Leveraging strengths. Every business has products, services and revenue streams that are better than others for its bottom line. Management accounting can provide you with detailed information about how much each of your offerings costs relative to the return it provides. With this data in hand, you can focus on investing in your most profitable endeavors and scaling back or completely eliminating those that provide less of a return. This process allows you to grow organically, building on the business model and infrastructure you already have.
Introducing new products. You can also grow your business organically by introducing new offerings. Although new product development can be expensive, it is still usually more affordable to do the work and create the systems internally than to invest in a product that another business has already developed. Products that you develop and introduce yourself are also more likely to keep with your strengths and your brand, helping to build your company across the board.
Continuous improvement. Whatever your...
Being your own boss is the dream of most entrepreneurs, but it comes with a price. The freedom of not having to answer to someone else becomes the obligation of having to answer to the needs of the business. In this sense, the business is the new boss.
Work-life balance: Starting a business will consume a lot of time, energy and commitment. Not letting the business prevent you from having personal time is a challenge. An entrepreneur needs to set aside time in the workweek to spend time outside the business and stick to it.
The failure to deliberately manage a work-life balance can lead to burnout, health problems and lost relationships with family and friends.
Where to start: Starting a business requires a seemingly endless list of things to do; it can be overwhelming and lead to paralysis and inaction. The best approach is to organize the tasks, pick one and get started.
Managing growth: After making the first sale, the next challenge is to manage...
If you ask entrepreneurs what problems they faced when starting a business, the answers will usually be the same: money, employees and personal issues.
All businesses need enough equity capital to survive startup and growth with sufficient cash flow coming in to pay the bills. Employees will consume a large portion of that cash flow, but they are part of the growth of a business.
In the meantime, the owner has to maintain enough self-confidence to persevere through the negativity and huge challenges and not lose the belief that the business will undoubtedly succeed.
So, what is the first thing to do when starting a business? No simple answer exists for this question. An aspiring entrepreneur must address all of these challenges at the same time. However, being able to successfully handle all of these problems is the gratification for starting the business in the first place.
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The biggest obstacle to becoming successful as an eBay seller is branding. You do have the advantage of operating under the eBay brand, which is substantial — but your ultimate goal should not be to have your customers say, "I bought it off of eBay." Your goal should be to have your customers recognize and appreciate your own brand. When considering eBay username ideas, remember that eBay is just a selling tool, so do not make the mistake of relying too heavily on eBay for driving your sales.
Importance of eBay Seller Names
You are starting a business of your own — you are not eBay. The most important part of that process is establishing your own brand and your own identity, and so your company name — reflected in your eBay user ID — is going to set the tone for your future success.
Choose an Actual Company Name
The best eBay sellers do not limit themselves to selling on eBay exclusively. You...
Not everyone wants or needs a catchy business name. Sometimes, your own personal name makes good business sense: Ben & Jerry’s, Bob Evans and Calvin Klein are just a few of the successful companies that operate under a personal name.
Limited liability companies can use personal names in a variety of ways: first names, last names, initials plus a last name, or a personal name that’s only part of the business name, such as “Joe’s Bar and Grill.” You can also form an LLC under a different name and use your personal name as your DBA or “doing business as” name.
Naming an LLC
To form an LLC, you must choose a name that is distinguishable from the names of other business entities in your state. This can pose a problem if you have a common name and want to use it as your LLC name. In most states, you can find out whether other businesses are already using your first or last name by searching business names online at the secretary...
