Business Ideas | Small Business Ideas: May 2014

Thursday, May 15, 2014

How to Start My Own Business on eBay

The company eBay Inc. is an American multinational Internet consumer-to-consumer

corporation, headquartered in San Jose,California. It was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995, and became a notable success story of the dot-com bubble; it is now a multi-billion dollar business with operations localized in over thirty countries. The company manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide. In addition to its auction-style selling, the website has since expanded to include "Buy It Now" standard shopping; shopping by UPC, ISBN, or other kind of SKU (via Half.com); online classified advertisements (via Kijiji or eBay Classifieds); online event ticket trading (via StubHub); online money transfers (via PayPal) and other services.

Entrepreneurs looking to start an online retail business may want to give eBay a close look. Many of the aspects of starting an online retail business are made easier by the eBay business model. The eBay website has templates you can follow to create your own storefront; eBay has an audience of millions of potential customers all over the world; and eBay can help mediate customer service issues between buyers and sellers. Develop a plan and learn how to start your own business on eBay.

How to Start Your Own Wallpaper Business

Starting a retail paint and wallpaper store is a relatively stable retail business venture to star, as there is no real threat from the Internet sales of these products. However, the big threat comes in the form of big box retailers, so business location is of critical importance to the success and survival of this kin of retailing venture. To increase sales and profits beyond just selling paint and wallpaper, also provide customers with unique services, such as after-hours instruction classes in various home decorating mediums and other products and services, such as equipment rentals for do-it-yourself painters. Factoring in consideration such as competition, star-up investment, operating costs, and profit potential, a paint and wallpaper store is a good choice for a new business enterprise, but best left to those of you with retailing experience.

A wallpaper business tackles job that involves home decorations. Many homeowners opt to use wallpaper because it is the inexpensive way of improving up a home.

That is why putting up a wallpaper business is a great idea.

Home Based Business Ideas for Moms

When a woman wishes to stay at home with her children, it can be difficult in terms of family finances. With the ever rising cost of living, it is often necessary for both parents to bring home a paycheck in order to make ends meet. Many of today's stay-at-home mothers, however, have found a way to have it all in terms of a career and caring for their children. Courtesy of home based businesses it is possible for women to do both without compromising one for the other. There are many different home based business ideas for moms, each with its own unique requirements when it comes to investing time and money.

Many moms can find it frustrating to find a rewarding job that will allow them to stay at home and care for their children while earning income for their family.

How to Start My Own Clothing Business

If you have a passion for fashion as well as knowledge and experience in business management, accounting, merchandising and public relations, starting your own clothing store is a creative way to put all of these talents into play. Like any start up business in today's economy, selling apparel is a venture that's not without risks. The good news, however, is that if you fill a niche that's missing from the big box stores and that couples affordability with unique designs and personal service, the clients who love what you have to offer will not only bring repeat business but serve as an excellent source for referrals as well.

Opening a clothing retail store is a serious business. This is one industry that can help you earn a steady income every month with ample scope for advancement. As there are many options in the clothing business, it is important to invest in a clothing retail business that matches your interests and meet the needs of your specific customers. There are important tasks you must accomplish before starting a retail business and this how to guide will help you reach your goal effectively. See Step 1 below to get started.

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)

Easy Tips and Ideas to Start Business

Although anyone can start a business, many people fail because of a bad product or improper research. If you want to start your own business, you can improve your chances for success before you even begin. In order to make your business successful, start strong and make sure that your idea will hold out for the long haul.

Have a Good Product

Ensure that you plan to sell something useful. Although you may think that your product is important or special, that doesn't mean the general public will agree. Ask friends, family and strangers what they think of your product. If they don't seem that interested, ask them why. With their suggestions, you can either improve the product or scrap the idea completely. According to Brad Sugars of Entrepreneur magazine, most small businesses fail because they sold a product that didn't have an adequate market. This also applies to small businesses that provide a service. A lawn-care business might be useful for part of the year in a northern state, but it is in-demand year-round in the south. Consider whether people will actually want to use your service and get constructive advice from those not afraid to give their opinion.

Research Local Businesses

Research local companies before starting up your own business. This will not only give you an idea of the amount of competition you will have, but it will also help you price your product or service. If you're looking to start a wedding photography business, you may find during your research that the market is over-saturated in your area. If not over-saturated, you should contact each business and ask them for a price list. Alter your prices so you can stay competitive with the competition in town. Researching similar local businesses will also help you decide where to locate your business location. Try not to start up a store or office close to another business of your type. If your small business is located away from similar business types, this will cause locals to choose you over businesses that are farther away from where they live.

Get Professional Advice

You may know someone who has started their own successful business. Ask him for advice and listen to his stories of how he started his company. You may gain useful advice on the good and bad ways to start a business. Local entrepreneurs can also introduce you to local product providers or advertisers that you may not have met without their help. Accept any advice with open arms, especially if the advice is coming from someone successful in the area.

How to Calculate Business Start Up Costs

Starting a business in no easy endeavor. It takes a great deal of research, perseverance and hard work. While sweat equity will make your small business more successful, you will most likely need real capital to get the business started. Before you start raising capital and/or investing your own funds, the first thing you need to do is determine the total start-up costs.

Step 1

Determine your costs of sales. For most small businesses this means inventory, the cost of raw materials, manufacturing equipment, shipping, packaging, and warehousing. However, not all businesses sell products. In this case, the cost of sales is primarily the direct labor involved in making the sale. For example, to open a small shoe business entails purchasing enough inventory ($10,000) to stock the store.

Step 2

Determine professional fees. Planning your business structure, i.e., limited liability corporation or general partnership, means hiring an attorney. There may also be the need to pay an attorney for help with establishing trademarks, copyrights, and patents. In this scenario, that puts total professional fees at an estimated $20,000.

Step 3

Determine technology costs. Technology can greatly reduce the cost of labor for small business if used effectively. Most small businesses require computers, printers, cell phones, website development, Internet access, software applications, information security, data storage, and outsourced information technology (IT) consulting. If the cost of technology is $10,000 to start, add an additional $5,000 a year for maintenance (hint: maintenance is not included in start-up costs).

Step 4

Determine administrative costs. This varies with business types and may include items such as business insurance, office supplies, product packaging, parking, rent, express shipping, desks, chairs, fax machines, phones, or anything else necessary to operate the business daily. A good estimate for start-up administrative costs would be $5,000 for the first six months.

Step 5

Determine initial sales and marketing costs. Now that you have your product, you need to let folks know about it. Sales and marketing costs generally include marketing materials for presentations, printing stationery, business cards, advertising, trade show events, and public relations. These initial sales and marketing costs can add up to $3,000.

Step 6

Determine the wages and benefits needed to secure a staff. This includes employee salaries, benefits, workers compensation, and payroll taxes. Let's put the cost of wages and benefits estimated at $20,000 for the first three months of business.

Step 7

Add all costs associated with starting the business for a total. Be sure to only include business start-up costs that will be incurred in the first three to six months of operations. For this example, the calculation is: $10,000 + $20,000 + $10,000 + $5,000 + $3,000 + $20,000 = $68,000.

Pages

Thursday, May 15, 2014

How to Start My Own Business on eBay

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

How to Start Your Own Wallpaper Business

That is why putting up a wallpaper business is a great idea.

Saturday, May 10, 2014

Home Based Business Ideas for Moms

Sunday, May 4, 2014

How to Start My Own Clothing Business

Small Business Ideas | List Of Small Business Ideas