Month: April 2012

22 Big Reasons to Start a Small Business While Still in School

Post author By Pamela Swift
Post date April 19, 2012

Article Contributed by Online Universities

You’re young, strapped for cash, and totally busy with school. It sounds like a terrible time to start a business, but really, things couldn’t be more perfect. We’re seeing a boom in businesses started in tiny dorm rooms, and there’s a really good reason why: college is an ideal time to get your venture off the ground. With incredible support and resources, a low cost of living, and your life spread out before you, right now is when you should be making the leap. Don’t believe us? Read on, and find 22 compelling reasons to start your dream before you finish your degree.

1. All the cool kids are doing it: Mark Zuckerberg created “The Facebook” as a Harvard sophomore. Bill Gates and Michael Dell both left school behind when it was clear their businesses were taking them to bigger places. Sure, their stories are rarer than the failed ventures that sometimes come out of dorm rooms, but your idea just might be the next million dollar one.

2. You have the time available: Essays, exams, and extracurricular activities may be leaving you with little to no free time these days, but just wait until you have a job, possibly a marriage, kids, and a house. You may not realize it now, but you’re in the glory days of flexibility, so take advantage of it and get your business off the ground now.

3. It is just really cool: In some circles, “I have my own business” is the ultimate pick-up line. But seriously, having your own business at a young age really sets you apart on your resume, with your family, and even socially. People tend to respect those who own their own business.

4. Your professors are an incredible resource: There are few places where you can get more free knowledge and support than college, especially advice of such high quality. Talk to your professors, industry groups on campus, counselors, and more to get expertise and support for starting your business while you’re in school.

5. So are all the school “freebies” you pay for: Sure, they’re in your school fees, but you’re paying for them anyway, why not use them? Computer labs, copy machines, meeting rooms, free wifi, and more are all things you might be taking for granted but will have to pay an arm and a leg to use once you leave campus.

6. Entrepreneurship will give you a crash course in life management: If you’re having trouble keeping up with your grades and time management, being motivated by the possibility of cash just might make you shape up and start doing things right. Having a business just might force you to get organized and be more responsible with your time and money.

7. You might get a break on student loans: Recently-introduced laws on student loans make it possible for you to reduce your monthly payment obligation through your business, freeing up extra cash for getting off the ground and maintaining your finances.

8. You’ll stand out: Lots of young people are jumping in to business, but a college-aged businessperson is still a rare thing, and it can get you some attention. Your sales pitches will stand out because you’re different, and it’s much easier to differentiate yourself at networking events. This is, of course, assuming that you’re presenting yourself professionally.

9. Marketing on campus is crazy cheap: Word-of-mouth marketing is the best kind of advertising that money can’t buy. It’s at the student price of free and spreads like wildfire if you’ve got something exciting going on. Get your buddies on board and you can spread the word on campus and beyond.

10. It’s a great experience, even if you fail: That’s right, even if your small business blows up in your face, it’s a testament to your character that you even gave it a shot. Entrepreneurship shows that you’re creative, driven, and confident, all things that employers can respect.

11. Cheap labor is readily available: Help with your business tasks is typically not much farther than a case of beer and some pizza. Your friends may eventually tire of pitching in a lot for little reward, but almost-free labor is a great resource for getting off the ground.

12. Loyal partners surround you as well: Starting in college when you and your buddies have the time and energy to commit to a business means that you can enjoy a high level of commitment with employees and partners that are likely to stick around even after graduation.

13. You have fresh ideas: It’s sad, but true: after a few years working in a cubicle farm, your creativity and drive are almost certainly going to be dampened. In college, you are (hopefully) not yet jaded by the realities of working life, and you can take advantage of your open, fearless, and exciting opportunities unburdened.

14. There are college budget friendly businesses: While some businesses are capital-intensive, others are time intensive, and these are the ones where college entrepreneurs can really hit their stride. There are legitimate businesses that you can start for about $20, including housesitting and tutoring.

15. You just might make some cash: Chances are, you’re not exactly rolling in cash as a college student. But if you can create an effective business, you just might be able to actually earn some income in between classes. Do a great job, and you can pay off student loans early, graduating from school debt free.

16. Good luck finding a job otherwise: The job market is terrible these days, but not for entrepreneurs who make their own fortune. While your friends schlep their resume over the entire Internet and stand in line at unemployment, you can enjoy controlling your own future.

17. You may never have to work a corporate day in your life: As most college students prepare for a life of corporate drudgery, successful college business owners can rest easy in the fact that they can skip over the corporate world and go on to the exciting world of entrepreneurship.

18. It’s much easier to recover from mistakes: Even if you lose everything you own to your business, you’re probably still about on par with your peers. You can take a major financial hit, and even do some damage to your credit, but still have time to recover and get things right before major life events arrive.

19. You can live in your mom’s basement: OK, not everyone really wants to take advantage of this, but let’s be serious: it is amazingly cheap to move back home if you just can’t make ends meet while you’re launching a business. It’s lame now, but much less weird than if you tried to do it about 10 years from now.

20. An amazing network is waiting for you: Your college friends represent an incredible support system for your business. Chat up your friends in marketing, ask for website help from your computer science buddies, and get your most outgoing friends to help you gather clients and do market research.

21. Everyone wants to help: It’s not just professors and classmates who are willing to pitch in; major organizations offer resources as well. Last year, PayPal gave 20 teams representing entrepreneurs under 20 $100,000 fellowships for funding their big ideas. And they’re not the only ones. Often, colleges themselves will put on contests and grants for those brave enough to claim them.

22. You might not ever do it later: Putting things off until later is a great way to never actually get them done. Don’t wait to finish college to start your business, seize the day right now.

Recommendations

Retail Website Checklist for Local Business Success

Post author By Pamela Swift
Post date April 18, 2012

Article Contributed by Michael Koploy

Thanks to the Internet, small businesses have a powerful marketing channel to reach local customers. As entrepreneurs turn their business ideas into brick-and-mortar realities, a well-designed, locally-optimized website is crucial to a successful business venture.

Michael Koploy, ERP Analyst at Software Advice-a website that provides free reviews of point of sales software–recently created a guide for small business owners to ensure that their websites are suited for local searchers. According to Koploy, there are 8 steps to ensuring that a small business owner has a locally-optimized website:

1. Claim your online business listing. Ensure that you’ve claimed your Google Places, Bing Business Portal and Yelp listings.

2. Deploy Google Analytics and create a plan to analyze and track visitors. This free solution is essential to finding out which social networks are driving visitors to your site and which pages are under–and over–performers.

3. Make contact information accessible. Move addresses, phone numbers and hours of operation to the front page and “above the fold.” If you need a “Contacts” or “Locations” page to organize information, make sure that these pages provide visitors with all the information they could need.

4. Optimize HTML and copy for local searchers. Include local keywords in your site’s title and description tags (e.g., “The best New York City clothing store”). Additionally, schema.org markup is a great way to alert search engines that your site is local.

5. Ask for feedback on business review sites. Yelp, Google Places, Open Table and other review websites are commonly viewed by customers as they evaluate your business. Link to these profiles, ask for feedback and act on negative customer experiences.

6. Highlight specials on the front page. Convince customers that you’re the hot location of the moment by elevating promotions and specials to the front of your site.

7. Use social networks and newsletters to keep in touch with locals. Update Facebook, Twitter and newsletters with information about your community and your business–and link to these mediums throughout your website.

8. Find online local communities. Many neighborhoods, towns, cities and states have websites dedicated to local business. Look for these opportunities and ask for them to link to your site.

Business Ideas

Opportunities for Starting and Managing a Laundromat Business

Post author By Pamela Swift
Post date April 17, 2012

Article Contributed by Steve Sutherland

As far as business models go it doesn’t get much better than a Laundromat. While there are some barriers to entry such as high start up costs there are also many advantages.

This industry has quite a low failure rate compared to other small business opportunities and the return on investment (ROI) is usually very good. A coin-operated laundry business also offers excellent lifestyle prospects for owner operators that don’t want their business to rob them of all their free time.

There are many ways to get into the Laundromat business and once you are in there are many directions to take. In this article I examine some of the possibilities and opportunities in this unique industry.

Start a New Laundromat

The first option is to start up a new Laundromat. Start up costs here are considerable as you will need to organize a commercial space and pay for renovations that will include a proper plumbing, sewerage and electrical set up. Compliance costs can run high, especially for sewerage hook-up fees which are often charged per machine. Washing machines, dryers and a boiler system for heating water are expensive as well.

You also have to keep in mind that your risk level with a new business will be high unless you have done some careful research.

Other difficulties that you will be facing will include limited cash flow in the early days of your business. It may take some time to establish a customer base and reach a profitable level of operations. Due to the uncertainty of a new project you could also have trouble getting the huge amount of funding that you need to get started

On the bright side, if you do get everything right and the business runs well your ROI will be impressive and you’ll be paying down your debt in no time. Your new set up should give you few headaches in the way of breakdowns and maintenance and you will be able to take your business in any direction that you like.

Buying a Profitable Laundromat

A much safer play for industry newcomers is to buy an existing Laundromat that is for sale. If you do your due diligence and pay a fair price for the business you should be able to walk straight into a profitable operation. This lower level of risk will make it easier to secure financing.

There are many other advantages too. You will be purchasing an existing brand, a customer base and relationships with employees and suppliers.

The downside is the lower ROI. The profit level of the business will be reflected in the sale price. Nobody just gives away a profitable business with an established clientele without asking for a considerable sum of money.

You could also be inheriting problems from the previous owner if you are not careful. The machines or layout may be out of date and need replacing or the store may be run down and in need of renovations.

A Small Chain of Coin Laundries

Many Laundromat entrepreneurs are absentee owners as they are not required to be on the premises. This makes it easy to scale up and become the owner of multiple stores. After all, once you know how to run one profitable store you should be able to easily replicate your success. According to the ‘Coin Laundry Association’ the average number of stores owned by each Laundromat business owner in the US is 2.5.

Some owner-operators divide their time up between three or four Laundromats throughout the day. Others hire attendants to do the dirty work and they can just stop by occasionally to check on things and collect the cash.

The Franchise Model

What about starting a ‘McLaundromat’? Surprisingly, the coin laundry industry has been quite fragmented up until the present time. There are only a few regional franchises and chains and there are no famous brands at the national level.

Depending on your area you may be able to start up under the umbrella of a franchise. You would benefit from getting access to a proven brand name, operating systems and marketing systems. However all of this typically comes with a high price tag which can drive your ROI fairly low.

If you spend time developing a business model and systems that work then you could look at franchising your own brand somewhere down the line.

Buying Distressed Laundromats

Once you feel that you have mastered the business you can look at buying run down Laundromats that are currently losing money for their owners. If you analyze each opportunity carefully and apply your knowledge you may find that some of these stores can be turned around with the right investment and a change of direction. The best thing is that you can pick up these kinds of Laundromats for next to nothing and in some cases the owner will thank you for taking the business off their hands.

Once you work your magic you can then look at adding these locations to your portfolio or you can flip them on as profitable businesses. A profitable Laundromat is fairly easy to sell and business brokers will be delighted to help you in the process of finding a buyer.

Additional Services

Once you are set up with your first Laundromat business you will have opportunities to increase your profits by fine-tuning your business operations.

This can be done by bringing in new business and there are many ways to do so. You can also maximize your Laundromats potential by adding premium services such as ‘wash and fold’, ironing or stain removal. Aside from washing powder and fabric softener you can sell other items such as drinks and snacks from vending machines on your shop floor.

Savvy Laundromat business owners also handle laundry accounts for other businesses such as hair salons and restaurants that need their towels and linens to be washed regularly. Commercial accounts like these can keep machines and attendants busy during times when your Laundromat is quiet.

There are also numerous opportunities to cut costs and run a more efficient operation. Savings in energy and water consumption can be quite dramatic if you have the right machines and systems in place.

Become a Consultant

Lastly, once you have become somewhat of an expert in the Laundromat game you could look at sharing your years of knowledge and experience with others. Industry newbies often require help from consultants to assess the value and prospects of Laundromats that are for sale. Consultants can advise newcomers on every aspect of starting a Laundromat and running it efficiently.

About the Author:

Steve Sutherland runs OpeningaLaundromat.com, a site dedicated to helping beginners buy a laundromat or start their own from scratch.

Operations

Lucid Meetings and Collaboration in the Cloud

Post author By Pamela Swift
Post date April 16, 2012

Traditional web conferencing solutions are centered on sharing your screen; they don’t help you produce good outcomes from your meetings. With Lucid Meetings you can share your screen, but you can also do so much more. For working teams this means getting more done with less by combining collaboration, web conferencing, and teleconferencing into one seamless solution. Now everything you need to meet with your teams and plan, decide, assign and track is all in one place. For one low fee.

For organizational leaders, boost productivity across your teams by transforming and improving what employees dislike the most, their meetings.

Benefits of Lucid Meetings:

Lucid Meetings provides:

– online historical record repository
– provide a scalable organization-wide all-in-one facility for a company’s teams and projects
– actionable records
– documented discussions
– collaboration tools
– cloud-based solution
– easy real-time communication tools
– affordable alternative
– expert meeting infrastructure & guidance

Which helps:

– oversight into teams
– it’s the results, stupid! (not the talking)
– provide a unified organizational experience
– create alignment between project goals and meeting outcomes
– to look professional; impress clients and stakeholders with your meeting organization & management skills
– provide continuity between meetings to avoid repeating discussions and revisiting decisions
– Improve visibility / transparency into what teams are discussing and accomplishing in their meetings
– increase value for time spent; if 30%+ of your day is spent in meetings, make it count!

Unlike the competition:

– disjointed solutions that rubber band together wikis, base camp, dropbox
– difficult and expensive enterprise collaboration: sharepoint, Jive, and others
– status quo with old technology, such as Webex, GoTo, Conference calls, online meeting presentation tools

How do people get started using Lucid Meetings?

Lucid Meetings offers a free 30 day trial with all new accounts. Many customers first learned about Lucid Meetings by attending a meeting hosted by someone else. Others find us online and spend time reviewing the how-to videos or contact us for an introduction when they have questions.

To learn more about Lucid Meetings, check out: http://www.lucidmeetings.com