Archive for March, 2011

When you investigate franchises that interest you, you may be invited to a visit with the franchisor, typically called a “Discovery Day.” It used to be that the only way you learned about a franchise was to visit the corporate offices, but today you can get online and watch videos, read articles, and connect with [...]

Robert Kiyosaki, author of the Rich Dad Poor Dad series is an investor, entrepreneur and educator. His ideas on money and investing go against the grain of conventional wisdom as he has challenged and changed the way tens of millions think about money and investing. In Cashflow Quadrant, Kiyosaki teams up with education advocate Sharon [...]

You know you want to be a small business owner but you don’t know what small business you want to own. This is why we have franchises and franchising consultants like FranNet to help you figure this out. Buying into a franchise is like walking a tightrope with a net and a safety harness – [...]

Even though you now (hopefully!) have a strong sense of the entrepreneur you’re capable of being, it can be tough to finally choose the business you want to launch. To help you along, we’re shortly going to investigate current and future business trends – ideas that are really making a splash. That, along with your [...]

Not everyone has experience managing others on their resumes. That doesn’t matter. Of course, the more relevant experience you have directing a business and its employees, the better; being an effective manager is an essential part of owning a business. However, that expertise doesn’t necessarily have to come from actual work experience. Let’s say you [...]

In our last post, we talked about what types of factors you should consider when selecting a business to go into. In today’s post we cover the top business trends of today according to J. Wang and K. Ohngren at www.entrpreneur.com. Top Ten Current Business Trends: Generation Y. Today’s youth have more purchasing power than [...]

Now that you have an idea (or three!) swirling in your head, it’s time to narrow it down. Sure, you can eventually have more than one business, but for obvious reasons it’s best to focus your efforts on one at a time. It’s time to think seriously about how your new business concept will be [...]

This is the first post in a five part series that covers the five questions you must ask when going into business for yourself. Each of these five questions need to be addressed and adequately answered during your due diligence process. The 5 questions are: So what exactly am I selling? Who’s lining up to [...]

There are a zillion blogs out there on everything from aardvark aliens to zoologist zephyrs. How can you sort the wheat from the chaff? You’re here, and that’s a start – this week, we’ll feature three small-business-related blogs in an effort to help you find more great information and resources. DuctTapeMarketing.com offers practical tips and [...]

We know small business is good for the economy – the U.S. franchise industry employs more than 20 million people and contributes more than $2 trillion in economic activity. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) estimates that 800,000 new small businesses are started every year. The downside of this situation is this: a Dun & [...]