Month: February 2009

Categories
Branding

Four Easy Personal Branding Tips

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Article Contributed by Marcel Sim
Corporations and companies today spend millions of dollars on corporate branding. Why is corporate branding so important that it attracts so many businesses, big and small, to invest much time and money on it? Effective corporate branding can boost the bottom line of your company significantly; it has the ability to equip a new product or service with instant credibility and value in the market. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to know that for any serious corporation that wishes its product offerings to be successful, corporate branding is an essential and vital tool to project a strong brand and identity.
What’s in a brand anyway? I looked it up on Wikipedia, here’s what the site has to say about branding: A brand is a symbolic embodiment of all the information connected to the product and serves to create associations and expectations around it. A brand often includes a logo, fonts, color schemes, symbols, and sound, which may be developed to represent implicit values, ideas, and even personality.
Whenever we talk about branding, we almost always think of logos and slogans. See the curved tick on your running shoes and apparel, and you’ll recognize in an instant the famous Nike “Swoosh”. What comes to your mind next? “Just Do It”. But do you know that branding can also take place at a personal level?
With personal branding, you’ll rely less on logos, slogans and sounds; it’s more of your individual values, qualities, personality and vision. In today’s business world, it’s important for you as an entrepreneur to learn to promote and market your personal brand. To gain an advantage over the competition, you need to stand out in a crowd. Here are four simple personal branding tips on how you can become your own brand:
1. Develop your own personal marketing plan.
Include your personal mission statement: what on earth are you here for? What do you hope to achieve in your lifetime? Specify your short-term and long-term goals, and plan your timeline to achieve your goals. Include detailed strategies and action steps, and don’t forget to review your personal marketing plan quarterly.
2. Build up your credibility
In whichever field or industry you’re in, aim to be the best you can be and to offer the best you can give. Make use of every opportunity to learn and hone your skills. Become the expert whom people in your professional field go to for help and advice. Give a lecture, contribute advice and articles to an e-zine, or go join your local community organization.
3. Develop and present your “elevator speech”
An elevator speech is a short, succinct description of what you do, how you do it differently from the others, and the benefits you’re able to provide to your customers. Develop yours today and present it to prospective clients whenever opportunities arise.
4. Contribute your time, talent, and money to charitable causes
Find a charitable cause which you are passionate about and is related to your particular field of expertise. Give it back to society for the help society has given to you. Donate your time by volunteering to do work for free for a local charity. Give your expertise and advice or even donate money to a charitable cause. By doing all these, you’re reinforcing your personal brand and establishing your credibility.
Your personal brand, if managed and developed properly, can become your greatest business asset. Decide today to build up your personal brand, and it’ll go a long way in your entrepreneurial career.

Categories
Success Attitude

Three Major Keys to Powerful Goal

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Are you ready to sit down and start designing the kind of life you want? Before we get started, there are three major keys that every one of your goals must have.

They must be:

1) Be Specific & Measurable
The more specific you are, the more focused your mind and efforts will be. Specific and measurable outcomes will lead to effective strategies and actions. If you want your health to improve, you must set specific and measurable targets such as ‘how much weight do I want to lose?’

‘What pulse rate do I want to achieve’ ‘what is my targeted body-fat ratio?’ ‘How many hours must I spend in the gym each week?’ ‘How many calories will I allow myself to take in a day?’ ‘How many miles should I run or how many laps must I swim at each session and how many times a week ?

Under personal development goals, you may want to set goals such as ‘What new languages do I want to learn? And to what standard?’ ‘How many books do I want to read each month, and in what areas?’ You must also be specific about the time frame you are giving to each goal and list a specific date of accomplishment.

2) Passionate and Exciting
Have you ever been so passionate and excited about doing or achieving something that it kept you awake all night? You kept thinking about it every waking moment? Maybe it was your first trip to an exciting new destination. It could also be participating in an important tournament, meeting that special person or planning your 21st, 30th, 40th birthday celebration.

When we are passionate about achieving something vitally important to us, it gives us a level of energy and focus that cannot be matched. It is this level of passion and excitement that we must have for our goal(s), if we ever want to achieve it!

When people ask me, ‘Where do you get the energy and discipline to keep writing books, developing seminars and starting new companies?’, I reply by saying that I get so passionate and excited about my goals, to the extent that they charge me up continuously.

I sleep, breathe and dream my goals every single day until they are achieved! Then I set a new one, at a higher level!

When people seem to lack discipline or will power, it is not that they are lazy, it is simply because their goals are not exciting enough for them. They are not passionate about what they want to achieve!

Tiger Woods loves to play golf. Donald Trump loves the art of the deal, Steven Spielberg loves to make larger-than-life movies and Bill Gates loves technology and the idea of shaping the world. Even if they had all the money in the world (which they do), they would still be as obsessed with their goals.

So, you must set goals that you are passionate about. How? Simply ask yourself this question, ‘Even if I had $10 billion, what would I still want to do and accomplish? What would I be willing to do for free if I had all the money in the world?’

Write down what you are truly passionate about and what comes from your heart rather than just from your mind.

3) Stretch Goals for Quantum Results

Most people I know tend to subscribe to setting for themselves merely incremental goals. Incremental goals are goals that are slightly higher than what you are currently achieving. For example, if you were making $2000 a month in income, an incremental goal would be $2500.

A stretch goal, on the other hand, is when you set for yourself an outcome that is way beyond your current level of ability and skill. If you were making $2000 a month, an example of a stretch goal would be one aiming for $10,000 a month.

I believe that the most powerful goals you can set are stretch goals. This was a key ingredient that allowed me to achieve so much within such a short period of time.

Use these 3 keys and your goals will propel you towards the success you deserve in life!

Categories
Home-Based Business

When Calling In Sick Is Not An Option

The phone was ringing and I couldn’t find the energy to answer it. I knew I should answer, needed to answer, but couldn’t summon the strength necessary. I’d been fighting the discouragement and frustration of a lingering illness for months and didn’t see any end in sight. Doctor’s said I’d see an improvement within six months of beginning this new medicine, but a month in and nothing felt different, in fact, I felt worse. I couldn’t imagine how my business was going to survive if something didn’t change soon.

Dealing with sickness as a mom is always challenging. When you add in the responsibilities of a business it can feel downright impossible. As I dealt with my health problems over the course of the last year, I’ve found a few ways to keep my business afloat while I’m healing.

Schedule your time in small chunks.
During the toughest weeks of my illness, I would set daily goals like “work for one hour” and “work on laundry.” By giving myself small goals like these I was almost always able to achieve them. It is amazing how crossing things off from my to-do list helped me to feel productive. My efficiency was a far cry from what it normally is, but I felt encouraged by these accomplishments.

It’s also imperative to schedule specific times to rest. Despite the fact that I was sick, I felt guilty for feeling so tired all of the time. By penciling in fifteen minutes or so at a time to rest, I was freed from the guilt. It became one more item to check off of my daily to-do list.
The extra benefit was that scheduling it in helped my three-year old to adjust to these short nap times. I would lay on the couch and rest and he would sit with me and watch a movie or play the Wii. This way I always knew where he was and he knew I was there for him if he needed me.

Outsource as much as possible.
My virtual assistant (VA), without even being aware of it, was crucial to me during this time. She was able to take on some of the tasks that I do on a regular basis. What a relief to know that I could count on her to do the things that HAD to be done. Even the weeks when I was at my lowest I knew the necessary tasks were taken care of.

If your kids are old enough you can “outsource” some additional chores to them while you’re healing. My six-year old was such a great source of hope and help to me. By helping me more than usual with tasks like laundry, vacuuming and even cooking (she can put crescent rolls on a cookie sheet better than any other six-year old I know), she felt like she was assisting in my recovery. So often our kids feel helpless, like there is no way that they can help us when we’re ill. This was a wonderful way for her to feel needed and helpful.

Let your family help.
During the months that I dealt with health problems, my family played a crucial role in keeping my business afloat. My husband would often take the kids out to dinner or simply outside to play, giving me time to rest and work if I felt up to it.

Grandma, too, comes in especially handy if she’s available and willing. Although, a neighbor or good friend may be willing to help out when needed.

Don’t take on too much.
Even when you’re feeling your best it’s important to learn the art of saying no. Know your limits and don’t go overboard – even with good activities. When you’re dealing with sickness, it’s imperative that you be honest with yourself about your limits. Don’t try to take on all that you would were you well.

When faced with making a decision about a new project or other activity you’re considering, write out your schedule and take a close look at it. Can you afford to add anything? Is there anything that can be cut?

Be nice to yourself.
Take the time to treat yourself to a small reward near the end of each day. This can be something as simple as taking a bubble bath or going out for fast food instead of cooking. Don’t let guilt overwhelm you. Remember, the better care you take of yourself, the more energy you’ll have for those tasks like cooking and laundry that now seem exhausting.

Categories
Business Ideas Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurship Finance & Capital Franchise Home-Based Business Starting Up

The Pros And Cons Associated With Franchise Businesses

For any individual looking to capitalize on franchising opportunities and owning a franchise business, there are several advantages to consider. Some of those you may be interested in are outlined below:
The Franchise Business Pros
· Having a brand behind you, whether it is locally or nationally famous, will save you a lot of time and money that would be needed to create your own brand or trademark. You will also attract customers immediately rather than having to advertise extensively.
· You will have an established business framework to work within, which dramatically reduces the risk associated with a startup business.
· You will already have tried and tested suppliers and services at your disposal, which will again save you the time and money associated with finding your own.
· You will receive ongoing support for sales and marketing throughout your franchise ownership. Franchisees often choose to tap into the help that is offered to them throughout their tenure via existing marketing and advertising assistance.
· Franchisees often get comprehensive financial assistance because banks are often more willing to lend money to well-known brands and names than business startups that are completely unknown to consumers. Franchisees may also have access to direct financial assistance from the franchisor.
· The risk of investing in a franchise is lower than it is for a regular business startup. An established concept is much more desirable because there is less risk.
· Continued development opportunities and research will be available. Franchisors tend to choose to tap into information concerning competition in the local area, seasonal goods, demand, and local attitudes.
· You will get business support from your franchisor, which will help to find you the best possible site and enable any construction work that needs to be done in addition to employee training and operational assistance.
· All business procedures and methods that you use will already be tried, tested, and proven to work.
· The quality and desirability of the franchisor products have been proven and come at a certain standard level that is well established.
· You will have the buying power of the franchisor and centralized purchasing at your fingertips, so costs may be reduced as a result of bulk buying savings that are handed down to the franchisee.
In addition to the pros of franchise businesses as outlined above, there are also others that you may want to consider. For example, expansion may come more easily with a franchise business and you may enhance your business interests with additional businesses, either within the franchise or outside of it. This is how dreams of riches become realities.
That is not to say that there are not cons and disadvantages associated with franchise businesses. A few of them are outlined below:
The Franchise Business Cons
· You may lose ultimate control of your business as a result of the established franchise standards that you have to run your business in accordance with. You may also find that you cannot implement your own ideas and initiatives.
· The level of royalties could be as much as 10% or more in select cases, which will of course affect your profits.
· You will have to pay an initial fee to buy into the franchise. It could be as little as $4,000 but may extend up to $50,000 so there is significant initial outlay.
· You will have to pay advertising fees to ensure that your business is recognized as existing in your current location. If the franchisor advertises poorly then your fees are wasted.
· You may have to buy a signage pack from your franchisor. Some franchisors insist on you buying their specific signage and so you may find it extremely expensive.
· If the franchisor gets into difficulties then so do you. As you effectively bear their name then you bear the brunt of a problem, including issues with suppliers.
In conclusion, although there are some disadvantages with having a franchise business, the positives far outweigh the negatives. The risks of failure are significantly reduced and so there are fewer problems than a brand new startup business. Of course, you should always ensure that the paperwork is in order, and you should complete your research and due diligence before committing because there are no guaranteed profits, and you would ultimately be responsible should the venture fail.
About the Author:
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GlobalBX provides a FREE business for sale exchange connecting business buyers, sellers and lenders. Search over 32,000 businesses for sale and franchises for sale. Sell your business for sale for free with no listing fees and zero commissions. We have 1000s of franchises as well as franchise resales. Find franchise reviews and get free franchise information. You can also contact over 300 lenders directly and get a business loan.

Categories
How-To Guides

Name A Company Using The Company Name Search Register

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When a limited company is formed the founding subscribers and directors will decide the company name which when submitted forms part of the company registration..
First of all the last word in the name for company must be limited, unlimited or public limited company depending upon the type of company being formed. Accepted abbreviations of the name of company are accepted, those abbreviations typically being ltd and plc.
Company names can be rejected by Companies House for a number of reasons, the principal reason being that the name already exists on the company name register. When considering if a name is similar to another then punctuation and insignificant words such as the, and etc., would be ignored.
Name a company that sounds the same but contains a different spelling may be accepted. For example if Read Limited exists on the company names register and Reed Limited does not the proposal to name a company Reed Limited would be acceptable. If the name could be interpreted as misleading due to similarity of an existing name then that name would not be acceptable.
A name company adopts also be rejected if it is proposed to name a company including the words, limited, unlimited or public limited company occurs in the company name and not as the last word.
Other words which are not acceptable include investment company with variable capital, open ended investment company and the abbreviation SE. A company name would also be rejected if that name was deemed offensive or using a proposed name would be a criminal offence.
Names which include certain words are also rejected unless approved by government. Any name which suggests affiliation to a local authority or central government should be avoided. While the use of words indicating banking activity do not require to be approved using such words should be avoided as using such a name might well contravene other legislation relating to financial services requiring the business to be authorised.
When a company name is accepted the acceptance and inclusion in the company name register does not protect the new company from objecting to that name on the grounds of similarity. If such an objection was successful then a company name change would be required. In addition should a name indicate the activities of another company that other company can take legal action to prevent the use of the company name.
Should the chosen company name be similar to a registered trade mark that name could be accepted onto the company name register but would not protect the company from legal action to prevent that name being used. Having the name registered on the company name register would not constitute a defence should legal action be taken by the trade mark holder.
Before a company name is proposed for either registration or a change from an existing name it is strongly advised to carry out a company name search with the Companies House register of company names.. The company name register is arranged in alphabetical order and when the proposed name is entered to conduct a company name search the company name register defaults to those names which may be similar.
The chosen company name is registered when submitted on the Companies House company formation form 10 and accepted by Companies House. Following the company registration the incorporation certificate containing the company name is issued by Companies House.
TerryCartwrightPhoto.JPGTerry Cartwright qualified as a Chartered Management Accountant and Chartered Company Secretary in 1971. A successful business career followed as Head of Finance for major companies in the UK and several consultancy appointments. In 2006 he created DIY Accounting producing Accounting Software for self employed and small companies that use simple accounts spreadsheets to automate tax returns.