Help Clients Start a Business Right by 8 Tips

When clients fail to plan, they plan to fail

Starting and running a profitable business is not rocket science. The 1st reason many people fail is they fail to follow a well-established business development process. Below are 8 tips to business development that, when followed with purpose, will significantly help your business clients and customers improve their chances for growth and long-term success:

1. Test the Waters: Encourage client so close a sale. While this is not possible for all ventures, making a sale validates the business idea on multiple levels, such as who will buy, why they buy, what they'll pay, how much it costs and how much profit will be made.

2. Research, Research, Research: Encourage clients to Web surf and shop the competition to learn how similar businesses define, price, market and sell their offerings. LIttle is new. Take advantage of what works.

3. Connect Clients to Experts: There are over 33,000 "volunteer" business mentors in the U.S. that offer all types of expertise, such as tax, funding, marketing, import/export, govt. contracting, etc. Introduce and help clients to connect.

4. Write the Business Plan: Require clients to write their own plan and invest the time, hard work, learning and focus that will be the keys to their future success.

5. Fund Innovatively: You well know, banks are rarely lending. Get creative. Will customers invest or prepay? Is joining forces an option where client have "x," someone else has "y" and together they're better off? Is contracting for a service versus buying equipment an option, such as a delivery service instead of buying a truck.

6. Recordkeeping: Require clients to demonstrate that they understand and have arranged for reliable expertise for maintaining breakeven, forecasting, cash flow and bookkeeping records. Business success lies in the details of managing the numbers.

7. Defeat Fear Through Knowledge: Asking for the sale is scary. Maintaining financial records can be intimidating. Investing in ones future is risky. Yet millions of people are doing this every day with success. Help clients connect with no-cost business assistance networks to learn how they can do it too.

8. Focus, Focus, Focus. Profitability is the first objective in business. Focus on a sales cycle where revenues exceed expenses. Assist clients with refining and repeating this process before they start something new.

Like most things in life, the more purposefully you engage, the more likely you'll get the results you seek. Good luck!

Should You Have a Business Partner?

Here at the Small Business Development Center (SBDC), we work with all types of  businesses — from sole proprietorships, to partnerships, to corporations with several owners. We’ve seen partnerships work exceptionally well and we’ve seen disasters.
A Successful Partnership
We’ve counseled many small businesses with more than one owner. In a great many of these cases the owners are also a married couple. As one couple said, “We want to continue to stay married to each other and therefore make the business partnership work!” Their marriage is the “glue” that keeps the business partnership working. But what if the partners aren’t married? Several years ago we worked with a non- married couple that started a business that was unique for this area. Soon their personal relationship ended. They separated their living arrangement, but both wanted to continue to work in the business. They did and were successful at it because they both believed in their business idea and wanted it to be a success. Later, one partner married and moved to Seattle. She couldn’t work in the business anymore and wanted her partner to buy out her half. She said “I want to be fairly compensated, but I also want the business to succeed.” Her partner agreed. We worked with them to come up with a buy-out plan that accomplished both goals. The business grew and did succeed.

A Disaster
While we hear more tales of disastrous partnerships than we’d like to, one short example may be illustrative. Two couples, in their late-thirties, fulfilled their dream of moving to the Olympic Peninsula and buying a business. The women were childhood friends. The men were friends as well. The four of them planned to run this business. Within 6 months after buying the business the personal and business relationship between the two couples was destroyed. They found out too late that being friends doesn’t mean you have the same goals for a business or the same values that guide operating it. We offered to mediate, but one couple refused, demanding to be bought out at double what they put into the business a mere six months ago. One couple did buy out the other and the lifelong friendship between the two women was gone.

How to Avoid Disasters in Partnerships
Before you take on a business partner, ask yourself some important questions:
• Why do you want a business partner?
• What financial contribution can your potential partner make to the business? Does your potential partner have access to credit and what is his/her financial situation?
• Do your skills complement each other?
• Do you both have the same vision for the business?

If you do decide to enter into a partnership, it is best to have a written partnership agreement. Although we advise seeing an attorney to assist you with it, here are some issues to discuss with your partner. Your answers will form the basis of your agreement. The first section deals with issues involving “getting into the partnership”:

“Getting Into the Partnership”
~What are the mission, vision, and goals of the business? Of each partner?
~What are each partner’s expectations of the business?
~Will the partners be equal?
~ What is the initial capital contribution of each partner? Are the contributions true investments or loans?
~What commitment of time, equipment, and other resources will you each make?
~What is the value of “other equity” such as “sweat equity”?
~What level of income will you each expect or need from the business?

Once you’ve worked out the issues to get into the partnership, turn to the actual running of the business and how you will do that in partnership:

“In the Partnership”
~ What are the roles and responsibilities of each partner? Who will do specific tasks? How will day-to-day decisions be made?
~Will partners make additional financial contributions?
~How will each partner share in profits and losses?
~What salaries, if any, are to be paid to partners?
~ Will you prohibit outside business activities that would be in competition with the partnership business?
~ How will disputes be resolved? Is there a “managing partner” who will make final decisions?
~Will new partners be added? If so, what procedure will be followed?
~Who can make commitments or expenditures on behalf of the company?

Since partnerships do end, now is the time to discuss how this will happen:


“Getting Out of the Partnership”
~ How will a break-up of the partnership be handled? What if one partner wants to keep the business? What if both partners want the business but no longer want to work together?
~ How will you determine the value of the business in case of death, incompetence, or withdrawal of a partner, or dissolution of the partnership for any other reason?
~Is a partner allowed to sell his or her portion of the business?
~ What happens in the event of the death of a partner? Is it specified in a legal will for each partner?
~ What happens if a partner gets divorced? What legal and financial impacts will that have on the business?

Getting Help in Forming a Partnership

Bringing a partner into your business is a key decision that will either help or hinder the business. We recommend reviewing the issues presented in this article and perhaps making an appointment with the SBDC to guide you and your potential partner in this task. We also recommend getting advice from your accountant and having your attorney assist you with the final agreement, typically referred to as a Buy-Sell Agreement.

Types of Alternative Medicine

Allopathy refers to the old practice of medicine, which is the most dominant form of health care. However, as more and people are becoming aware of allopathy side effects, people are switching to different types of alternative medicine practices. A glance at the history of alternative medicine will show the various healing benefits using herbs, massages or spiritual healing methods. Here is an alternative medicine review, that will help you understand different types of alternative medicine.

Types of Alternative Medicine

Traditional Chinese Medicine
Traditional Chinese medicine also known as TCM, includes a range of different traditional medicinal practices which originated in China. TCM is the standard care in the Orient for over 3000 years, and includes various methods of healing like, acupuncture, diet, herbal medicines, physical movement like Tai chi, and massage techniques.

Aromatherapy
Aromatherapy includes use of various essential oils, which affect greatly to relieve pain, reduce stress, help to improve mood, and improve health. You can find aromatherapy oils in many health care stores, you can pick an oil for its healing properties. Some of the best aromatherapy oils are lavender oil, tea tree oil, frankincense oil, etc.

Ayurveda
Ayurveda originated over 5000 years ago in India, and it predates all other medical systems known to us. In Ayurveda a person's body type is taken into consideration, and then selective method are used for treatment. This is an alternative medicine science which has remedies to cure almost all kinds of illness, right from basic pain relieving medicines to medicines to cure cancer.

Crystal Healing
In crystal healing magnificent stones which have healing powers are used. These stones can help to improve your mood, and help you get rid of stress. Many stones also help to clean and revitalize the aura. Here is some more information on crystal healing.

Herbal Medicine
Herbal medicine also known as herbalism is an old alternative medicine treatment which uses various herbs and plant extract, which have special healing, aromatic or therapeutic properties. You can find many dried or fresh herbs which you can use to make teas, paste or syrups, or simply use herbs in cooking to flavor various dishes. You can also grow a herb garden which takes very less space, and use the medicinal herbs for different ailments.

Homeopathy
In homeopathy, which is an alternative medicine branch, minute doses of a natural extract are used to produce signs and symptoms of the illness, which stimulates the body's defenses that leads to a stronger healthier balance of internal chemistry.

Hypnotherapy
Hypnotherapy has many benefits, and can help to cure certain illness which can be psychological or physiological, without use of any medication. It can help in quitting smoking or help in weight loss. In this technique of healing an altered state of consciousness in the patient can be administered either by a practitioner or by the person itself.

Massage Therapy
Massage therapy can greatly help to relax your body and mind, can help to get rid of toxins from the body, purify the skin and even help in weight loss. There are hundreds of techniques of massage, and you can get a relaxing or stimulating massage at any health spa, and combine it with a sauna to get more health benefits.

Meditation
Many meditation techniques have been developed by different people. You can use tantra, yoga, zen, Tibetan or a basic breathing vipassana technique, which will help you to balance your mind. A meditation technique which suits you can help to reduce stress, and enhance your life by bringing balance and wellness to it.

Naturopathy
Naturopathy refers to using natural substances to prevent and cure diseases. By following naturopathy one can increase body's resistance power greatly. Most naturopathy practitioners implement element from various alternative techniques which help to create good health using, acupuncture, herbs, massage, etc.

Reiki
Reiki is a form of spiritual healing, in which a reiki practitioner uses his energy for healing a person. Reiki or energy medicine is combined with diet therapy or herbal or homeopathic remedies to help bring balance to a person's physical and emotional health.

Reflexology
Reflexology is alternative medicine science of healing touch, in which pressure to certain points in the body are applied to treat various ailments. Our body when suffering from any illness is under lot of stress or sustained injuries, using reflexology the body can be brought back to a balanced state.

Other Alternative Medicine Practices
Apart from the above mentioned alternative medicine branches, here are some more alternative medicine practices which help to heal the mind and body.