Saturday July 11, 2009
There are so many women with children running their own businesses from home that the term "Mompreneurs" has officially become a part of everyday business lingo. But many dads also work from home and help out with the kids, too.
Being a working parent is hard enough, but when you work from home surrounded by children, the constant distractions and interruptions can kill your work productivity.
It is important, especially during summer months when kids are not in school, to set boundaries, and clearly define rules for kids.
Setting Boundaries: Ways to Minimize Interruptions When You Work at Home offers tips on setting up your home office, and establishing boundaries and schedules to help you get work done without having to resort to locking your kids out of the house all summer long!
Friday July 10, 2009
Question: What do the following businesses all have in common?
- Burger King Corp.
- CNN
- FedEx Corp.
- GE
- Hewlett Packard
- Hyatt Corp.
- IHOP Corp.
- LexisNexis
- Microsoft
- Trader Joe's
- Wikipedia
Answer: All these businesses were started during a recession.
If you are still waiting for the economy to flourish again before starting a business (you might have a long wait) - you are missing out on an opportunity to compete when there is less competition in business.
One perk of start a business during a rough economy that commercial rent prices are still down. If you are still on the fence about when to start a business, here are two articles to help you decide if now is the right time after all:
Monday July 6, 2009
Last November, Nintendo WII
angered customers and retailers when the company ran out of product to stock holiday shelves. More recently, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) had Oprah Winfrey promote a downloadable coupon for free chicken. But after the company gave away 4 million free meals it stopped accepting coupons much to the chagrin of customers (but to the delight of the press which had a field day bashing KFC).
It is important to grow your business in such a way that demand for your products or services does not outstrip your ability to provide them. Sometimes, you have to resist the urge to grow big, fast.
Know When to Say When
Saturday July 4, 2009
What is the cheapest method of advertising your business that you can think of? Word of mouth.
The second, however, is your website. You can purchase a domain name for less than $10 and many no-frills companies will even offer you free domain hosting. "What's your website address" is a question all business owners should be prepared to answer.
But just having a website is not enough. According to Google, there are more than 9 billion websites in their index. There are many ways you can make your website stand out among the crowd by adding images and graphics. With all the WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editors available even the most technically challenged business owners can create simple templates and even flash.
