Home/Internet Business Startups - "Why can't you be your own boss?"

E-Capital Training Day 4

2006-04-19T22:42:00.000-04:00

Easy Business Startups

So I had my fourth coaching lessons today and things are getting on track. I'm in the middle of finishing up my internet website/store by adding all the different products I'll be selling. There is one thing that is really good about this e-coaching and that is the builder program that came with it. It is one hell of a software that makes building a website for ANYTHING a ease. h
I'm trying to finish up the website/store somtime this week and start marketing it next week. If all goes well, this might actually work afterall.
I have to say though, my coach is very laid back... her personality and coaching style sure doesn't fit the "advanced coaching lessons" criteria/description. Well regardless, things are looking good as of now. Hopefully it really will turn out that way.
Like usual, I'll keep posting my progress and report here.

Easy Business Startups

E-Capital Training Day 3

2006-04-13T22:36:00.000-04:00

Business Startups

So I just had my third lesson with my internet coach. Supposedly there was a "mixed up" in my order where they thought I was interested in starting an ebay business. Long story short, I talked to the "executive director" and he assures me that I'll make my money back and that everything will be on track and if there's anymore problem, to just contact him and he'll fix it.

Whatever, I've decided to stick with the program and see what's what. I still haven't learned much from my coach yet. Maybe their specialty is internet marketing when the website is done. Anyhow, hopefully all is well.

I've applied to several dropshippers and have started another e-business as per my coach instructions. Let's see how that will turn out.

So a quick re-cap of what I learned so far: Use Ebay to track hot trends and hot products. Spend $60 to buy a dropshipper directory. Apply your dropshipper account with each supplier.

3 things for 3 lessons ::eyeroll::

Business Startups - E-Capital Training Day 2

2006-04-05T14:05:00.000-04:00

Business Startups

E-capital Training Day 2:

Today my lesson was some what informative. My coach certainly did clear up alot of doubts for me about choosing the right supplier and where to look for them. One thing I don't like is that they do not assist you in picking the right products to sell. They simply refer you to Ebay's Seller's Central and ask you to look for the hot picks. This tool is useful ofcourse, but none-the-less, it is a little disappointing knowing your coach isn't able to assist you in picking the right item.

From my experiences so far, the first couple of lessons are more of a Q&A session where you ask questions and your coach answer. They don't really guide you through much of anything UNTIL you've picked out your product and the supplier. The benefit to this is that you gain alot of information throughout these Q&A sessions and the coach really clears things up for you. The downside to it, though, is that you are still stuck in the early stages if you don't know what to sell. And knowing what to sell is probably the million dollar question that everyone wants to know. Decisions...decisions...decisions... if I'm not swarmed with work, I'd pushing on the gas pedal finding the right item to sell... hopefully I'll find something this week, apply through the suppliers, and start building my ebay business next week.

Business Startups

Business Startups - Detour!

2006-04-04T00:31:00.000-04:00

Business Startups

Alright so we're gonna have a little detour today away from my chapter guides. Let's talk a little about some business startups out there. I've added a featured program called Paid Surveys Online. They are a legitimate advertising agency that collects surveys from different company and sends out to random people to complete. In return, these companies pay an amount for the Paid Survey's Online service and in return, Paid Survey Online pays its users a percentage of that payment.

This is what most people have to say:

"Unlike most work at home jobs, PaidSurveysOnline.com delivers what it promises! I have taken 20 surveys over the last week and keep getting invitations for more. I even had to turn some down I was offered so many. I am so thankful I found your site. Just want to let you know what a great service you offer. Keep up the good work!
- Peter Morton, Great Plains, NJ

"My husband said I would never make any money doing surveys. He said it sounded to good to be true. Boy, was he wrong! I have been doing so well now he wants access to the members area so he can sign up ;-) Thanks PaidSurveysOnline.com for making a believer out of me .. and proving my husband wrong!"
- Louise Grant, Tampa, Fla.

"I live in the UK. PaidSurveysOnline.com made it easy for me to find surveys for people in England. I joined another company before but they listed no surveys for people in the UK. PaidSurveysOnline.com has tons of surveys for people not living in the US. Plus, they make it easy to see which companies hire in the US and which hire internationally. Saved me a lot of time! " - Blanch Hopkins, UK

"IT'S THE PERFECT JOB! Work from home and set your own hours. You're in control.

You can work whenever you'd like, morning, noon, night .. midnight if you'd like .. it doesn't matter. Simply log in and select surveys to fill out, get paid for your time. Work for 30 minutes or three hours, it doesn't matter ..you set your own hours!

PaidSurveysOnline.com and its partners bring you fresh opportunities to express your opinions, participate in online focus groups, try out new products, be heard AND be paid to boot!!! How would you like to sit in the comfort of your own home, fill out surveys online, and participate in online focus groups and get a nice big paycheck at the end of the month!!

This is a perfect opportunity for stay at home moms, students, or someone that just doesn't have time for a commute to a dead end, part time job. OR, for anyone who wants to sit in their pajamas and work at home!!"

It is currently the largest and most popular paid survey system out there. It also has a high payrate of 98%. If you want some side cash and don't mind giving out your 2 cents for some cash, i'd say Paid Survey's Online is for you.

Business Startups

Business Startups The Easy Way - Chapter 4

2006-03-30T16:29:00.000-05:00

Business Startups

So what's right for your business? A virtual place that conducts all transactions online (E-business) or a physical place that conducts all transactions? (A Type of Retail Busines).

Let start out talking about the traditional retailing business. The notion of "Build it and they will come" had been around for centuries; way before malls, shopping centers, and the internet. That notion had worked hundreds of years. But that was hundreds of years ago. In today's world, the notion of "Build it and they will come" just isn't going to work. And I can attest to that personally.

Not to digress, but to give an example and some background information of where I stand on this issue, I was in the education business. I had an afterschool tutoring academy. Obviously, we offer services and not tangible products. However it is still considered to be a "retail" business nonetheless. When the Academy was first started, my partner and I had that notion of "Build it and they will come" in our mind. Needless to say, that didn't work out for us. Long story short, marketing plays a major role in today's business world and without it, the business is bound to failure.

So what is a physical retailing business? Retailing by itself is very diverse and sometimes the edges start to blur with other type of business. The word retail comes from the Old French retaille “to cut off”. So a wholesaler or manufacturer sells bulk lots while the retailer is willing to sell off smaller or individual pieces. Of course this definition only takes us so far because many wholesalers also sell retail and many retailers also sell wholesale in larger lots.

Further, the common usage of retail is based more on whether the business deals directly with the public. Retail banking, retail service stations, and local coffee shops are all retailers although they do not necessarily sell any goods in the sense of a clothing store.

So how do you know if you should conduct E-tailing (Electronic Retailing) or P-tailing (Physical retailing)? The answer to this question is based entirely on your resources and business. The advantages of having an E-business is that you can lower inventory costs, have a larger market, , lower overhead, and provides convenience for your customers. The initial investments to start an E-business is also significantly lower than starting a physical store business.

On the other hand, having a physical store provides the physical, tangible experiences to customers. Think Barnes & Noble. Amazon sells books. Ebay sells books. Half.com sells books. But none of these E-book stores can compete with Barnes & Noble. Why? Simply because Barnes & Noble provides readers/customers the physical experience. It is true that E-business is gaining popularity, but majority of the population is still fixated on experience. People like to touch. They like to touch products. Ofcourse, this theory doesn't apply to ALL businesses but it sure can be used as a reference.

So what about an E-Business? Is it right for you? Most individuals start E-business on impulse. What do I mean by that? It means that You need to make some money. Perhaps you'd like to change careers. Maybe you'd like a new challenge. Or you've just heard the rumors about the fortunes to be made on the internet.

Any one of these reasons might have led you to the decision to start your own internet business, but before you begin investing your time and money there are some important questions you need to answer to determine if an ebusiness is right for you.

First you should consider your familiarity and ease with the internet. If you don't know anything about the web, there's still hope but this alone should give you second thought. If you decide to stick with an E-business, then you need to spend time learning about how the internet works and getting familiar with basic tools such as email, web browsers, message boards, and search engines. After learning the basics and if you still find it uncomfortable doing things on the web, then that should be a red flag to consider another career path.

Second you should consider your business knowledge and experience and then consider how that works for you or against you in the world of ecommerce. A simple lack of knowledge and experience simply means that you will need to spend time learning or filling in the gaps in your knowledge. The good news is that this information is readily available on the internet. Of course the bad news is that if you leap into business before you are ready it can cost you a lot of time and money. My advice is to read articles and ebooks to acquire a basic foundation then begin spending time in some online forums and ask questions. People are always willing to help. Don't spend any money while building this foundation knowledge. You don't have to so why do it? Latter on as you begin to delve deeper into your niche then you may decide that some information is worth paying for but hopefully by then you'll be a better judge. However you may discover during your studies that ecommerce bores you or confuses you. Again, that should be a red flag to consider another career path.

Third what need will your ebusiness fill? Obviously you have needs but that is not what I'm talking about. Think about your potential audience or customer. Start searching for other products that might compete with yours or other businesses that already exist. Visit forums, subscribe to newsletters, and study web sites that relate to this field. Eventually you will be able to determine if there is a need for your ebusiness, how big a demand exists, and how much competition is already in place. It is important to consider these angles because each fact will help determine how easy it will be to establish your new business, grow that business, and ensure its success. You can make a success in a highly competitive field but it is more work than finding yourself in a smaller, yet unexplored, niche.

Hopefully this chapter has provided you with some insights as to what kind of business you should conduct. Be it E-business or a Physical Business, learning and researching in that particular area is essential to success. Next chapter, we'll talk about things that an entrepreneur should keep in mind.

Business Startups

Business Startups The Easy Way - Chapter 3

2006-03-27T00:30:00.000-05:00

Business Startups

Now that you have your business plan all set up and you're serious about starting your business, you need to think about your business structure. By business structure, I mean the type of the company you're forming. Oh wait, you didn't know you need to form a company to conduct business? Well I guess you don't have to but I HIGHLY don't recommend that.

So which business structure should you consider and which one is the best for you? I'll let you decide that after I lay out the fundamentals, advantages, and disadvantages of each business structure. There are essentially three different types of business structures: sole proprietorships, partnerships and corporations. The Corporation structure can be broken down further into Corporation, Limited Liability Company/Corporation (LLC), and Subchapter S Corporation (S-Corporation). Each business structure has its own benefits and drawbacks in regards to protection offered, taxes, creditbility, and ease of ownership. Needless to say, forming the right business structure is vital to any business's success.

Here are the Five types of business structures and a brief explanation of each:

1. Sole Proprietor - A Sole Proprietorship is one individual or married couple in business alone. Sole proprietorships are the most common form of business structure. This type of business is simple to form and operate, and may enjoy greater flexibility of management, less legal regulation, and fewer taxes. However, the business owner is personally liable for all debts incurred by the business.

2. Partnership - A General Partnership is composed of two or more persons (usually not a married couple) who agree to contribute money, labor, and/or skills to a business. Each partner shares the profits, losses and management of the business, and each partner is personally and equally liable for debts of the partnership. Formal terms of the partnership are usually contained in a written partnership agreement.

3. Limited Liability Corporation - A Limited Liability Company (LLC) is composed of one or more individuals or entities through a special written agreement. The agreement includes: provisions for management, ability to assign interests and distribution of profits and losses. Limited liability companies are permitted to engage in any lawful, for-profit business or activity other than banking or insurance. LLC’s cannot have more than 35 shareholders.

4. Subchapter S-Corporation - A Subchapter S-Corporation (S-Corporation) is formed originally like a Corporation. A Corporation becomes a S-Corporation by meeting certain Federal IRS requirements and filing the federal form 2553. The S-Corporation is almost exactly alike with a corporation only with a few differences. An S-Corporation is a pass-through entity meaning the profits and losses pass through unto the business owners, avoiding double taxation of a corporation and individual income. The downside of a S-Corporation is the limited type of shareholders (owners) it can have. It does not allow taking a company public with this form of business structure.

5. Corporation - A Corporation is a more complex business structure. As a chartered legal entity, a corporation has certain rights, privileges and liabilities beyond those of an individual. Doing business as a corporation may yield tax or financial benefits, but these can be offset by other considerations, such as increased licensing fees or decreased personal control. Corporations may be formed for profit or nonprofit purposes.

Bottom line is that you need to find the right business structure for you. Personally, I believe a LLC is the best form of business structure. However, if you're only conducting a business, say, Local Garden Cleaning, then a sole proprietorship or a partnership would probably be more fitting.

Here is a review of each corporation and its advantages and disadvantages:
Sole Proprietor-
Advantages:
1.) Easy to form and maintain, Total ownership of the business
Disadvantages:
1.) Offers no protection to the business owner
2.) Offers no prestige or creditbility to business
3.) Cannot build corporate credit

Partnership-
Advantages:
1.) Easy to form and maintain
2.) Best Tax classification for real estates or small business owners
Disadvantages:
1.) Offers no protection to business owner
2.) Offers no prestige or creditibility to business
3.) Cannot build corporate credit

Limited Liability Company:
Advantages:
1.) Offers limited liability protection to business owners
2.) Credible and respected business structure
3.) Taxed as a partnership
4.) Easy to maintain
5.) Great for tax and real estate planning
6.) Build strong and powerful corporate credit
Disadvantages:
1.) Unable to take the company public

Subchapter S-Corporation:
Advantages:
1.) Offers limited liability protection to business owners
2.) Credible and respected business structure
6.) Build strong and powerful corporate credit
Disadvantages:
1.) Hard to form
2.) Ownership interest is very limited
3.) Unable to take the company public

Corporation:
Advantages:
1.) Offers limited liability protection to business owners
2.) Credible and respected business structure
6.) Build strong and powerful corporate credit
Disadvantages:
1.) Very Hard to form and maintain
2.) Double Taxation

Hopefully you're able to pick out your form of business structure for your business after reading this chapter. In Chapter 4, we'll be discussing the differences, similarities, advantages, and disadvantages of E-Commerce and Retail.

Business Startups

Business Startups The Easy Way - Chapter 2

2006-03-25T21:54:00.000-05:00

Business Startups

Building a business plan can be time-consuming and tedious. It can also bring upon questions that pile up exponentially which leads to discouragement, self-doubt, second thought, and ultimately giving up. As a result, building a business plan is as far as most people ever get to start their own business. However, a business plan really isn't that different from...say...a schedule you plan out in your head everyday as to what you'll do throughout the day.

All businesses need a plan or blueprint. If you don't have a plan, the business is bound to be chaotic and lack focus. I mean think about it. You've been taught to write an outline before writing an essay; you've been taught to do your research before doing a project; you've been taught to study before taking a test; and you've been taught to think before you speak. The list goes on and on. The bottom line is that we all must prepare before we act. Starting a business is no different.

As you plan out your business, you'll discover new ideas and concepts, you'll create new goals and visions, and you'll review and analyze your business idea. You'll be continuously refining your original Idea/Concept.

However, while a business plan is often needed when you are getting financing for your business, I find that most business owners don’t find them very useful. Why not? Because usually they are written from a very long term frame (typically five years) and once they are written, they are put on a shelf and never looked at again. I’m going to suggest some ways that you can get more out of your business plan.

The question to ask first isn't "HOW" to write a business plan but "WHO" is this business plan for? If you're a solo-entrepreneur, then a business plan is merely for you and you only; primarily outlining the goals and blue prints of your business and answering the 6 key words: Who? What? Where? Why? When? How? If you're a small business, then the business plan is for your investors and yourself; primiarily outling future projections, company goals, customer base, markets, competition, management, financial status, investments, and etc... Once you identified the "WHO", the "HOW" comes naturally because now you can frame your business around the people that you're proposing the plan to.

As I've mentioned, a business plan for a solo-entrepreneur only needs to answer to him/herself...and perhaps a partner or two that wants in on the business. The business plan must address the 6 KEY words of:
1.) Who? - Who is our customer?
2.) What? - What product/service will I provide to the customer?
3.) Where? - Where can I find the market for our product/service?
4.) Why? - Why will the product/service I chose work?
5.) When? - When can I launch the product/service to the customer?
6.) How? - How am I going to deliver the product/service to the customer?

For a solo-entrepreneur, these questions must be answered in your business plan. The business plan you're trying to build then should frame around these questions and provide details for each specific question. Once you tackled the 6 questions, you've layed the ground for your business and you can start preparing for the launch.

For small businesses, the business plan is a little bit different. The 6 questions still apply, but in a slight altered way. Business plans for small business should be filled with projections of what a venture might be able to achieve in the future. They should also be filled with facts about the venture’s past and about the market in which it operates. It is these facts that often convince an investor that the opportunity is right for them. Key areas in which facts must be presented include:
1.) The Company
2.) Customer
3.) Market
4.) Competition
5.) Management Team
6.) Financial Projections

Facts in the customer, market and competition sections should bolster the opportunity. These should include facts about market sizes, market trends, customer needs, and competitors’ products and services. Whenever possible, site sources for these facts. For instance, mention which research firm stated that the market size last year was in fact $X million and is projected to grow to $Y million within the next N years.

In the management team section, the business plan should include facts about key personnel and what their career accomplishments have been so far. It should highlight specific positions they held and ideally show how this makes them to uniquely qualified to execute on the current opportunity.

Finally, while the financial section of the business plan focuses on projections, these projections should be based on facts. Such facts include much of the facts that were presented in the body of the plan regarding market sizes and trends (should influence projected sales growth), competition (should influence pricing), customer needs (should influence customer adoption rates), etc. It should also include your estimated profit margin, costs, and initial investment amount to launch the business.

These facts are essential and the key to getting investment and success for a small business. It is pretty much a SWOT Analysis (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, Threat). It allows you to find the positives and negatives of your business and thus allowing you to improve the business.

Finally, once you have your business plan in place, be sure to do the following three things:

1) Review your business plan frequently. Business plans aren’t meant to be static. They are mostly a long-term strategic tool, but to be effective you need to look at them regularly and update your strategies. How often? I’d suggest quarterly. Look at which of your strategies are working and which aren’t. Do more of what works and less of what doesn’t. Ask yourself why some are working and some aren’t. What can you learn to make your business stronger?

2) Add a lifestyle component to your business plan. I have yet to see a business plan that includes your ideal lifestyle. Does a bank care about your lifestyle? Probably not. But you should. Take time this week to add a lifestyle page to your business plan. At a minimum, include how many hours you want to work, where you want to work, how much vacation you’d like and what schedule you want. Then go through your business plan and make sure your business strategies support your lifestyle strategies. What you may find is that you’ll have to add strategies for hiring additional staff, streamlining operations, and creating better business systems.

3) Turn your business plan into an action plan. Your business plan is all about long term strategy. It’s the big picture about how you’ll run your business. Take that long-term strategy and turn it into a short-term action plan. For each strategy you have in your business plan, write a short-term action plan. Include what the actual activity will be, what resources you need to do it (employees, money, time, equipment, etc) and write out a detailed plan for it including deadlines. This plan should be for the next three to six months. The action plan should include every step you will need to take to accomplish each goal in your plan.

The first time you do these exercises may take between two and eight hours. It depends on how much detail you provide. My experience shows that the more detail you include the more effective your plan is. The next time you do this (remember to review and revise this quarterly) it will take a lot less time. Each time you do this will build on the time before and your planning will become more and more effective. Now you’ve got a business plan that works.

In Chapter 3, I'll explain and layout the fundamentals of the different types of business structures.

Business Startups

Business Startups The Easy Way - Chapter 1

2006-03-24T22:05:00.000-05:00

Business Startups

Before I begin, ask yourself the following 3 questions:
1.) How do I define success?
2.) What are my goals in life?
3.) How do I plan to achieve those goals?

If you can answer those 3 questions definitively; meaning you didn't provide answers like 1.) Success means alot of money , 2.) My goals in life is to be happy and be financially free, 3.) I don't know ... then you have the foundations of what it takes to be an entrepreneur.

So what characterize an entrepreneur? What make a person think they have what it takes to become an entrepreneur and startup his/her own business? Well there really isn't one definitive trait. However, they have a tendency to be rebels, outsiders, original thinkers, risk takers and break new ground. Entrepreneurs are always on the lookout for new business opportunities and have the guts it needs to start up a business. They have total commitment to what they are doing, which verges on obsession behaviour.

When it comes to starting your own business, the thing that stops most people is money. If you were to ask most adolescents and adults if they would like to be their own boss and have their own businesses, they would answer yes. If you were to ask then, how come you don't have your own business startups? They'll most likely answer "It takes too much time and money". They are not afraid of losing time. They are afraid of losing money. They have time, but they don't have the money. The connotations revolving about entrepreneurship and business startups is that you need alot of money to start and most people are discouraged from the start. They already see losses before they see gains.

So now you ask isn't it true that you need lots of capital for business startups? Well that depends on what kind of business you want to start. But for the most part, I can assure you that it doesn't cost nearly as much as you think it does.

Now let's pause for a second, for those of you that want to "Get-rich quick" or think that money will come to you without you doing anything, stop reading right now. This guide is only for the people that want to start a business but doesn't know how to approach it.

Before you, or anyone can start a business, there are homeworks that must be done. That's right, homeworks. A person that just go out fishing without knowing how to fish is bound to catch nothing. It is similar to starting your own business. You MUST do your homeworks. By homeworks I mean plans, research, and analysis (More on these in later parts). There are couple of questions you must answer:
1.) What kind of business market do you want to enter? Products or Service?
2.) What products or services are you pursuing?
3.) Why did you choose that product/service?
4.) How are you going to procure the product/service?
5.) Is there a market/need for this product/service?
6.) How are you going to deliver these product/service?

These questions must be answered before you can even think about starting a business and setting a price for your product/service or calculating your losses and profits. If you have these questions answered, then you're on your way to start building your business plan. That's right, the plan and not the business ... and you think this would be easy.

The reason why I say you must answer these questions before you can do anything is that these questions a fundamentals to your business plan. Without a business plan, a business is bound to failure. A recent study of 29,000 business startups noted that 26,000 of them failed. Of those failures, 67% had no written business plan. Think that's a coincidence?

Here's the top 10 myths Solo Entrepreneurs often have about business plans—usually, the reasons why they don't have one. De-bunk the myths, and see how having a business plan for your solo business, can actually be easy and fun--and can jumpstart your success!

1. Myth: I don't need a business plan--it's just me!

Starting a business without a plan is like taking a trip in a foreign country without a map. You might have a lot of fun along the way, and meet a lot of friends, but you are likely to end up at a very different place than you originally set out for—and you might have to phone home for funds for your return ticket.

Solo Entrepreneur Reality: Successful Solo Entrepreneurs know that the exercise of creating a business plan, really helps them think through all the critical aspects of running a business, make better business decisions, and get to profitability sooner.

2. Myth: I have to buy business plan software before I can start.

Business plan software comes in many shapes and sizes, and prices. Many are more geared at small and growing businesses with employees.

Solo Entrepreneur Reality: Business plan software can be helpful—but it’s not required. Software is more likely to help if you have a more traditional type business, like a restaurant or a typical consulting business.

3. Myth: I need to hire a consultant to write my business plan.

Consultants are an expensive way to have your business plan written.

Solo Entrepreneur Reality: Your business IS you—and you need to be intimately involved with the creation of your business plan. A better strategy, if you think you need professional help, is to hire a coach or mentor—someone who can guide you in what you need to do, not do it for you.

4. Myth: The business plan templates I’ve seen have all these complex-sounding sections to them—I guess I need all those?

The only time you need to follow a specific outline is if you are looking for funding.

Solo Entrepreneur Reality: Your business plan needs to answer ten basic questions—that’s it! Don’t make things more complicated than necessary.

5. Myth: My business plan needs to be perfect before I can start my business.

If you wait for everything to be perfectly detailed, you may never start.

Solo Entrepreneur Reality: If you have at least a first draft that answers those ten basic questions, you are ready to launch your business! Make your business plan a living, evolving document. In the startup stages, review and update your plan every 2-3 months. As you grow and stabilize, you can slow down the review cycle to every 6-12 months. All business plans should be reviewed and updated at least once a year.

6. Myth: I have to do everything I say I’m going to do in my business plan, or I’m a failure.

Many Solo Entrepreneurs never start because of this myth—which leaves them feeling that the success of their future business suddenly rides on each stroke of the pen or click of the keyboard!

Solo Entrepreneur Reality: Think of your business plan as a roadmap for a trip. Expect to take some detours for road construction. Be flexible enough to take some exciting, unplanned side trips. And don’t be surprised if instead of visiting Mount Rushmore, you decide to go to Yellowstone, if that turns out to meet your vacation goals better!

7. Myth: A good business plan has a nice cover, is at least 40 pages long, must be typed and double-spaced…

Business plans intended for investors, such as a bank or venture capitalist, must meet certain requirements that such investors expect.

Solo Entrepreneur Reality: As a Solo Entrepreneur, your business plan need only satisfy YOU. It might be scribbled on a napkin, on stickie notes on your wall, or consist of a collage of pictures and captions. It might be all in one document or scattered among several mediums. As long as you know it in your head and heart without having to look at it, and and it is easily accessible to you when you have doubts, that’s all that is necessary.

8. Myth: I don’t need a loan—so I don’t need a business plan.

YOU are the investor in your business—and would you invest in the stock of some company without seeing a prospectus?

Solo Entrepreneur Reality: Seeing your plan in black and white (or color, if you prefer!), can give a whole new view on the financial viability of your business. If “doing the numbers” seems overwhelming, remember you don’t need fancy spreadsheets. Just lay out a budget that shows where all the money is coming from (and going), and have an accountant review it for additional perspective.

9. Myth: My business plan is in my head—that’s good enough.

I don’t know about you, but I sometimes can’t remember what I planned yesterday to do tomorrow, if I don’t write it down!

Solo Entrepreneur Reality: There is a real power in writing down your plans. Some schools of thought advocate that the act of writing a plan down triggers our subconscious to start working on how to manifest that plan. And, of course, it’s a lot easier to remember when you have it in front of you. And a lot easier to share and get feedback from your non-mind reading supporters.

10. Myth: Friends and family are the best sources of feedback and advice on my business plan.

If your brother is an accountant and your best friend is a market research expert, then this might be true.

Solo Entrepreneur Reality: As well meaning as our friends and family can often be, they just aren’t the best way to get honest, objective guidance. Instead, seek out folks that have specific knowledge that will help you, are willing to be candid with you, and that have a genuine interest in helping you succeed. A business coach is one resource to consider!

Hopefully these myths-debunkers eliminated some of your doubts and answered some of the questions you might have. In Chapter 2, I'll be discussing what a business plan is and what it should entails.

Business Startups

Business Startups E-Capital Training Day 1

2006-03-23T14:18:00.000-05:00

Business Startups

Before I go into details about my training session, I would like to explain the background of E-Capital Training.

E-Capital Training (http://ecapitaltraining.com/) is a coaching/consultant company that specializes in Ebay and Internet Mentoring. It consists of a team of experts that coaches clients on how to become financially successful on the internet by using market places such as Ebay.

Here is an exerpt taken from the website:
"Success fuels success. Historically, the most successful people in the world learned from a mentor or coach—someone who believed in them and taught them a more effective way to conduct their businesses and/or pursue their goals.

ECapital Training’s qualified coaches have the personal internet and eBay experience and knowledge to guide you to success. You can feel confident that your coach understands your position and has your interests in mind.

Welcome to the Success Team!"

Their testimonials are impressive to say the least.

With that being said, here's my experience so far with the training session.

Day 1 Session 1:

Today is my first e-training session and it is your basic run-of-the-mill kind of session where the instructor draws an outline of what will be happening for the next 6 months and what I need to do starting today and the tools that I'll need and what not. There were some information exchange involved such as where I can get lists of drop shippers/whole salers, how to use certain web tools and etc.

My impression of the first session is fairly positive. I have no reason to be skeptical rather this will work or not. I was provided with a list of tools that seem to prove to be quite useful. Regardless, I was given homeworks and I have work to do. Hopefully the next session will be more eventful.

Business Startups