They've Got Baggage (Entrepreneur.com)

They've Got Baggage

Thanks to this one-of-a-kind business, countless travelers' losses are one small town's gain.

By Justin Petruccelli | August 20, 2008

URL: http://www.entrepreneur.com/startingabusiness/successstories/article196592.html

A 5.8-carat diamond ring. A full suit of armor. A live rattlesnake. We'll take "Things most people can't even imagine owning, let alone traveling with" for $400, Alex. But there are people who have, and stranger still, never claimed the bags in which these items were discovered. And so these lost treasures ended up in the sleepy little town of Scottsboro, Alabama, at a one-of-a-kind business known as Unclaimed Baggage Center--or in the case of the snake, set free in the cemetery behind it.

"We can speculate about a lot of things," says Brenda Cantrell, Unclaimed Baggage Center's marketing director. "But we always say, 'If these bags could talk, what a story they could tell.'"

Doyle Evans started what is now Unclaimed Baggage Center in 1970 when he got a call from a friend in Washington, D.C., who worked for a bus line and had several unclaimed bags on his hands. Evans borrowed $300 from one grandfather, a pickup from the other and hit the road. When he brought the luggage back to Scottsboro, he figured out he was on to something when the items he found inside sold so quickly. After a few years, he approached the airline industry and moved the business into the 40,000-square-foot building where it's still located. The business has since been passed on to Doyle's son, Bryan, and is now one of Alabama's top tourist destinations, attracting more than a million visitors every year.

A large part of Unclaimed Baggage Center's success is that it's the only store of its kind, something Cantrell says can be attributed to the store's long-standing and good relationships with the major airlines. So those curious enough to want to see it for themselves have no choice but to visit tiny Scottsboro, a quintessential Southern town nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. Cantrell says the store's location is an appropriate reflection of its personality.

"The fact that you have to drive just a little bit off the beaten path to get here makes it that much more intriguing," she says. "If we were in downtown Nashville or downtown Atlanta or downtown Chicago, we would just be another neat store. It wouldn't be as mystical as it is here. It's very fortunate that it's in the South because it allows us to showcase the beauty of our state, the friendliness of the people and just what a great place we are. It's just our little corner of Heaven up here. I could not imagine us anywhere else. It's just who we are."

While the store has certainly seen its share of strange and wonderful items--a museum inside the building contains Egyptian artifacts, an 18th-century violin and other items all found in unclaimed luggage--60 percent of the store's merchandise is clothing. In fact, Unclaimed Baggage has its own off-site laundry facility where about 40,000 pieces of apparel get cleaned every month--more than most commercial cleaners see in an entire year. Customers can often find high-end designer items for a fraction of their original cost, as well as brand-new items. Cantrell says that the store is able to acquire so many quality items because shopping is often the top activity for female travelers and because of people's natural packing tendencies.

"When people travel, they have the things they want, so you're going to find your better items in personal luggage," she says. "That's part of what the treasure hunt's about. You just never know what you're going to find when you walk in the door."

Those searching for treasure in the more literal sense can visit the store's always-crowded jewelry counter, which features everything from $5 silver earrings to diamond and platinum pendants from Tiffany. And then there's the "serious inquiries only" section, home to diamond-encrusted watches and bracelets valued at more than $20,000 but priced to sell for the bargain price of around $11,000. It's something Cantrell says she can't explain even after working at the store for more than 10 years.

"That's one of the things that surprises me the most--the jewelry that people pack--very expensive and exquisite items," she says. "My theory is if it's not necessary and you can't wear it, just don't take it. Lots of people have benefitted from what other people packed."

One such beneficiary of those inexplicable packing habits is Jacqueline Kimball of Maryland, who read about the store online and made a detour during a trip to Louisiana with a group of friends to see it for herself.

"It looked like fun," Kimball says. "We didn't know exactly what to expect, and we're shoppers. The gold jewelry counter has been a hit. We've been here 10 minutes and we've already spent $1,000."

Of course, another large part of Unclaimed Baggage Center's draw is that it's as much an experience as it is a shopping destination. For several years, the store sold certain items on its website, including the aforementioned suit of armor. But when it became apparent that online sales focused mostly on electronics and generally belied the store's image, Cantrell says, management decided to return to its roots.

"That's not what our store's all about," she says. "So we decided to pull down the online store and focus on the pictures we have and the stories we have so people can get a better understanding of what Unclaimed Baggage is all about and give them a little taste of wanting to make that trip to Alabama."

True to its down-home ties, Unclaimed Baggage Center also makes every effort to give back to the locals. The store donates about a third of all the items it gets to charity, and other local businesses are reaping the benefits of their 40,000-square-foot neighbor. One such business is the Blue Willow Restaurant, located just a few blocks from Unclaimed Baggage in a converted Victorian house. Owner Sandra Grigg says the Blue Willow gets about 75 percent of its business from Unclaimed Baggage, whose employees often recommend it to out-of-town visitors.

"UCB has been the best thing that's happened to Scottsboro in a long time," she says. "It's just a great place. The people there are very conscientious. They want people to know about the area and they tell them what is around. People like to come in here because it's homey. We tell them about the town and about the history of the house. They love to hear the stories. We love to converse with the people who come to Unclaimed Baggage. You can normally tell who they are. It's special to them. A lot of times they go home and then we get cards and letters from them, saying what a wonderful time they had here."

Justin Petruccelli is an associate editor for Entrepreneur.com. He can be reached at jpetruccelli@entrepreneur.com.

5 Green Trends for Small Business (Entrepreneur.com)

5 Green Trends for Small Business

When you can make money and make a difference, everyone wins.

By Glenn Croston | August 20, 2008

URL: http://www.entrepreneur.com/startingabusiness/businessideas/article196590.html

The examples used in this article have been excerpted from 75 Green Businesses You Can Start to Make Money and Make a Difference by Glenn Croston, available from Entrepreneurpress.com.


Going green is not going away, but the various trends within the green business movement will change direction, creating opportunities for new products and new businesses. Looking forward, here are five green trends that entrepreneurs can capitalize on to make money while making a difference.

Green Car Dealership
The Market Need: More efficient cars are in high demand
The Mission: Sell fuel-efficient cars that pollute less
Knowledge to Start: Autos, sales
Capital Required: $10,000 (for an alternative model) to $1,000,000-plus (cars on a lot)
Timing to Start: Months to years
Special Challenges: Many new, competing technologies are coming to the market

The Prius is only the start. A variety of green cars are coming to the market from different manufacturers, large and small. While sales of cars overall will not grow quickly in a mature market like the United States, sales of green cars are rising as rapidly as the price of oil.

Who is going to sell all these green cars? One option is to work with the big, established auto manufacturers, but there already are many dealerships, and as a dealer you sell a full range of cars--not just green cars. An alternative is to work with the smaller, upstart, green auto producers. As the technology continues to improve, more and more cars will become available to fit a range of needs and markets.

Some car brokers deal in used cars one at a time, building deals between private buyers and sellers, as well as helping with financing, if necessary. An online green-car dealership provides access to a variety of cars, while avoiding the investment and risk of a car lot with brick, mortar, and asphalt.

Opportunities in green cars include:

• Opening a dealership for one of the emerging new producers in technologies such as electric cars
• Opening a used-car dealership specializing in high-mileage cars
• Commercializing a new car technology
• Brokering sales of green cars between individual buyers and sellers

Low-Carbon Groceries
The Market Need: Consumers are starting to think about the impact of their food and groceries on the environment, but have scant information to guide their shopping
The Mission: Build and provide systems for tracking food’s journey and its carbon footprint
Knowledge to Start: Carbon auditing, supply chains, marketing
Capital Required: $10,000 to $99,000
Timing to Start: Years
Special Challenges: Carbon labeling is not yet broadly adopted

When it comes to being green, food is so simple and yet so complicated. How green is your food? The answer depends on what green means to you. Does green food have to be grown using organic methods? What about the impact of our food on climate change? The greenest food includes consideration of how it is grown, and the environmental impact of its journey to the local market and your plate.

To make smart, green shopping decisions, consumers need information right on the label. Already in the United Kingdom, products are starting to have transportation labeling, with a picture of a plane or a boat. The trend is likely to spread to the United States and improve by labeling products with their actual carbon footprint.

Opportunities for low-carbon groceries include:

• Creating low-carbon products and brands
• Providing tracking and auditing of carbon footprint for products
• Importing products with a smaller carbon footprint, even after accounting for transportation
• Looking for low-carbon products being developed in Europe or elsewhere to see what ideas can be imported into the United States

Green Shopping Bags
The Market Need: Billions of plastic shopping bags are thrown away each year
The Mission: Replace disposable plastic shopping bags with renewable, reusable bags
Knowledge to Start: Materials, manufacturing
Capital Required: Under $10,000 (for homemade bags)
Timing to Start: Weeks to months
Special Challenges: Finding a niche among competition

Consumers and governments are driving a rapidly growing movement away from disposable plastic bags to more eco-friendly alternatives. Reusable bags that don’t get thrown away probably are the greenest option for shopping bags. If you already own a store, selling bags with your logo on the side might be a savvy green business move, and giving them away might even pay off. With that bag, you buy increased brand recognition for your company, you associate your brand with being green, and you may create increased loyalty.

At first, people might worry about how they look carrying their own bags. Cool designer bags will help overcome this concern. One of the neat things about bags is that they are so simple and yet people are endlessly creative with them. The opportunity is to create not just bags, but green fashion statements. Some bags even are made from recycled material, for an extra boost of greenness. Maybe that’s another use for old T-shirts. What if, from the start, green grocery bags were made to be returned in some other form, a cradle-to-cradle shopping bag?

Opportunities for green shopping bags include:

• Producing low-cost compostable shopping bags
• Creating reusable logo bags for stores to give away
• Designing novel bags for shopping
• Developing fold-up bags that are easy to take with you
• Producing homemade bags from recycled material

Environmental Microfinance
The Market Need: Microenterprises in the developing world can have a significant environmental impact
The Mission: Support development of environmentally sound microenterprises
Knowledge to Start: Finance, sustainability
Capital Required: $10,000 to $99,000
Timing to Start: Months to years
Special Challenges: Influencing the direction of large numbers of microenterprises

Surprisingly small amounts of money can make a substantial difference in people’s lives. With loans as small as $100, people in the developing world can start their own business and move out of poverty. By supporting environmentally sound microbusinesses, green microfinance is mobilizing a grassroots green revolution in the developing world while also spurring green business in the developed world.

Microfinance works, and the rate of repayment on microfinance loans is high. Grameen Bank in Bangladesh and its founder Professor Muhammad Yunus received the Nobel Prize in 2006 for work with microfinance, validating that it can change the lives of the entrepreneurial poor.

Opportunities for green microfinance include:

• Forming nonprofit organizations in the developed world that support microfinance efforts
• Consulting and raising money to support the growth of green microfinance institutions in the developing world
• Forming microfinance organizations that support environmentally-sound business practices in the developing world

Green Building Certification
The Market Need: As the number of “green” buildings grows, their true effect on the environment needs to be measured
The Mission: Rate green homes and buildings
Knowledge to Start: LEED professional accreditation, or knowledge of other green rating systems
Capital Required: Under $10,000
Timing to Start: Months to years
Special Challenges: There are still relatively few green buildings, although the number is growing quickly

What makes a building green? Green is a big word these days and sometimes green is in the eye of the beholder. What seems green to one person can appear downright gray to someone else. To ensure buildings are as green as people say they are, independent verification and certification of homes and buildings are needed.

To provide this independent certification green-building groups have developed rating systems. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is the leading system for the certification of green buildings in the United States, broadly adopted as the standard by the burgeoning green-building community.

Opportunities in green building certification include:

• Creating a business helping green builders through the LEED certification process
• Developing a business commissioning green buildings
• Training teams to maintain green commercial and industrial buildings
• Performing inspections and creating green reports for homes when they are sold

Glenn Croston, Ph.D., is a veteran scientist, green entrepreneur and the author of 75 Green Businesses You Can Start to Make Money and Make a Difference, available from Entrepreneur Press. He has written five biology and chemistry books and is involved in developing entrepreneurial businesses with a focus on green research. He lives an eco-friendly life in both his business and at home. Visit startingupgreen.com for more information on how you can become a green entrepreneur.

¿Qué estoy haciendo mal? (END)

¿Qué estoy haciendo mal?

Aunque no se me atrasan las cuentas y hago más dinero mes por mes, no veo dinero en mi cuenta.

Tengo un pequeño negocio de manejo y control de plagas y ventas de insecticidas para exterminadores profesionales. Aunque no se me atrasan las cuentas y hago más dinero mes por mes, no veo dinero en mi cuenta ¿qué estoy haciendo mal?
- Ramón

Pueden ser varias razones. A vuelo de pájaro, puede ser que los costos están aumentando, hay disminución en las ventas o combinación de ambos.

Súmale que puede existir un desbalance en el flujo de entradas y salidas (ejemplo: pagas a los 30 y cobras a los 60 días). A lo mejor el dinero está en las cuentas por cobrar (account receivables) o en el inventario (inventory). Puede pasar también que estás en un breakeven point (la cantidad de dinero por venta iguala los costos) o incluso alguien está metiendo la mano en la lata.

Relacionadas

• Razones para no hacer negocios

Por ejemplo, asumiendo que vendes el mismo volumen mensual (igual cantidad de servicios y productos) sin aumentar el precio, si los costos aumentan (mano de obra, químicos, gasolina, etcétera) disminuye o desaparece la ganancia. O también lo contrario: los costos se quedan al mismo nivel, pero el volumen de ventas disminuye (asumiendo que los precios no aumentan), entonces pasaría lo mismo.

Cierto que dices que haces más dinero por mes, pero no necesariamente quiere decir que aumenten las ventas. Puede ser que estás teniendo cuentas que se están acumulando en determinado mes, aparentando más dinero en la cuenta pero no necesariamente hay un incremento en las ventas.

Hay que averiguar cuál es el problema y exterminarlo. Haría un análisis de costos (fijo y variable), del costo-volumen-ganancia y del punto de quiebre (breakeven analysis). Aparte haría un análisis de los activos y pasivos a corto plazo, porque puede que estés acumulando muchas cuentas por cobrar o inventario. Un flujo de efectivo para ver hacia dónde se va el dinero que entra por ventas. A lo mejor tienes que aumentar las ventas, subir precio en aquellos productos que se pueda, cortar gastos por otro lado o implementar un control de gastos.

Un buen contable o analista de negocios puede ayudarte con esto.

Pequeños en aprietos (END)

Pequeños en aprietos

Si se dificulta la solvencia económica de los pequeños negocios, se dificultará el mantenimiento de sus empleados.

Por Carla Haeussler-Badillo

Un pequeño negocio es aquel que tiene menos de 500 empleados o ventas menores de $5 millones anuales, según datos del Small Business Administration. En Puerto Rico, la gran mayoría de los patronos somos pequeños empresarios.

Carlas Sweet’s produce dulces de alta calidad. Su margen de ganancias es limitado y su producción es intensa en mano de obra. El aumento en el salario mínimo federal que entró en vigor el pasado 24 de julio, sumado al segundo aumento en el bono de Navidad, tendrán un impacto significativo para todos los negocios, pero especialmente para los pequeños comerciantes. Dicho aumento ocurre en un momento en que estamos siendo fustigados simultáneamente por los grandes incrementos en la gasolina, el agua y la luz, y en la materia prima que utilizamos para manufacturar nuestros productos.

El secretario del Trabajo, Román Velasco, fue citado recientemente por Prensa Asociada proponiendo un nuevo aumento salarial para los empleados, que esté basado en el alza en el costo de vida. Es una idea muy inoportuna e injusta contra la tambaleante estabilidad de los pequeños comerciantes.

Es entendible que Velasco aspire a que los trabajadores tengan más recursos y beneficios para vivir adecuadamente. Todos apoyamos que nuestros empleados mejoren sus condiciones de vida. Lo que no podemos aceptar es que dichos beneficios sean a costa del pequeño empresario.

En la medida que se dificulta la solvencia económica de nuestros pequeños negocios, también se dificultará el sostenimiento económico de la empresa y el mantenimiento de sus empleos.

Los más de 100 mil propietarios de pequeños negocios, responsables de dar empleo a más de 500 mil puertorriqueños, exhortamos a los políticos a que no sigan legislando unilateralmente más y más beneficios al empleado; que no sigan colocando la carga económica de nuestra fuerza trabajadora sobre los hombros de los pequeños comerciantes. Los pequeños patronos no tenemos de dónde sacar dinero para tanto. Estamos perdiendo competitividad. El desempleo aumenta; los pequeños empresarios seguimos cortando beneficios y cerrando negocios; las grandes empresas se mudan a lugares con costos operacionales más razonables.

En Puerto Rico no hacen falta más leyes que protejan al empleado, lo que nuestros empleados necesitan para que el dólar les rinda más es un Gobierno ágil y eficiente que provea servicios de salud, educación, transportación y seguridad excelentes, para que no tengan que enviar a sus hijos a la escuela privada, comprar un seguro de salud, un carro y pagar por seguridad en su urbanización. Al proveer mejores servicios, los puertorriqueños tendrían mayores oportunidades de desarrollo personal y profesional.

Imagínese lo que ahorraría una familia si mensualmente no tuviese que pagar por un seguro de salud ($500-$800), dos carros ($800 pagaré, $400 gasolina), educación para dos hijos ($700-$1,000), seguridad en el condominio o urbanización ($50-$150); yo calculo un promedio de $2,600.

Con esta cantidad, esa familia podría adquirir una mejor vivienda y ahorrar para su futuro. A esto es que debemos aspirar.

Lo que los pequeños comerciantes necesitamos es una mayor protección de nuestros centros de trabajo, para reducirnos los costos operacionales, especialmente los servicios gubernamentales, para que nuestros negocios prosperen y puedan voluntariamente mejorar los beneficios a los trabajadores.

El Gobierno tiene que empezar por poner su casa en orden. Hagan su trabajo y provean al trabajador una mejor calidad de vida. Basta de seguir recostados del esfuerzo y del sacrificio de los pequeños empresarios. Los patronos, los que creamos los empleos y sostenemos la economía, también somos puertorriqueños y tenemos derecho a la seguridad de un negocio próspero.

La opción “verde” (END)

La opción “verde”

Ante los altos costos energéticos en la Isla, ha comenzado a cobrar más fuerza la construcción verde y con ello negocios relacionados.

Por Sandra Morales Blanes / end.smorales@elnuevodia.com

La idea venía desde hace un tiempo, pero no fue hasta hace cuatro años que el joven empresario Gabriel Pérez logró el nicho de negocios que buscaba dentro de sus dos sus mayores intereses: la construcción y la conservación del ambiente.

Ambos a veces son vistos como antagónicos. Sin embargo, a raíz de los altos costos de la energía y la necesidad de reducir el calentamiento global, entre otros factores, ha comenzado a abrirse paso en Puerto Rico la denominada construcción verde y con ella la compañía creada por Pérez

Se trata de Innova Green. La misma ofrece servicios de consultoría y variedad de productos energy star, entre otros, que logran una mayor eficiencia en el uso de la energía. Hoy día, la compañía con ventas anuales de cerca de los $100,000, cuenta con unos 30 suplidores y un personal que ofrece asesoría y cotizaciones personalizadas.

“Cuando yo empecé a trabajar en la construcción hace ocho años, empecé a educarme, a leer y pensaba de qué manera podía hace una diferencia. Para entonces, lo green no estaba pegado. Recuerdo que cuando saqué ese nombre la gente me decía si era una compañía de landscaping”, recordó en tono de broma.

“Pero ahora veo que la gente se está educando, quiere buscar productos más eficientes y de eso es lo que se trata esto”, agregó Pérez, quien viaja constantemente a convenciones y seminarios que ofrece el U.S. Green Building Council, entre otras organizaciones, que promueven la denominada construcción verde.

Entre los productos más innovadores que ofrece la empresa, figura un sistema de aspiradora para el que se colocan múltiples conectores en puntos claves de la casa y cuya eficiencia produce ahorros de energía. También la construcción de muros o verjas a base de plantas en vez de hormigón, lo que abarata costos y ofrece una alternativa amigable con el ambiente.

“Ahora mismo, que no se están vendiendo mucho las casas, la gente está remodelando y nuestros servicios pueden ser una alternativa”, señaló Pérez. Agregó que, aunque puede ser costoso en estos momentos adquirir productos “verdes”, lo cierto es que no es imposible y que puede haber diferentes alternativas según el presupuesto de las personas.

Pérez apuntó que, además de proveer alternativas verdes para propiedades existentes, la compañía ha creado alianzas en ciertos proyectos nuevos, como Monte Lago Estate en Toa Alta, en el que ofrecen a los compradores productos y opciones para su hogar, con un impacto mínimo al medio ambiente.

Razones para no hacer negocios (END)

Razones para no hacer negocios

Por Xavier Serbia / www.xavierserbia.com

Razones válidas para crear negocios: mantener la familia, ofrecer tus conocimientos profesionales o aprovechar una necesidad en el mercado.

Pero hay otras razones que no deben usarse para crear negocios:

“Quiero tener el tiempo controlado de 8:00 a.m. y salir a las 5:00 p.m.”
Si ésta es tu razón principal para crear el negocio, lamento desilusionarte; el tiempo que le dedicarás al negocio comprende más de ocho horas.

Un nuevo negocio te obliga a ser el primero en abrir y el último en cerrar. No tan sólo te levantas más temprano, sino que duermes menos.

“Quiero ser mi propio jefe”.
Es cierto que en tu propio negocio tienes la opción de montar las reglas. Incluso tienes la libertad de mandar sin tener a alguien que físicamente supervise si estás cumpliendo con el trabajo o no.

Pero no olvides una cosa: el control no desaparece; lo que haces es cambiar de medio.

En una compañía, seas empleado o gerente, estás sometido a unas directrices. En un negocio propio eres dueño, pero también eres empleado en el sentido de que tienes que controlarte a ti y a los otros para lograr que el negocio logre sus objetivos. Así, eres empleado de los objetivos que te asignes.

Muchos creen ser líderes, pero pocos saben ser seguidores. En un negocio propio tienes que desarrollar ambas habilidades.

“Hacer lo que me plazca”.
A menos que quieras jugar a la apariencia para subirte la autoestima al decir que tienes tu negocio, en tu propio negocio no puedes hacer todo lo que te plazca.

Como empleado, tú recibes las directrices. En tu negocio, tú las impones. Como empleado tú sigues ejemplos; como dueño, marcas y eres el ejemplo.

“Me aburre el trabajo que tengo”.
Es cierto que los negocios son excitantes y con retos. Pero los negocios no son como “soplar y haces botellas”.

Todo lleva un proceso de análisis, pensamiento, deliberación y toma de decisiones.

Es cierto que la motivación y tener la inquietud intelectual por los negocios es fundamental a la hora de montar y mantener cualquier negocio. Pero que no confunda motivación con temeridad.

No porque estemos motivados a cambiar de estilo de vida podemos “tirarnos del monte Everest”.

Defensa a la nueva Ley Notarial (END)

Defensa a la nueva Ley Notarial

Alegan pone punto final a prácticas irregulares.

Por Sandra Morales Blanes / end.smorales@elnuevodia.com

La intención de la nueva Ley Notarial nunca fue aumentar los honorarios que reciben los abogados notarios en las transacciones bancarias, sino acabar con prácticas, al margen de la ley, establecidas por años tanto por la banca como por la industria de la construcción.

Así lo afirmó el presidente del Instituto del Notariado Puertorriqueño, Luis Colón Ramery, quien cabildeó por su aprobación. “Lo que ha hecho es poner fin a una práctica detrimental a los mejores intereses de la institución de notariado puertorriqueño y del pueblo de Puerto Rico”, expresó Colón Ramery, en alusión a prácticas de negociación establecidas en las que se “obligaba” al notario a cobrar por debajo de la tarifa de 1%.

Esto específicamente en hipotecas cuyo valor era de entre $10,000 y $500,000, que tienen un gran volumen en la banca hipotecaria.

“Lo que hace esta ley es reafirmar el carácter tarifario de (los honorarios), so pena de sanciones disciplinarias a los notarios y a la banca”
Luis Colón Ramery

Colón Ramery cuestionó la oposición de la Asociación de Bancos Hipotecarios y presentó evidencia de una carta de 2004 dirigida a la Legislatura en la que su entonces presidente, José A. Rivera, establece que “los honorarios según la Ley 75 del 2 de julio de 1987 son adecuados”.

“Nos preguntamos ahora por qué ellos insisten que no son adecuados”, dijo.

El letrado agregó que la banca sí puede hacer ajustes para no afectar al consumidor tales como reducir costos por originación y descuento. La banca reportó en 2007 $114 millones en ganancias, sólo en ese renglón, apuntó.

What to Consider Before Buying a Business (Entrepreneur.com)

What to Consider Before Buying a Business

It can be the best way to invest in yourself, as long as you've done your homework.

By Ed Pendarvis | August 01, 2008

URL: http://www.entrepreneur.com/startingabusiness/startupbasics/article196550.html

I believe with all my heart that you're better off buying an existing successful business with trained employees, an established customer base and an existing "cash flow" sufficient to provide a good living, than you are starting up a new business.

How do you find a good business? Because of the confidentiality of a business sale, (unlike real estate; you never put a "For Sale" sign out front), my suggestion is that you contact a business broker in your area that is a member of the International Business Brokers Association, visit them and let them introduce you to several available businesses.

The most important thing is to find a business that you like and feel that you can manage. If you hate to get up and go to work every day, you will have a major problem no matter what kind of business it is or how smart you are.

Unlike real estate where we say the three most important things are location, location and location, in buying a business, the three most important things are location, track record (including trends of sales) and management.

Visit with the seller and ask a lot of questions about the business; how long he or she has owned the business; how things are going and why they are selling the business.

Be aware that there are several value drivers of the business:

• Location
• Furniture, fixtures and equipment
• Inventory
• Trained employees
• Established customer base
• Existing cash flow(sufficient to pay expenses and make a living)
• The industry itself (future market for product/service)
• Competition
• Financial records and representations by seller
• Your plans for improvement

Expect that getting financing for a business acquisition will be difficult, especially in today's market. The business broker can be very helpful in this area. Also expect to negotiate the selling price, terms and conditions so that they work for you and the seller.

In purchasing an existing business, you are buying an income stream. The cash flow should be enough to pay the new debt service to the bank, SBA, seller or whomever, and still make a living for you.

If you can buy a business with a down payment of X dollars and the cash flow will pay the debt service, leaving you with X dollars every year, then you have 100 percent return on your investment and the business is paying for itself. Where else can you get that?

When you buy your own business, you have accomplished three very important things:

• You have a job for life. (You probably won't fire yourself.)
• You have the opportunity to make more money. (Most big businesses started off as small businesses.)
• You are building equity in something that you can sell when you're ready to retire.

I believe in the value of small business to you, to our communities and to America--yesterday, today and tomorrow. Invest in a sure thing--invest in yourself.

Ed Pendarvis is the founder of Sunbelt, the world's largest network of business broker offices.

Win Sales From Recession-Minded Consumers (Entrepreneur.com)

Win Sales From Recession-Minded Consumers

Here are 3 ways to woo shoppers this summer, when the spotlight's on saving.

By Kim T. Gordon | August 08, 2008

URL: http://www.entrepreneur.com/marketing/marketingcolumnistkimtgordon/article196344.html

Ask American consumers of all ages and income levels and they'll tell you their focus this summer is on savings. In a recession economy--with gas and food prices soaring--consumers are making serious choices every day about how and where to spend their dollars. And everyone from kids to seniors is looking for ways to save money.

As an entrepreneur, your challenge right now is to increase sales while giving consumers what they want, without cutting into your profitability. That means offering savings that draw customers at a time when many are cutting back on purchases. To ensure you're up to the task, master these four smart ways to woo summertime shoppers with savings:

1. Market Special Promotions
Rather than across-the-board price cutting--which can wreak havoc with your bottom line--use special promotions to draw in customers looking for savings. These can be short-term promotions on everyday items, or you can create a new, special bundle of products or services that will appeal to your target audience and offer that at a tempting price point. Once in your store or on your website, customers may make additional purchases.

One of the critical elements of recession-era marketing is understanding shifting customer perceptions. Right now some products or services that were previously viewed as everyday staples are seen as luxuries, while others have retained their desirability. Mobile phones, for example, fall into the latter category, as recent studies show that most Americans simply wouldn't give them up. Discover what your unique customer base wants most that you can provide, and develop special promotions that make your most desirable products or services more accessible through savings.

2. Modernize Coupons
Coupons are back thanks to the recession. After a steep decline in popularity over the past decade, now two-thirds of shoppers plan more coupon use, according to a recent ICOM survey. In fact, consumers in the 18-to-34-year-old bracket, are the most likely to use coupons in a recession, closely followed by 35-to-54-year-olds. Income doesn't seem to make a significant difference as coupons are equally attractive to both upper- and lower-income households.

Right now, online coupons of all kinds are a tiny percentage of the overall coupon market. But they're gaining favor as more websites offer downloadable coupons. And nearly 80 percent of consumers surveyed in the 18-to-34 age group say they're much more likely or somewhat more likely to use coupons if they can download them and have them automatically connected to an electronically swiped frequent shopper card. Watch this trend, as it may be the way of the near future for couponing.

3. Woo Stay-at-Home Shoppers
With the rising cost of gas, consumers are saving money by making fewer individual shopping trips, and online shopping from home has become a part of everyday life. The vast majority of Americans now researches purchases on the internet before buying them online or in a brick-and-mortar store. And many shoppers this summer are looking to save money by ordering products online that ship free.

There's never been a better time to tune up your website and make it an attractive, efficient and even fun shopping experience. Be sure to feature special promotions and savings on your main page. Specials that appear close to the top of your page will grab the greatest attention. This summer, combine promotional e-mails to your in-house database with the announcement of special offers on your website to keep current customers coming back for more. And carefully track the results of each promotion to determine which has the greatest appeal.

Kim T. Gordon is the "Marketing" coach at Entrepreneur.com and a multifaceted marketing expert, speaker, author and media spokesperson. Over the past 26 years, she's helped millions of small-business owners increase their success through her company, National Marketing Federation Inc. Her latest book, Maximum Marketing, Minimum Dollars, is now available.

On Empty and (Almost) Out of Time (Entrepreneur.com)

On Empty and (Almost) Out of Time

How entrepreneurs can spearhead the green economic revolution.

By Bill Roth | August 18, 2008

URL: http://www.entrepreneur.com/management/greencolumnistbillroth/article196516.html

I interrupt my series of articles on "Green Entrepreneurship" to talk about what's going on at our gasoline pumps and meters. The bottom line is this: don't be fooled by lower gasoline prices, and know that the price of energy will continue to rise in the long run. So dust off your old assumptions about financial paybacks and immediately begin investing in technologies that reduce energy consumption.

Let's start with oil. I just published a book called On Empty (Out of Time). Chapter 4 explains how gasoline prices are impacted by the global supply and demand for oil. Here's why our pump prices are going down today:

• About two weeks before the price of oil started to fall, China raised the subsidized prices it charges at the pump for gasoline and diesel, and took millions of cars off the roads to reduce air pollution in Beijing during the Olympics. Both actions resulted in reduced oil demand by China.
  
• Americans have reduced their driving by approximately 5 percent and are shifting their preference toward higher-mileage vehicles in response to $4-per-gallon gasoline prices.
  
• The American dollar (which is the currency used in oil contracts) is strengthening against the Euro because Europe (and Japan) are facing recessionary economic declines. This means we get more oil per dollar as traders stop hedging against the decline in the United States' dollar by buying commodities such as oil.

So the next questions are: a) how low will prices fall and b) how long will they stay down? In the short-term, the price of oil and our pump prices could see further price reductions for two reasons:

1. Globally, many nations are getting dangerously close to a recession, which means the demand for goods and services, including oil, will decline.
   
2. A global green economic revolution has started that will produce new technologies that will be cheaper and cleaner than using oil. That will reduce demand and, therefore, prices.

How low could our pump prices fall? It's possible we'll see $3-per-gallon gasoline again. Hopefully we won't. I say that because if we do see $3-per-gallon gas prices in the coming months, it will probably mean the U.S. is in a recession.

In Chapter 11 of On Empty (Out of Time), I talk about China and India. The reason why oil prices will rise over the long-term is as obvious as what you're seeing in the broadcasts of the Olympics being held in Beijing, China.

What the Olympic broadcasts are showing is that China has succeeded in building a middle class equal in size to the entire population of the U.S. At the same time, approximately 900 million Chinese (three times the population of the U.S.) are still aspiring to gain middle-class status.

In India, 400 million people (100 million more people than the entire population of the U.S.) do not have electricity service, but they're working very hard to get it.

So, in these two countries alone, we have populations four times the size of the U.S. seeking a comparable level of prosperity and well-being. This is the underlying factor in the world oil market that's going to drive up oil prices.

What is the answer? I'm not making a political statement when I assure you that a massive offshore oil-drilling effort by the U.S. will not reduce prices at the pump. It might slow the rate of price increase but it won't bring prices down. Here are the core numbers:

---

Annual U.S. oil demand:
7.5 billion barrels

Current estimate of offshore oil supply potential:
11-plus billion barrels

---

Expect higher prices for electricity, too. The problem here is the high price of building new electrical plants. Nuclear plants are even more prohibitive, and wind won't work because this country doesn't have transmission lines where wind power is available. Coal plants aren't viable, either, because they require expensive technology to cut down on emissions.

So, until solar prices become competitive, price increases at the meter will rival those at the pump.

Here's the near-term solution: Use less energy. For example, in On Empty (Out of Time), I list in order of magnitude the major end-use energy applications in your home or building. And I list what you can buy today to lower consumption. Here are several options to consider:

1. Lighting accounts for 22 percent of a building's energy consumption. If you buy compact fluorescent (twisty) light bulbs rather than incandescent (pear-shaped) light bulbs, you'll reduce your annual energy consumption for lighting by approximately 75 percent.
   
2. Invest in ground-source heat pumps. Heating and cooling in a building account for more than 40 percent of total energy consumption. An energy-efficient ground-source heat pump uses the earth's natural temperature below the frost line to supplement cooling and heating operations.
   
3. Buy higher-mileage and/or alternative-fueled vehicles. Drive a hybrid. If you do a lot of city driving, they'll give you 40-plus miles per gallon. If you're driving 15,000 miles per year with a vehicle that gets 15 miles per gallon of $4.50 gas, then you can save $1,500 the first year you use a hybrid. Presuming there's a 10 percent per year escalation in gasoline prices, you're saving $9,100 during the first five years of driving a 45-mile-per-gallon hybrid.

The above examples are just a start. What I anticipate is a prosperous future based on emerging green technologies that offer lower pump/meter prices, reduced dependence on foreign oil and global warming solutions. These technologies are now in first-generation manufacturing.

Here's the great news: most of these technologies are based on American engineering, developed by American entrepreneurs and financed by our venture capitalists. We stand on the threshold of an entrepreneurial opportunity comparable to the Industrial Revolution, the information age or globalization.

Entrepreneurs, this is your moment in time. Take action now to capture cost savings through energy conservation and begin to explore technologies that offer you new paths for growing your business. America and the world are counting on you to move us into a global green economic revolution.

Bill Roth is president of NCCT, a San Francisco-based consulting firm facilitating innovations in sustainability marketing and green business strategies. In addition to participating in the launch of the first hydrogen-fueled Prius, he has held executive leadership positions as senior vice president of marketing and sales with PG&E Energy Services, as COO of Texaco Ovonics Hydrogen Solutions and president of Cleantech America, a developer of solar power plants. Roth’s latest book, On Empty (Out of Time) details an emerging multi-trillion dollar green economy that is revolutionizing how the world does business, and how you can make money from it.

Small Talk (WSJ)

Small Talk

Q: I'm interested in renting shared office space for my business. How can I find it, and how do these arrangements usually work?

A: Most cities have some type of shared office centers where office and meeting space can be rented daily, weekly, monthly or even hourly, depending on a business's needs.

According to the Office Business Center Association International, a trade group, there are about 4,000 office business centers in the U.S. and more than 5,500 world-wide. A searchable database of U.S. shared office facilities is available on the association's Web site, www.obcai.org¹. Look on the right-hand side of the home page.

INDEPENDENT STREET

²

WSJ BLOG:³ Read more from Kelly Spors about protecting the assets in your company's bank accounts.

THE JOURNAL REPORT

⁴

• See the complete Small Business⁵ report.

These centers usually rent out enclosed offices and include some access to meeting rooms. A business can rent out one office or multiple offices, depending on how many employees it has.

Basic office rentals might include a desk, chairs, high-speed Internet connection, a phone and multiple phone lines, says Frank Fabish, president of Executive Office Place, a shared office center in Columbus, Ohio, and former president of the Office Business Center Association International.

He adds that businesses usually must equip their office rental with any technological needs, such as computer or fax machine.

Full-service business centers will be staffed by a receptionist who answers phone calls for businesses. Many also offer extra corporate business services a la carte, which can include boxed meals for meetings, secretarial services and courier delivery.

Monthly rates for shared offices range from $500 to $2,500, depending on the center's location, the size of the office, and the office's location within the center.

Shared office space in a lower-price real-estate market like Columbus might rent for $25 an hour or $150 a day. A high-price market like New York, on the other hand, might charge $100 an hour, or $500 a day. Rates include all utility and other operational costs.

Renting shared office space is a good option for entrepreneurs who work from home but occasionally need a place to hold a formal meeting outside the home.

Very small companies also can find it's cheaper to rent shared office space on an extended basis than to lease out commercial real estate on their own.

Many shared business centers offer a variety of office sizes and formats. So a business anticipating growth can start small and rent a larger space later on.

One benefit is that renting shared space that offers features like multiple phone lines and a receptionist can create the feel that companies are much bigger, and more established than they really are.

"Anybody calling in is going to get the [impression] of a full-staffed business," Mr. Fabish adds.

How to Create a Successful Web Site For Nothing (or Almost Nothing) (WSJ)

How to Create a Successful Web Site
For Nothing (or Almost Nothing)

By VAUHINI VARA
August 11, 2008; Page R1

Have you got eight hours and $10? Then you can build a Web site for your business.

Thanks to competition among Web-hosting providers, and the falling costs of Web storage, it's never been easier to get a Web site up and running -- from buying the domain name to building a site to setting up a payment system to tracking traffic.

But many small businesses still seem intimidated by the job. In a survey published last year, JupiterResearch LLC found that just 36% of online small businesses -- that is, businesses with fewer than 100 employees, where managers access the Web at least once a month -- have Web sites.

So, here's a guide for owners looking to make the leap online. We'll lay out all the steps you need to take to build your site, and present some expert opinion about getting it noticed and keeping track of customers -- all with no technical background required.

1. BUY A WEB ADDRESS

First, you have to buy a domain name -- e.g., YourCompany.com -- for about $10 a year. As an example, we'll show how to buy a domain using the registrar Go Daddy Group Inc., but you can shop around at others, such as Tucows Inc. and Register.com Inc.

Type the domain name you want in the search box at GoDaddy.com. If it's taken, try another. When you've settled on one, scroll to the bottom of the page and click "Proceed to Checkout." Ignore the offers for additional products and services, continue to the checkout page, enter your payment information and hit "Checkout Now."

You're now the owner of a Web address.

2. FIND A HOME

For years, companies have charged small businesses a fee to "host" sites -- store the sites' content on their computers. According to a recent survey from Jupiter, about a third of small-business executives say they pay up to $1,000 a year for Web hosting, and about another third pay more than $1,000.

BOOST YOUR RANKING

¹

PODCAST:² WSJ's Vauhini Vara talks with search-engine-optimization expert Bruce Clay about how to boost your site's ranking on Google and other search engines.

THE JOURNAL REPORT

³

• See the complete Small Business⁴ report.

Fortunately, in the past year, a number of companies have begun providing hosting services free of charge. They often make money by charging for premium services or running ads on your Web pages.

All you need to do is visit the Web site for one of these hosting services -- such as Microsoft Corp.'s Office Live Small Business, Weebly Inc. or SynthaSite Inc. -- and enter a user name, a password and some other details. Then visit your domain-name registrar and tweak your settings so that your Web address points to the service you've chosen. The hosting service will give you instructions on how to do this.

3. BUILD YOUR SITE

Once you've got a host, you'll want to design your site. The good news: Most of the free hosting services provide tools that let you build a site quickly, without lots of technical know-how.

Among the things you'll need: a welcoming home page; an "About" page that describes you and your business; and a "Contact" page that tells people where you're located and how to reach you. The rest depends on your business. If you own a restaurant, you might include a "Menu" page. If you're selling a product, you might include a "Store" page where people can buy your wares.

Adding those things can be simple. In Weebly, for instance, click on the "Pages" tab, then choose "New Page." In Office Live, click "Web pages" in the top left-hand corner of the editor and choose "New page." In SynthaSite, click "New Page" at the top of the editor.

In each case, doing so calls up a blank page template, like opening a new document in Microsoft Word. Once you've created a page, you usually can add content simply by typing the text you want into the template and dragging and dropping graphics.

There are some downsides to these free hosting services. Each offers several dozen design templates, but you could still end up with a site that looks pretty generic, unless you have Web-design skills or hire someone who does. What's more, most of these services don't offer an easy, one-click way to add flourishes such as shopping carts or more than two columns on a page; that, too, takes some know-how. Mostly, you just arrange pictures, text and other elements, and that's it. And, sometimes, even doing that can be tricky for nontechies.

There's one more free and easy way to improve the design of your site -- using HTML programming code. Fortunately, you don't need to have programming skills to use HTML. All you need to know is that a block of HTML -- essentially, a bunch of gobbledygook words and symbols -- can add extra features to your site. And numerous third-party sites offer handy HTML blocks you can plug into your site, as easily as copying and pasting text in Microsoft Word.

Ali Shapiro, a health counselor in Philadelphia, recently found one such program -- an appointments calendar -- at Scheduly Ltd.'s site. She copied a snippet of HTML from Scheduly and pasted it into the "Contact" page at her own site, PyourNutrition.com⁵. The result: Visitors to Ms. Shapiro's site can see a calendar with her free time slots and sign up for appointments over the Web.

4. GET PAID

Probably the easiest way to let customers pay you online is to let somebody else handle the technical work. One popular option is PayPal, from eBay Inc. The service lets people pay you by clicking a button on your Web site, which takes them to a PayPal page where they can enter payment information. You don't have to do any work to process the transaction.

The basic service is free, but you have to pay a fee each time someone pays you: 30 cents, plus 1.9% to 2.9% of the transaction. This basic service isn't fancy -- if you want to build a full-blown retail site, you'll probably want to buy special e-commerce software -- but to offer a basic payment option on your site, it's enough.

To set up an account, click on the "Business" tab at PayPal.com and follow the instructions. Once you've done this, click on the "Merchant Services" tab. Then, choose "Website Payments Standard," from the left-hand column.

You'll see three orange buttons you can place on your site: "Buy Now," "Add to Cart" and "Donate." If your customers are likely to purchase one item at a time -- say, a yoga lesson or a day-care session -- click on the link under the "Buy Now" button, which will send them directly to a page where they can pay for the item. If your customers might want to browse around your site for different types of items before paying, choose the "Add to Cart" button, which lets buyers fill a shopping cart with several items before checking out. The "Donate" option is mostly for people who aren't selling anything, like bloggers soliciting donations.

You can then follow the instructions to create a button for each item you want to sell. PayPal will give you some HTML that you can paste into your Web site to add the buttons. You should put these buttons on your "Store" page, next to a picture and description of each item.

The service has been a boon for Graydon Blair of Syracuse, Utah, who sells biodiesel supplies at UtahBiodieselSupply.com⁶. When he started his company, MGBJ Enterprises LLC, he looked for software to add a shopping cart to his site. "All of them wanted me to pay them lots of money, and I thought their stupid shopping carts didn't look nice," he says. So, "I built my little Web site, and threw some PayPal buttons on there."

Visitors to his Web site can use a "Click here to purchase" button to add an item to their shopping cart and buy it via PayPal. Payments get sent directly to Mr. Graydon's PayPal account, minus the PayPal fee. He says he now does 100 to 150 PayPal transactions a week. He brought in $750,000 in revenue last year and is on track for more than $1 million this year.

5. GET SPONSORS

It's easy to add advertisements to your Web site to make extra cash. Every time someone clicks on an ad on your page, you get paid a small amount, which varies depending on the particulars of the ad.

One of the most popular services is Google Inc.'s AdSense. Advertisers pay Google to place ads on Web sites throughout the Internet; site owners, meanwhile, can sign up at Google.com/adsense⁷ to host those ads on their pages.

You've probably seen the ads, which often appear as blocks of text along the right-hand column of a Web site. Google scans the content of participating sites to decide which ads would work best on the pages. For instance, an ad for used cars might appear on a site with car reviews.

But you need to ask: Will ads actually improve your site? Showing the wrong ads -- or, sometimes, any ads at all -- could turn off potential customers. If you run a funeral parlor, for instance, ads could come across as distasteful. Also, you'll probably need a lot of traffic to make significant money from the ads, since you typically get just a few cents when someone clicks.

For Tim Carter, ads made a lot of sense. Mr. Carter, a former carpenter, wrote a home-improvement column running in papers across the U.S. The only problem: Publishers were paying him a pittance.

In 2004, Mr. Carter figured out how to make serious money from his work -- by tapping into AdSense. He had been posting his work on his own site, AskTheBuilder.com⁸, for nearly a decade. Google scans his site -- which has separate pages for topics like cabinets, fences and mold -- and places appropriate ads on each page, such as pitches for kitchen cabinets and mold removal.

He has since branched out by selling other types of ads. Taken together, his ads bring in close to $2,000 a day, based on daily traffic of about 40,000 visitors. He has also branched out by hawking his own products, like a stain-removal bleach. In total, his site brought in more than $1 million in revenue last year.

"I'll tell people in my columns, 'Look, this is what you need to do.' But they're still going to need the products to do it -- and that's what they see in those ads," Mr. Carter says.

6. GET KNOWN

So, you've got your site up and running. Next, you'll want to be sure people can find it.

We asked two experts, Bruce Clay of Bruce Clay Inc. and Alan Rabinowitz of SEO Image Inc., to reveal some tricks about search-engine optimization -- moving your site to the top of search-engine results.

Start with your site itself. You should use language on the site that is associated with the business. Let's say you're a florist. Most likely, you'll show up prominently in search results if people search for the exact name of your business. But the trick is to show up when people search for complicated terms related to your business, like "wedding flower arrangements." That's because you want to attract people who might not know about your business but are looking for something that you provide.

Mr. Clay offers two shorthand ways to do this. First, ask your employees to send you a couple of words or phrases that describe what your company does and incorporate that language into your site. Second, do a Web search for terms related to your business and look at the language used in the top search results. For instance, a search for "cowboy boots" turns up several Web sites that also use the phrase "Western wear." The fact that those sites turn up so high in search results means that they're doing something right. So, if you sell cowboy boots, you should also refer to Western wear on your site to draw additional traffic.

You should also make sure to include those phrases in your page titles -- the headings that appear in the blue bar at the top of a browser window -- since search engines pay particular attention to these. (How do you change the title bar? In Weebly, click the "Settings" tab and type in the "Site Title" field. In Office Live, click the "Page Editor" tab, then click "Page Properties" and type in the "Page title" field for each page. In SynthaSite, click the "Properties" tab and type in the "Window Title" field.)

If you primarily do business locally, there are other ways to get noticed. Start by trying this exercise: Type "Seattle spas" in Google and pay attention to the results. At the top of the page, you'll see several spa listings, with phone numbers, reviews and Web-site links, next to a map showing each spa's location.

Below that, you'll see traditional search results, but many of the links won't send you to a specific spa's Web site. Instead, they'll send you to a news or review site, like Citysearch or Yelp, that talks about area spas.

So, it's important to get into the listings at the top of the page, next to the map, as well as into the news and review sites. To do that, first register your business with Google's Local Business Center (Google.com/local/add⁹). By entering some details, like your business's address and phone number, you can automatically be listed in Google's local results at the top of the page.

Next, the news and review sites. Say you're a spa owner in Seattle: Click on the Citysearch page that comes up in a search for "Seattle spas" and find contact information for a Citysearch editor who might want to include your spa in the site's list.

Also click on the links for review sites like Yelp, which solicit reviews from businesses' customers and often give businesses a way to list themselves. Don't review your own business on these sites (it's usually against the rules), but you can encourage your customers to post reviews, as long as you don't bribe them with freebies (also usually against the rules).

7. TRACK YOUR TRAFFIC

A bunch of companies offer free tools to help you track who visits your Web site, how they find it and what they do once they're there. This can help you tweak your Web site to attract more potential customers.

The best-known provider of tools is Google; you can find its offerings at Google Webmaster Central (Google.com/webmasters¹⁰). We'll focus on one of the programs: Google Webmaster Tools (Google.com/webmasters/tools¹¹).

To set this up, follow Google's instructions for uploading a file to your Web site so that Google can track it. Once you've done this, look at a few areas on the Google Webmaster page.

In the "Statistics" area, click on "Top search queries." This shows you two things: the search queries for which your Web site turned up, and the queries from which people actually visited your Web site. If a search term appears in the first list but not in the second, it means your Web site is showing up in search results for that term, but people aren't clicking on it.

To improve your site's performance for that term, you should tailor the language in your Web site. Say your Web site shows up in searches for "experienced Seattle therapists," but nobody is clicking on it; that suggests that you might want to describe your level of experience on your site to improve your performance.

You can find another handy feature of Webmaster Tools in the "Links" area. Click on "Pages with external links" to see a list of other sites that include links to your site. This can give an insight into how others view your site. For instance, if you run a bar and see that a local hotel links to it from its own Web site, you can guess that the hotel is recommending your bar to its customers. So, you might offer special discounts to that hotel's visitors.

---

Three Benefits of Business Credit Cards (WSJ)

Three Benefits of Business Credit Cards

Owning a credit card for your business comes with certain advantages. In fact, as your business grows using one can become necessary for saving you both time and money.

By Marshall Loeb
MarketWatch

Here from Debbie Dragon at Entrepeneuer.com are some benefits of a business credit card:

• Keeps personal and business expenses separate. The credit card will only be used for business-related expenses, so when a statement comes it will be easy to review. You won't need to do any tedious highlighting or underlining of expenses that don't belong in your business records.

• Makes tracking employee spending easier. Many small businesses are set up so the owner needs to give approval on every transaction before payment is made. This not only slows the process of making routine purchases and paying bills but also means that you need to be on call for your signature. A better way to keep track of spending is to issue individual cards to each employee and link them to your business account. On your billing statement, the transactions will be itemized and divided based on each employee's individual purchases. Not only does this make it easier to view, but if any employees are big spenders you will catch it fast.

• Financial statements to stay organized. Credit-card companies routinely generate a variety of different reports for business customers, including quarterly and annual statements that break down your spending. Among other things, it will make life much easier around tax time. Instead of digging up old receipts, you can just send your accountant a printout.

Marshall Loeb, former editor of Fortune, Money, and the Columbia Journalism Review, writes for MarketWatch.

Small Firms Beef Up Retirement Services With Outside Help (WSJ)

Small Firms Beef Up Retirement Services With Outside Help

Consultants Offer
Workers Online Tools
And Advice for a Fee

By ROGER CHENG

Small businesses are helping employees become better managers -- of their own money.

When it comes to managing their retirement-savings accounts, small-business employees often are at a disadvantage compared with their counterparts at large companies. Corporations typically employ large in-house human-resources staff and offer analytical tools and money-management services that are cost prohibitive for small firms.

Alamy

Yet small companies are finding that they need to beef up their own offerings in order to retain and attract talented employees. It is no longer enough to simply give workers a vehicle by which to save. So some companies are turning to consulting firms that provide small businesses with services and tools to help workers better manage their investments -- for a fraction of the cost of doing it in-house.

"Small businesses are feeling the pressure to get these tools," says Ken Simons, senior vice president at Relius, a software developer in Jacksonville, Fla., that provides the technology many of the consulting firms use. "401(k) participants may see something available on the Internet or see them in large companies and they want the exact same tools in their retirement plans."

What You Get

The services and prices vary by company. Generally, though, features, which can be accessed by logging on to a Web site, include a daily update of a fund's value and calculators to help workers to determine if they are saving enough for a specific goal. One analytical tool can help employees calculate how much they need to stash away so they won't outlive their money. And workers can change the financial models as they get closer to retirement. In some cases, advisers from the consulting firms will meet with individual employees to map out a retirement-savings plan.

At Spectrum Pension Consulting Inc., of Tacoma, Wash., for instance, retirement advisers sit down with employees to discuss how they want to spend their retirement, and then develop targets to meet those goals. The fees depend on the amount of advice Spectrum gives, and what kind of services are offered. On average, fees are $15 to $19 per employee per month.

"People get statements but can't tell if they're on track," says Petros Koumantaros, chief executive of Spectrum. "We can provide immediate feedback to meet their individual needs."

Wilkinson Corp., a senior-citizen housing-management company based in Yakima, Wash., started using Spectrum's services last year, in response to calls from employees for more comprehensive access to their retirement accounts. The company went with Spectrum because it offered more guidance on setting up plans than other firms. Wilkinson pays a set fee per employee and an additional fee for consulting, but it wouldn't disclose the amount.

HIRED HELP

What's Happening: Small companies are turning to outside consultants to help employees better manage their retirement-savings accounts.

The Impetus: More firms are finding that they need to beef up their services in order to retain and recruit talented workers.

The Offerings: Employees get online analytical tools, calculators and daily price updates among other things. Some consulting firms also offer in-person advice.

Doug Federspiel, 46 years old, the company's general counsel, was among the employees who pushed for the changes because he wanted ready access to his fund. Now, Mr. Federspiel can check his fund's performance on a quarterly basis. He also enjoys using the retirement-planning tools to see how his fund is progressing.

"The retirement tools really are having an impact on how I feel about the seriousness of saving now," he says. "It drives home the responsibility that I have to take control of my retirement."

Another consulting firm offering services to small companies is Weiss Group Inc., of Des Plaines, Ill. Its features include allowing users to see account balances at the end of each trading day and moving money around between different mutual funds.

Spectrum and Weiss use software from Relius, a unit of SunGard Data Systems Inc., of Wayne, Pa. Relius licenses its technology to the consultants for an undisclosed fee.

Recruiting Tool

Some companies know they have to offer a complete package from the start.

Gayle Rose says she needed a comprehensive retirement-benefits package to attract high-level executive talent at Electronic Vaulting Services Corp., a Memphis, Tenn.-based data backup and recovery company. The company was founded in 2005, but in its first year of business it didn't offer a retirement plan.

So in 2007, Ms. Rose turned to Adams Keegan Inc., a Memphis firm that handles human-resources responsibilities such as payroll and retirement benefits for other businesses. The firm set up Electronic Vaulting's plan and also offered access to online tools like calculators and up-to-date performance reports.

"If we're trying to build a company, we have to attract the best of breed executives from our local and national companies," says Ms. Rose, Electronic Vaulting's owner and chief executive.

A few months after implementing the program, the company hired two senior executives. She says the retirement benefits added to a comprehensive package that lured the two away from larger companies.

Ms. Rose says she pays Adams Keegan a fee per employee but declines to say how much. She adds that offering features such as Web access on her own would have cost too much in time and money. She was impressed by how fast the services were set up.

"For a start-up enterprise," Ms. Rose says, "speed is everything."

In on the Action

Some bigger players like Charles Schwab Corp. also are offering financial tools for small-business employees. When a small company opens a retirement-savings plan through Schwab, workers get access to Schwab's Web site, which offers a retirement and college savings calculator, financial news, a list of mutual funds and stocks and other investment ideas.

There are no fees for small businesses to start to plan with the company. Schwab makes its money from commissions it collects from stock or bond trades, or from fees charged if an employee chooses a Schwab-run fund.

"There is a lot of support on how to pick the right plan, and how to structure the right plan to ensure diversification," says Rene Kim, vice president of product management for Schwab.

Problems, We’ve Got Problems (NYT)

Problems, We’ve Got Problems

By PAUL B. BROWN

From the outside looking in, the answer may seem surprising. When asked earlier this year to name the biggest problem facing their companies, the answer from a group of 3,530 small-business owners nationwide was not finding good employees, competition from overseas or even high taxes.

Their top concern, according to a survey conducted by the National Federation of Independent Business and Wells Fargo, was the expense of being in business, and the entrepreneurs singled out those factors “that are difficult to control, such as health insurance, energy and inflation.”

The survey is conducted every four years, and the high cost of health care has been the No. 1 in the last five surveys.

“For four years, the economy provided a good, stable foundation for small-business owners to do business, but as it started to take a negative turn over the last several months, they felt the effects of rising costs of doing business,” said Bruce D. Phillips, senior fellow at the business federation’s Research Foundation and co-author of the report with Holly Wade, a policy analyst for the federation. “As the economic outcome remains uncertain, small-business owners are searching for innovative ways to reduce expenses and increase sales.”

FITNESS HITCH To understand why it is so difficult for a business owner to reduce health care costs, you need look no further than the current issue of Fortune Small Business.

Common sense says employees who are healthier and in better shape file fewer claims than those who are not, reducing the cost of their employer’s insurance.

And so, as the article by Mina Kimes titled “Lose Weight or Else” points out, a number of employers are offering incentives for their workers to improve their lifestyles.

For example, at one company profiled, employees receive “a $25-a-month discount on health insurance premiums and cash rewards of $160 a year” in exchange for going to the gym and stopping smoking.

The problem with that?

“Some wellness programs might violate the federal Americans With Disabilities Act and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act,” Ms. Kimes writes. “For example, if an employee is physically unable to participate in a fitness program, is she being punished by having to pay the full insurance premium? And can workers be fired for continuing to smoke?”

WHEN INFLATION IS GOOD The Small Business Administration has increased its revenue-based size standards by nearly 9 percent to account for the inflation that has occurred since 2005.

The standards are used to determine if a business is small for its industry and therefore qualifies for government small-business programs.

Under the inflation-adjusted size standards, retailers with up to $7 million in annual revenue, for example, will be considered small businesses, according to Mass High Tech: The Journal of New England Technology. For computer systems design services, the new small-business threshold is $25 million in annual revenue.

ENERGY VAMPIRES There is one simple if annoying way to reduce your company’s energy costs: simply unplug office machines when they are not in use (like when you go home for the day).

Turning the devices off is not enough because they will continue to function to some degree. (The clock on the microwave in the company kitchen is still on.)

Good magazine reports that companies could save the following sums annually by unplugging each of these devices:

Computer: $34.21

Laptop: $15.90

Laser Printer: $12.43

LCD Monitor: $2.51

LAST CALL It seems like only yesterday, but as Entrepreneur notes, it was 40 years ago that Robert Propst, head of research at the office furniture maker Herman Miller, invented the cubicle that made possible both Scott Adams’s “Dilbert” comic strip and the cult classic movie “Office Space.”

Oh, for those of you who were wondering, the magazine writes that by 2006 “cubicles were estimated to account for the lion’s share of office furniture sales — about $3 billion a year.”

A Marketer's Survival Guide (Entrepreneur.com)

A Marketer's Survival Guide

Changes in the marketplace and economy are changing the ways consumers spend. Here are 4 ways to cope.

By Kim T. Gordon | August 18, 2008

URL: http://www.entrepreneur.com/marketing/marketingcolumnistkimtgordon/article196486.html

What does it take to survive and prosper in a difficult, even hostile, marketing environment? Take a clue from nature, where success comes down to survival of the fittest. The most prolific creatures on the planet must be adaptable, rugged, aggressive and attractive to conquer all. Now, more than ever, these essential qualities are the prerequisites for staying ahead in a competitive, or depressed, marketplace. Apply these four survival strategies to your own marketing programs.

Adapt to Change
The changes in the marketplace and economy are affecting consumer behavior and attitudes nationwide. Products that were once considered everyday purchases may now be considered luxuries, even by affluent consumers. Organic foods, for example, were always priced higher than regular fare, but now as prices on many other foods have risen and put the squeeze on consumer pocketbooks, some consumers say they are less willing to pay top dollar for the healthier organics.

How have marketplace changes affected your customers' attitudes toward what you sell? If you're unsure, use meetings, phone calls, surveys or informal roundtable discussions with customers to get inside their heads. Your survival may depend on your ability to adapt your marketing messages immediately to fit customers' newly minted mind-set.

Win Marks for Toughness
Companies with real staying power become entrenched in the minds of their customers. They use ongoing marketing programs with consistent themes to strengthen relationships and become part of their customers' lives. Now is the time for rugged dependability, and that means sticking to a marketing course that involves clear and frequent communication. So stop marketing in fits and starts, and de-clutter your campaign by focusing on a consistent core message.

Imagine your customer and prospect database displayed over a bull's-eye, with the best customers and hottest prospects closest to the center and all others in concentric circles farther and farther out. If you're on a limited budget, focus the greatest percentage of your marketing dollars on maintaining a strong campaign with those closest to the bull's-eye, and fewer dollars on prospects and customers of lesser financial value to your business. Your company will remain stronger during this recession and come through it in a better position if you can tough it out by staying top of mind with your best customers.

Be Strategically Aggressive
The current marketing environment mandates a more aggressive stance. With consumers and B2B purchasers focused on price, you need a strategy that draws customers in and adds to your bottom line without giving too much away. You can increase couponing, special promotions or customer reward campaigns, depending on your type of business.

To beat your competition in this new environment, assess their programs. If you haven't conducted a competitive analysis in a while, take time today to gather advertising materials from your principal competitors. What are their key selling messages and promotions? Which media do they use to reach their core audiences? Resist the temptation to slash prices across the board and instead look for ways to offer additional value with competitive pricing. And undertake a more aggressive campaign in the media your principal competitors use to reach customers.

It Pays to Look Good
In nature, many male birds compete for mates with beautiful displays, dances and songs. Like them, it doesn't hurt to do a song and dance to stand out from the crowd during these months when many buyers are cutting back on purchases. It's never been more important to have polished, professional materials. Business-to-business buyers and consumers alike want to feel they're making safe purchases, particularly for bigger-ticket items. They also want to know that the companies from which they choose to buy will support them post-sale.

Update and streamline your website to contain deep content and provide customer service. Review all of your sales tools and marketing materials for outdated content and graphics, and bring them up-to-date. Looking successful will help bring greater success your way.

Kim T. Gordon is the "Marketing" coach at Entrepreneur.com and a multifaceted marketing expert, speaker, author and media spokesperson. Over the past 26 years, she's helped millions of small-business owners increase their success through her company, National Marketing Federation Inc. Her latest book, Maximum Marketing, Minimum Dollars, is now available.

A.S.A.P. Branding--Style (Entrepreneur.com)

A.S.A.P. Branding--Style

In Part II of this series, branding expert John Williams shows how to design your brand to reflect your company's image and draw in customers.

By John Williams | August 18, 2008

URL: http://www.entrepreneur.com/marketing/branding/imageandbrandingcolumnistjohnwilliams/article196488.html

In last month's article I began an explanation of an "A.S.A.P." formula for cost-effective small business branding. A.S.A.P. is both an acronym and an adjective: Not only does each letter stand for a key component in your branding platform (e.g., "A" = "Advantage"), but also it refers to the speed and efficiency with which you can successfully gain brand traction using these simple guidelines.

The A.S.A.P. branding model:

A = Advantage (Content of your Message)
S = Style (Style of your Message)
A = Adjective (Verbal Cue to your Message)
P = PMS Color (Visual Cue to your Message)

I discussed "advantage" in last month's article, so now I'll expand on "style."

What's Your Style?
This second step involves determining the right image for your company. A professional image is critical to your success. After all, your image--as reflected in the design and copywriting style of your business cards, marketing materials and website--is the first and sometimes only chance you have to introduce your company to potential customers.

So how do you select the right image for your company? Are you progressive? Innovative? Reliable? Your image should reflect your brand's personality and account for industry norms, your customers' expectations and the defining attributes of your products and services. As with your "advantage" (see last month's article), it's best to keep it simple.

For years I've maintained that there are basically three broad image categories: flair, bold, and high-tech.

Flair
This is for brands that want to project creativity, flexibility and friendliness. Many retail establishments and companies in the service industry fall into this category. Promotional materials should be creative and unique, featuring such design elements as curving lines and warm photography or illustrations.

Bold
A bold image projects experience, strength and stability. For obvious reasons, virtually all banks fall into this image category. To reflect a bold image, marketing materials should be conservative in tone and design, never trendy or surprising. Straightforward, easy-to-read fonts such as Helvetica and Times, and lots of white space work well for this style.

High-Tech
Not surprisingly, this image projects innovation and technological expertise. Promotional materials should be exciting and dynamic. Designs might incorporate italicized fonts, bold graphics and energetic photography.

Most likely your brand personality includes some attributes of one image category and some of another. However, you should have more of one category's qualities than the others. (If you don't, ask yourself if you are trying to be all things to all people.) It's important that you choose only one style for your brand. Your customers need to file your brand in their minds into just one style so they can retrieve it quickly and easily.

Choosing a style is critical to your branding efforts whether you plan to outsource the design of your materials or do it yourself. Professional designers rely on the adjectives you use to describe your brand when selecting design elements for your piece. Additionally, copywriters take your image into account when they choose a tone for your piece. If you are acting as your own copywriter, it's important that the style of your writing (tone) complements the design style of your piece. In other words, the copy and the design of your materials should match, and both are based off the brand image you choose to project.

Once you've got the content and style of your message down, it's time to address the second "A" in the A.S.A.P. model, "Adjective," which we'll look at next month.

John Williams is founder of LogoYes.com, the world's first and largest DIY logo website. In his 25 years in advertising, he has created brand standards for Fortune 100 companies like Mitsubishi and won numerous international awards for his design work.