Good Small Business Ideas

By Lanee’ Blunt

Open a new business--
Image by Ljleavell.

There are some good small businesses to get into when you are looking for a business to go into either part-time or full-time. Decide on the best idea because small businesses will continue to survive and grow. Create a value for your customers by estimating if your product or service serves more value than the purchase price.

Online Store

Sell many of your own products with your own ecommerce store, and work with wholesale suppliers. Set up an account and put products on eBay, Amazon, or Craigslist.  Set up an online store and sell products on your own website with a drop-shipping service.  Sell used goods or buy goods wholesale.

Bakery

Do you get compliments from your family and friends about your cakes and pies? Open your own bakery and sell locally or sell your baked goods online. A degree in pastry arts may help, but it's not necessary to open a bakery. You can learn the craft with time and experience and you have the potential to make good money.

Seminar Business

Open a seminar business. The demand for seminars is not just limited to corporate seminars. People are attending seminars for a lot of different reasons and there is a demand for seminars by small businesses, organizations, and consumers. Seminars are being created almost for every possible subject and there is an audience waiting to attend and willing to pay to you.

Read more »

Small Business Ideas

By Lanee’ Blunt

Grow your small business-
Image by Andrewatla.

Small business’ ideas can start from thinking about what people needs are.  If you are thinking of starting a new business or investing in one discover what the customer’s needs are and build your business around it with your product or service. Decide on the best idea because small businesses will continue to survive and grow.

Online Business

Web-based businesses and ecommerce continues to grow. People are using the internet and searching for products and services to buy online. They will order goods and services for their household and personal use.  There are web tools to help you build a successful web-based business.

Hair Salons

Starting a hair salon is a good business because women will always scrape together money to get their hair done.  A nail salon is also a good investment because they will always get their nails gone too.  A hair salon with a talented hair stylist in the right location will be profitable business.

Care for Seniors

Develop a business that will provide care for children with aging parents. Some need people to come in and take care of seniors while they are at work. You can provide in-home care. There are also other services that you can provide such as shopping, cleaning, delivery, driving, and cooking.

Computer Services

A computer technician, programmer, systems engineer, web designer are always in high demand. Become a subcontractor or a consultant. The hourly rate for these services is very high for freelancers.

Reference:

About: The Best Business Opportunities of 2012; Susan Ward

Read more »

How to Make a Small Business Newsletter

By Lanee’ Blunt

Start a newsletter--
Image by Dmpop.

Newsletters are public relations material. Big corporations use them. They are great at reminding customers about your company. It is a respectable form of public relations material because it is not considered junk mail, and if created correctly it will be read. It will build future business, brand awareness, and helps to generate trust from your prospects. Your small business newsletter will not have to compete with other small business newsletters. 

Writing

Decide what content to include in the newsletter by knowing your audience. What articles would be of interest to them. There are three or four feature articles and the text should be in three columns. Try to give the reader information that is interesting and tips that they can use.

Publishing

Determine how often your business will publish your newsletter. Most newsletters are published quarterly. Your budget is also a great factor in determining the frequency in publication. Newsletters should be published on a regular basis, so once you determine the frequency stick to that schedule.

Desktop Publishing

Any typical desktop publishing program will do the job. Some programs are easy to learn and are inexpensive.  A full color newsletter can be created on your computer and printed with a laser or regular color printer.  It might take you several issues before you produce the finished product with ease. Your desktop publishing skills will improve with every issue that you produce. 

Read more »

How to Advertise Your Business to B2B

By Lanee’ Blunt

Add a benefit in your advertisement--
Image by Svilen001.

The biggest goal of business-to-business advertising is lead generation. Once you cut the fat from your campaign focus on the right media choices which will bring you a higher ROI. Advertising your business b2b doesn’t have to be difficult.

Stress Benefits

When you write your ad put a benefit in the headline. When you are trying to get sales leads from businesses the advertisement must be valuable. Catch the reader’s attention with a headline that will make the prospect want to call you to ask for more information.

Use Social Media

Know you audience. Ask yourself about your chosen market and what social media platforms they might be using. Are you going to email or send direct mail to the business owner or a certain employee? Don't send spam but join in on the chat in Twitter.

Place your ads in search engines and sign up for Adwords.  Use online and print trade directories and make your ads easy to skim but still effective.

Offer

Always have an offer in your advertising promotion.  This will give the prospect a reason to respond to your advertisement. Offering something useful has been known to significantly increase your response rate. Try to make your offer interesting and something that the prospect will feel is some value.  For example, if you are marketing to small businesses offer a free information package, a free download of a special report, or a free calculator.

Reference:

Inc: How to Use Social Media for B2B Marketing; J.J. McCorvey

Entrepreneur; How to Advertise Now; Kim T. Gordon; 2009

Read more »

Advantages of a Vending Machine Business

By Lanee’ Blunt

Work part-time in
vending machine business--
Image by Emadecom.

A vending machine business is a business to go into where you don't need any experience. You will have a great chance to make a lot of money and there is a minimum start up cost. You can start your business with one machine and learn the business while getting experience. It is a business that you can have while still working your full-time job because it only requires a couple of hours of service, and it has to be stocked with products.

Low Start-up

An advantage of a vending business is that the start-up cost is only the investment of the vending equipment.  You will have no advertising or marketing cost and immediate cash flow once the equipment is placed. 

Passive Income

If your vending machine is placed in the right location that is best for your machine for example, a coffee machine in an office building, your vending machine will earn for you any time of day and every day.  You will make money immediately and then maintain your products and have an all cash business. You never have to worry about bad checks or bad credit risks.

Be Your Own Boss

You can work the business part-time while maintaining your full time job.  Set your goal of your income meeting what you earn on your full time job and become your own boss. Or work the business full-time and don't worry about working for someone else. 

Reference:

Street Directory: Take Advantage of a Vending Opportunity-Be Your Own Boss

Read more »

Advertise Your Small Business on Your Website

By Lanee’ Blunt

Create your website--
Image by Jaylopez.

A small business website can be used to advertise if it provides useful benefits that prospects will get from using your product or service. The internet can be used as a cost effective way to advertise. Your website is an important marketing tool and it can be just as effective as using a brochure or a business card. Create a well optimized website that will be a resource for your audience.

Create your website

Find the top 5 keywords for your website. Write useful content around this information that addresses the needs of your customers.  Use social media websites, blogs, or forums to provide content for your audience.

Offer Something Free

Create a special report, a newsletter or a software download.  Give it away free in exchange for the prospects email address. When people feel that they are getting value they will come back to your site.

Email

Create an email list by collecting email addresses from people that visit your site.  It is a cost effective way that small businesses can market their business, and add new customers. Sending an email sales letter to a target audience has its advantages.  With email marketing you can target your prospects by their interest, age, profession and etc. Send them a newsletter, product announcements, special offers, or coupons.

Reference:

Business 2 Community; 10 Ways to Promote Your Small Business Website; Melinda Emerson; 2012

Read more »

Small Business Marketing

By Lanee’ Blunt

Marketing can be done on a budget--
Image by Duchesssa.

There are many benefits of using small business marketing that will help you advertise your business. It allows you to communicate with your customer by email campaigns, interactive consumer websites, mobile messaging, fliers, catalog distribution, sales letters, direct mail packages, and online display ads. Advertising can be done on a budget, but it requires some time on your part.

Postcards

Postcard advertising is ideal for the small business owner on a budget. Print all the labels on your computer; the other side of the postcard should have an offer, for example, announce a sale, a discount, or two for the price of one. Create a tempting offer, and it should improve your response rate.

Email Advertising

Do not send spam. Email advertising involves directly marketing a message through electronic mail to a group of people or a mailing list.  Send your messages to an opt-in list of people that have told you they want to receive email messages from you.  Sending an online newsletter is a great form of promotion because it keeps your name and message in front of your prospect and when they decide to buy they may think of your small business. Capture your prospects email address on your website and then send your online newsletter by email.

Advertise

Write an ad for your product or service to produce a certain amount of leads. Try launching the ad promotion for a certain amount of days and then cut the ad when you have enough leads. Although, advertising has a high cost you still have a high level of control.

Read more »

How to Open an Ecommerce With Wholesale Suppliers

By Lanee’ Blunt

Register your domain name--
Image by IngerM.

You might want to sell many of your own products, or work with wholesalers when opening your own ecommerce store. Opening an ecommerce store requires little overhead, and the startup cost is cost effective. When approaching wholesale suppliers make sure you understand the volume discounts, return policies, and order processing time.

Website

Build your website, and register your domain name. A quality website goes a long way because it will be considered your store front. Design the website yourself.  There are some great looking templates that you can download right onto your website. If you don’t feel comfortable with doing that then hire someone to design it for you.

Obtain a Tax ID

To sell products you are required to collect sales taxes, you will need to obtain a Sales Tax Permit from your state or local government. In order to deal with wholesalers and distributors you will need the tax ID before they will let you open an account with them.

Wholesale Suppliers

Identify high-volume manufacturers or wholesalers first because they will not let you buy directly from them. A small business with a limited sales volume won’t support buying bulk on a large scale.  When you have found the wholesale company that provides the types of products you want to sell, contact each through their website, or by calling them on the phone and fill out their new account application. You can now buy the products you want to sell or set up a drop shipping arrangement with them. Market your ecommerce store.

Reference:

SBA: Small Business Matters; Tips for Finding and Working with Wholesale Suppliers; Caron Beesley; 2010

Lifehacker: How to Set Up Your Own Online Store

Read more »

Best and Economical Ways to Advertise a Small Business

By Lanee’ Blunt

Inexpensive Advertising--
Image by Svilen001.

You may not have a big advertising budget when you start your small business.  Television commercials may be out of your reach for a while until you get established.  There are many ways to advertise that are affordable and within your budget.

Create a Flyer

Flyers are often overlooked by some small business owners but they are an effective form of advertising. Offer a discount or a sale in your flyer because it is effective in getting people into your door. Put flyers under windshield wipers in shopping mall parking lots, medical centers, and on bulletin boards.

Door Hangers

Create a doorknob ad that is specifically outlined for your business.  They are a great form of low cost advertisement if your business is geographically defined for example, a day care or a contracting service.

Internet Advertising

Every small business needs a website it doesn't matter what type of business you’re in. Most people look for companies in their local area on the internet when they are going to buy something. Create a company profile on a social media website.  List your company in online directories.  Create a company blog and write content about your product or service and post links back to your website.

Craigslist

List your company on craigslist. Post an ad on Craigslist for free. List your business under the right category and location.

Reference:

Entrepreneur; 10 Unusual Ways to Advertise; Roy H. Williams; 2006

About: Best Inexpensive Ways to Advertise Your Business; Apryl Duncan

Business O Plan: Best Way to Advertise a Small Business

Read more »