profit and loss. It's also important to establish a good price point from the beginning because it is much easier to lower prices than to raise them. Read more
Investing In Son's Business Could Cause A Real Family Feud
It sounds like your wife wants to make a gift of the money, expecting nothing in return but the undying love of her last born son. You, on the other hand, don't know if you should offer the money as a loan (should I loan him the money) or as an investment (worried that my investment will be lost). Until you can make that distinction, your money should remain in the bank. Read more
How To Tell If Your Amazing New Product Idea Is Really Worth Gambling On
I'm a lousy poker player, mainly because I can't help grinning like the village idiot when blessed with a winning hand or frowning like a sad clown when dealt a dud. I also never make odds on the success of "amazing new products" because more often than not the only thing that's amazing is the way the product is totally ignored by the buying public. Read more
When It Comes To eBay, Don't Follow The Herd
While it's true that selling products on eBay can be a quick, low cost way to launch an online business, following the herd by selling the "hot product" of the moment, is not a great idea. To the contrary, chances are you will be stomped in the ground by the herd and left lying in the dust with your unsold inventory in hand. Read more
Don't Fall For The Latest Internet Identity Theft Scam
The shear number of PayPal customers is one reason it has become a popular target of scam artists trying to steal personal information from individuals and businesses alike. Identify theft is on the rise. Thanks to the Internet stealing someone's identity has never been easier. At any given moment, there are any number of Internet thieves using all manner of high tech wizardry to steal personal and business information from unsuspecting souls, and many times they can gain access to this information simply by asking the person to provide it through fraudulent means. Read more
Does Your Website Induce Seizures?
If visitor's are not clicking past your fancy Flash intro page, you don't have to be a genius to figure out that therein lies your problem. Remove the Flash intro page for a few weeks to see if your website's click-through rate improves and the number of page views increase. "Click-through rate" refers to the number of visitors who click links on your homepage to go deeper into your site. "Page views" refers to the overall number of web pages that were viewed by visitors. If click-through and page view rates improve, you'll know that the Flash intro was your problem. Read more
How To Create Your Own Info Product
In the last article we talked about why informational products are the best type of products to sell online. An informational product can be a digital book (known as an e-book), a digital report or a white paper, a piece of software, audio or video files, a web site, an ezine (electronic magazine), or a newsletter. Read more
Is Selling On eBay Just A Hobby Or A Real Business?
With so many people selling on eBay these days this is a question I get all the time. To many eBay sellers the thought of running an actual business is about as appealing as getting negative feedback, so they go out of their way to convince themselves that selling on eBay is really "just a hobby" and therefore, should not be susceptible to income tax laws. Read more
Is The eBay Fee Increase Actually Good For Business?
This will be the fifth rate hike in as many years for the auction giant and should really come as no surprise. Price hikes are a normal course of business. It was the size of the hike that has many sellers upset. Read more
Taking Your Business International
I called on Jose Rodriguez, President of RISMED Oncology Systems, a Huntsville company that provides high medical technology to radiotherapy professionals around the globe, to get his input on the subject. Jose is an old friend and client and if anyone can give pointers on doing business internationally, Jose is the man. Read more
The Great American Customer Service Unawareness Campaign
I'm so sick of you so-called business experts always saying the customer is always right. This is my business, not the customer's, so I'm the one who's always right. Sure, they can have an opinion, but in the end it's up to me to decide who's right and who's not. And if the customer doesn't like it they can take their business elsewhere. Read more
Franchises Offer Shortcuts, But Not Control
Franchising can be a great way to start a business career, but you should make sure you're not just trading one job for another. Unless you plan on being an absentee owner, which I highly discourage, you are gong to be working in the business just as an employee would, so be sure the business you choose doesn't turn your lifelong dream into a never-ending nightmare. Read more
Writing The Book On Great Customer Service
You probably can't compete with the superstore on volume of inventory or on price, but there are other things you can do to help keep the customers coming in your door. One of the best ways to ensure customer loyalty is to offer superior customer service. Read more
Website Design Considerations
If you want to be a web designer, be a web designer. However, if the key focus of your business is building widgets, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that your time would be better spent building widgets, not Web sites. Read more
Use Noncompete Agreements To Help Protect Your Business From
Renegade former employees riding the free enterprise wave is one reason noncompete agreements are gaining in popularity among employers who hope to use them to help protect their business from competitive threats launched by former employees. Many employers are now demanding that key employees sign noncompetes as a stipulation of employment. Read more
Turnkey Dropship Websites Save You Time, Trouble and Money
Lucky for you and me there are now a number of companies on the Web that can help folks like us set up a turnkey dropship website without ever breaking a sweat. Read more
The Joy and Hazards Of Finding Your First Office
Putting your name on a commercial lease is one of the first tangible commitments an entrepreneur makes to his or her business and searching for that first office or retail space can be a truly invigorating experience. Read more
Starting Your Business By The Book
To begin, here's the best legal advice I can give you as a new business person: find yourself a good lawyer and make him or her your very best friend. Granted, your new best friend will charge you an hourly fee for chatting on the phone or talking business over lunch, but you'll find it to be money well spent. A good attorney can save you far more than the cost of his services. I rarely make any decision that has the potential to impact my business without first consulting my attorney. Read more
SBA's 8(a) Program Can Help Some Companies Compete
The 8(a) Program (named after the section of the Small Business Act from which it comes) is an SBA program created to help small disadvantaged businesses better compete in the U.S. marketplace and within the arena of government procurement. The SBA provides business development, technical assistance and other services to the small businesses that are accepted into the 8(a) program. Read more
Navigating The Internet Sales Tax Laws
Internet sales taxation has always been a hot topic for those of us who make our living selling goods and services online. One of the more controversial points is that no one, including our own government, has a clue how to implement a fair and logical Internet taxation process. Read more
Managing Employees Is A Little Like Herding Cats
I hope you have a full head of hair now, because depending on how quickly you get a grip on this situation, you could end up bald in a very short time. And if you're starting out bald all you can do is put on a cap and read on. Read more
If It Was Easy Everybody Would Do It
Even on the best of days running a business can be incredibly stressful, not to mention overwhelming and exhausting. It's only natural that there will be times when you wonder if it's really worth it. Asking yourself the "should I just get a real job" question simply means that your human side is showing. And as a human you have a limited tolerance for things you can not control. And that's really where the stress of being an entrepreneur comes from. Read more
How To Handle The Occasional Oop-See!
First off, it's important that you understand that the magnitude of your mistake will determine the course of action you take to make amends. If your company's error was such that it caused your customer a significant amount of lost time or revenue, embarrassed them publicly, caused damage to their reputation, or otherwise negatively affected their bottom line, you may face legal repercussions that saying "I'm sorry" will not deter. Read more
Achievements Outweigh Education and Experience
Many successful businesses were started by first time entrepreneurs who never went to college. Natural talent, ambition, drive, determination, and good old dumb luck have fueled many success entrepreneurs, myself included. I don't have a degree (I drove past a college once. It looked hard, so I kept going). Would a degree have helped make my business trek easier? Perhaps. Read more
Building A Great Website Isn't Enough, You Have To Market It
When it comes to attracting customers, opening an online business (or an online branch of an existing business) is no different from opening a traditional brick and mortar shop. Without a little fanfare and a well-devised marketing plan, chances are your website will become just another spot of roadkill on the Information Superhighway. Read more
Business Lessons Learned At The Mall
No offense to my mall merchant brothers and sisters, but a trip into the deepest jungle is more appealing to me than a trip to the mall. I get no joy out of trudging from store to store, attempting to communicate with salespeople from other planets, browsing discount racks of last season's dollar merchandise and peering into windows at mannequins that seem to be in some sort of inanimate pain (why can't they make a happy mannequin?). Read more
Choosing A Business That's Right For You
Many successful businesses have been built by taking a traditional business and making it better. Domino's Pizza was certainly not the first to offer home delivery of pizza, but they were the first to guarantee it would be delivered piping hot to your door in 30 minutes or less. Amazon.com was not the first company to sell books, but they were one of the first that would let you buy books from the comfort of your own home while sitting in your underwear. Read more
Protect Your Ideas With Copyrights and Patents
A patent is a form of protection granted to an inventor that protects his invention in the United States for up to 20 years from the date of application. Patent law states that, "whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, or any new and useful improvements thereof may obtain a patent." Owning a patent gives you the legal right to stop someone else from making, using or selling your invention (or one that's very close to it) without your permission. However, proving that someone is infringing on your patent is often difficult and usually requires a trial to settle the dispute. Read more
You Can't Avoid Spam, So Learn To Deal With It
It is no exaggeration to say that I receive thousands of email messages a day. Out of those thousands of messages about 1% are from people I know, 1% are from people I need to know, and the rest are from people that I would like to track down and field dress with a very dull knife. Spammers, they are called, the scourge of the Internet, the digital kin of the lowly telemarketer and dreaded junk mailer.
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