Small Business

Small Business: How to Gain Insight Into Your Market When Starting a Business

Gaining insight into a business market is a very important process to undertake with any new or existing company. Below we explore the Internet, Social marketing, Customer interaction and other key opportunities for any size business.

Internet:
With the advent of the internet in recent decades, the ability to gather competitive, marketing and management advantages into your business has exploded. There are literally thousands of resources for gaining insight into your particular market without ever spending a dime. A simple web search is all that is needed to yield all sorts of data on your competitors in terms of their pricing, products, customers and target markets. By knowing what your competition is up to you, can then tailor your marketing, pricing and other business decisions with a simple click of the mouse. The internet is certainly a valuable research tool in gaining traction into your new businesses market.
Social marketing:
Twitter, Facebook and email are all key tools to use to determine your potential customers' needs and wants, as well as providing some exciting entertainment when launching into your new business venture. While social marketing is a valuable commodity, you need to be careful as we have all seen horror stories about how one bad Tweet or Facebook post can ruin your hard earned reputation. So it is important to realize both the exciting opportunities and numerous pitfalls when implementing your social marketing strategy.

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Small Business: Creating a Brand From the Ground Up

So, you are thinking of a new way to brand your product, service or website? The following is the first in an installment of many articles dedicated to how to brand your company or product and what it means to do so.

First, we have to know a few things:

What does "Branding" mean?

Simply put, your brand is your promise to your customer. It tells them what they can expect from your products and services, and it differentiates your offering from the competition.

In short the definition from any dictionary is:

1. kind, grade, or make, as indicated by a stamp, trademark, or the like: the best brand of coffee.
2. a mark made by burning or otherwise, to indicate kind, grade, make, ownership, etc.
3. a mark formerly put upon criminals with a hot iron.
4. any mark of disgrace; stigma.

Now we can disregard the third definition and the others fit what we are talking about. I like to think of a brand in the business world as a mark, both figuratively and literally. It's who you are so you better not mess it up!

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Sports Business: The Challenges in Financing Sports

In earlier times the marketing manager of an athletic team would project sales, the engineering and production staffs would determine the assets necessary to meet those demands, and the financial manager's job was simply to raise the money needed to purchase the required plant, equipment and inventories.

That situation no longer exists. Decisions are now made in a much more coordinated manner, and the financial manager generally has direct responsibility for the overall financial status of any business.

According to theory, a healthy economy depends on efficient transfers of funds from people who are net savers to firms and individuals who need funds. Without efficient transfers, the economy simply can not function. Thus, sport businesses, as individuals and government units, often need to raise funds. Stock exchange markets, merges, acquisitions, promotional techniques, athletes' transfers, diversification, product or market development and syndicated loans, constitute methods for increasing cash flow levels.

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STARTING A BUSINESS? - THE PERFECT SOLUTION

STARTING A BUSINESS? - THE PERFECT SOLUTION

Executive suites are an affordable and practical solution if you are in the process of starting an independent business, or establishing a new practice as a lawyer, psychotherapist or other professional. The actual monthly cost of maintaining an office can vary from just a few hundred dollars to over a thousand depending on a number of factors. The most expensive executive suite offices are typically in high-end, Class A buildings with exterior windows, while the most economical are interior offices in located in Class B or C buildings. All executive suites generally provide basic services and amenities, which would generally include telephone and Internet access. Some will provide furniture, and most will include customized telephone answering, voice mail, secretarial and postage services. If you shop around you should be able to find accommodations to fit your requirements and budget.

"Our typical client is a lawyer, or other professional who came to us with limited budget and had shopped the expensive Class A executive suites first. Since we are in a well maintained Class B building, our rental rates are 30-40% less for both interior and exterior offices" says Stemie Penn, owner of a large Southeast Denver Executive Suite business. "Our tenants usually move to larger exterior offices as their business prospers. Also, the clients of our tenants don't feel intimidated when they come in because of the practical decor and the friendliness of the staff and the obvious cheerful interaction among tenants and employees they encounter here."

I am looking forward to reading your comments and thoughts on this matter. A good debate to be had by all.

Learn more about this author, Brian Daniel Young

Check out all my articles over at Helium.com

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Small Business: Signs you are an Entrepreneur

You know you are an entrepreneur when...

You're constantly trying to think up new ways to be successful, or new business ideas to try out. You're not happy just getting on with things; you aim for the top and won't stop until you get there! You're full of motivation and ambition, which is an essential quality for any entrepreneur to have.

You find out how to do something if you don't know straight away. You love being challenged and always want to learn new things, whether it's through workshops, courses, or simply doing research in your own time. If you can learn new things to make you more successful, as well as more confident in business, then even better.

You're always trying to offer business "advice" to your friends and relatives, even if they don't want to hear it. You just can't stop talking about it! It's on your mind 24/7. You'll take heed from other entrepreneurs, and will often carry around a notepad and pen just in case you get that spark of inspiration.

You approach risks with a sense of excitement rather than caution. You're not adverse to risk in your business plan; you know that it's often by undertaking the most risk that you can reap the most reward. An entrepreneur knows that risk means profit, so as long as you attack it correctly, you can be in line for a huge pay-off.

You look at other businesses and think you could do better. It's this type of confidence that means you probably will, and all entrepreneurs have to possess it.

You're always thinking of how you can secure your next investment. Your business plan is at the forefront of your mind, and you always want to tweak it to make it perfect. You know that a good business plan is the key to getting investment, and you want to make sure that you do.

You don't get upset if one of your ideas doesn't work out, you pick yourself up and get on with the next one. You understand that business is difficult, and that not everyone makes it all the time, even the most successful of entrepreneurs. It just makes you even more determined to succeed with your next business venture. This type of persistence is essential.

You've just read this, and all the points apply to you!

About Brian Daniel Young

A Memorial Day to remember in Boulder, Colorado!

Have you ever heard of the Bolder Boulder?

It's a glorious day waking up at the foot of the flatirons in this lovely town I call home for the past 17 years. Every year for a very long time they have run one of the biggest road race 10K races in this little town of ours. Every year it get bigger and bigger and today will be no different.

What is it?

The Bolder Boulder is an annual 10-kilometer road race in Boulder, Colorado. The most recent race featured over 54,000^[1] runners, walkers, and wheelchair racers, making it the largest race in the US in which all participants are timed^[2] and the fifth largest road race in the world.^[3] It has one of the largest non-marathon prize purses in road racing. ^[4]
The race culminates at the University of Colorado's Folsom Field with a Memorial Day Tribute with one of the largest Memorial Day gatherings in the United States. Organizers have dedicated three starting waves to current and former members of the U.S. armed forces.

A schedule of the 2013 Bolder Boulder:

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
The fun starts in March and runs through Memorial Day. Race Day is packed with excitement from the first start gun at 6:55am to the finale of the Memorial Day Tribute at noon.
Race Weekend
Saturday and Sunday, May 25 & 26, 10am to 6pm
SportsEXHIBITPearl Street Mall
+ Visit dozens of vendors in the heart of Boulder
+ Learn about the most current trends in the outdoor and fitness world
+ Pick up your packet, register, or shop for BB Gear
Sunday, May 26, 4pm to 7pm
PastaPASTAMillennium Hotel
+ Carbo load in the gardens of the Millennium Hotel
Race Day
Monday, May 27

5:45am to 9:00am

Race Day registration and packet pickup

6:55am

Professional wheelchair start

7:00am

BolderBOULDER A wave start

9:29am

Final walking wave start

11:13am

Women's International Team Challenge Start

11:24am

Men's International Team Challenge Start

11:30am

Course cut-off at Folsom & Arapahoe

Noon

Memorial Day Tribute in Folsom Field

7:30am to 12:30pm

RaceDayEXPO south of the stadium

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About Brian Daniel Young

Small Business: How to Create a Niche Market and Build a Brand

How to Create a Niche Market and Build a Brand

By Cerilene Smith

So, you are thinking of a new way to brand your product, service or website? The following is the first in an installment of many articles dedicated to how we are progressing with branding our test name "Cerilene".
We thought it would be kind of cool to just create a name "Cerilene" out of thin air and build a brand around it. We found a few people named "Cerilene" and a song or two with the name, but nothing else. So we decided that given this name had almost no presence online, this could provide us with a great baseline for our branding experiment.

1. What does "Cerilene" mean?

That's where you come in! We want to develop a definition of the name and promote it world wide.

2. The Project?

We want to start with newborns named "Cerilene" and follow them through their existence. Remember "Sarah" and "Elizabeth" were names someone thought of at one point in the world's history.

3. What's with the scholarship?

The goal here is to establish a scholarship fund for worthy "Cerilene's" where the people who have followed their path through life can help them to achieve their dreams.

4. So, what do you think?

We need your input in the form of comments, blog posts, visits to www.cerilene.com and more. The goal is to get everyone involved and take suggestions for where we want this thing to be 10 or 50 or 100 years from now. Come join us at www.cerilene.com

A bit more about successful name branding:

Brand is the "name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's product distinct from those of other sellers"[1] Initially, Branding was adopted to differentiate one person's cattle from another's by means of a distinctive symbol burned into the animal's skin with a hot iron stamp, and was subsequently used in business, marketing and advertising. A modern example of a brand is Coke which belongs to the their company. (wikipedia)

A brand is often the most valuable asset of a Corporation. Brand owners manage their brands carefully to create shareholder value, and brand valuation is an important management technique that ascribes a money value to a brand, and allows marketing investment to be managed (e.g.: prioritized across a portfolio of brands) to maximize shareholder value. Although only acquired brands appear on a company's balance sheet, the notion of putting a value on a brand forces marketing leaders to be focused on long term stewardship of the brand and managing for value. (wikipedia)

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About Brian Daniel Young