...Starting Your Own Business Contents List of illustrations ix Preface xi 1 Getting Started 1 What's holding you back? 1 Learning to handle success 3 Overcoming the mental blocks 3 Fighting back 6 Checking your readiness 12 Case studies 13 Action points 15 2 Finding Ideas 16 Looking right in front of you 16 Cashing in on change 17 Carving a niche 18 Acquiring commercial skills 20 Working on your self-esteem 20 Choosing a trading name 21 Checking your readiness 24 Case studies 24 Action points 26 3 Creating a Winning Business Plan 27 Planning ahead 27 Making sure the plan is yours 30 Your blueprint for success 30 Getting help from the public sector 36 Getting help from the banks 36 Checklist 37 Constructing your 'blueprint for success' 38 Case studies 43 Exercises 45 4 Funding Your Enterprise 46 Getting your hands on some seed money 46 Start-up costs 46 Getting outside finance 49 Approaching the public sector 50 Approaching potential funders 54 The plan that will fix your funding 58 Presenting your case 61 Checklist 62 Case studies 63 Action points 65 5 Planning Ahead 66 Choosing a partner 66 Case studies: going into partnership 69 Measuring the competition 71 Competitive analysis 75 Finding the right premises 77 The systems you will need 79 Deciding your business status 80 Understanding the basics of taxation 81 Preparing to survive - and succeed 84 Case studies 85 Action points 87 6 Marketing Your Enterprise 89 Debunking...
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...Business Information Systems in Your Career C H A P T E R 1 STUDENT LEARNING OBJECTIVES After completing this chapter, you will be able to answer the following questions: 1. How are information systems transforming business, and what is their relationship to globalization? Why are information systems so essential for running and managing a business today? What exactly is an information system? How does it work? What are its people, organization, and technology components? How will a four-step method for business problem solving help you solve information system-related problems? How will information systems affect business careers, and what information systems skills and knowledge are essential? 2. 3. 4. 5. 2 C HAPTER O UTLINE Chapter-Opening Case: The New Yankee Stadium Looks to the Future 1.1 The Role of Information Systems in Business Today 1.2 Perspectives on Information Systems and Information Technology 1.3 Understanding Information Systems: A Business Problem-Solving Approach 1.4 Information Systems and Your Career 1.5 Hands-On MIS Projects Business Problem-Solving Case: What’s the Buzz on Smart Grids? THE NEW YANKEE STADIUM LOOKS TO THE FUTURE Although baseball is a sport, it’s also big business, requiring revenue from tickets to games, television broadcasts, and other sources to pay for teams. Salaries for top players have ballooned, as have ticket prices. Many fans now watch games on television rather than attending them in person...
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...Making a success of your business Essential checklists sponsored by sponsored by With more than 64,000 small and midsize customers worldwide, SAP is a leading provider of business applications and an established and highly successful player in the small and midsize enterprise (SME) market. SAP offers a broad and innovative solution portfolio for small businesses and midsize companies to meet the heterogeneous demands of SME customers. SAP solutions for small businesses and midsize companies include SAP(r) Business One, a single integrated application for successfully managing small businesses; SAP(r) Business ByDesign(tm), the software industry’s most complete, integrated and adaptable on-demand solution for midsize companies; and SAP(r) Business All-in-One, a customizable and extensible solution for midsize companies with deep industry best practices built in. Sold, implemented and maintained through SAP and an expanding network of qualified partners, all of the solutions are competitively priced, easy and quick to implement and scalable to customers’ growing business needs. The SAP solutions specifically designed for SMEs help enable small businesses and midsize companies to lower operating costs, improve operational excellence, gain better business insight and control, and grow their businesses flexibly. Additional information is available at www.sap.com/sme Chartered Management Accountants are the first choice for financially qualified business leaders. The Chartered...
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...Reinventing Your Business Model by Mark W. Johnson, Clayton M. Christensen, and Henning Kagermann In 2003, Apple introduced the iPod with the iTunes store, revolutionizing portable entertainment, creating a new market, and transforming the company. In just three years, the iPod/iTunes combination became a nearly $10 billion product, accounting for almost 50% of Apple’s revenue. Apple’s market capitalization catapulted from around $1 billion in early 2003 to over $150 billion by late 2007. This success story is well known; what’s less well known is that Apple was not the first to bring digital music players to market. A company called Diamond Multimedia introduced the Rio in 1998. Another firm, Best Data, introduced the Cabo 64 in 2000. Both products worked well and were portable and stylish. So why did the iPod, rather than the Rio or Cabo, succeed? Apple did something far smarter than take a good technology and wrap it in a snazzy design. It took a good technology and wrapped it in a great business model. Apple’s true innovation was to make downloading digital music easy and convenient. To do that, the company built a groundbreaking business model that combined hardware, software, and service. This approach worked like Gillette’s famous blades-and-razor model in reverse: Apple essentially gave away the “blades” (low-margin iTunes music) to lock in purchase of the “razor” (the high-margin iPod). That model defined value in a new way and provided game-changing convenience to...
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...Succeeding In Your Own Business What does it take to start and succeed in business? That's a question I get asked a lot by startups and by owners of existing businesses that aren't living up to the owners' dreams. Although there is no one answer that fits all businesses, there are a number of practices followed by successful, happy business owners. No matter what you sell, you'll be ahead of the game if you live by these ten essential rules for succeeding in your own business. 1. Be true to yourself. No matter how much money someone else makes, if you don't enjoy the business, wouldn't be proud to show your relatives what you are doing and how you are doing it, then don't do it. If you run a business you don't like or don't believe in, even if you have temporary success, it will come back to haunt you one way or another. 2. Find a need and fill it. Yes, you've heard that a million times. But it still works. The easiest business to run is one that produces products or services that people already know they need. The reason: you don't have to spend a lot of time and money convincing prospects they need what you sell. You can focus on why you are the best source to satisfy their need. Just be sure the "need" is one people will spend money to satisfy. 3. Choose products or services that you can sell for a lot more than it costs you to make or buy them. If the difference between your cost and selling prices is too low, you will have difficulty growing the business. When profit...
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...One secret to maintaining a thriving business is recognizing when it needs a fundamental change. 50 Harvard Business Review 1711 Johnson.indd 50 | December 2008 | hbr.org 10/30/08 2:02:02 PM Reinventing Y our Business Model by Mark W. Johnson, Clayton M. Christensen, and Henning Kagermann Jim Frazier IN 2003, APPLE INTRODUCED THE IPOD WITH THE ITUNES STORE, revolutionizing portable entertainment, creating a new market, and transforming the company. In just three years, the iPod/iTunes combination became a nearly $10 billion product, accounting for almost 50% of Apple’s revenue. Apple’s market capitalization catapulted from around $1 billion in early 2003 to over $150 billion by late 2007. This success story is well known; what’s less well known is that Apple was not the first to bring digital music players to market. A company called Diamond Multimedia introduced the Rio in 1998. Another firm, Best Data, introduced the Cabo 64 in 2000. Both products worked well and were portable and hbr.org 1711 Johnson.indd 51 | December 2008 | Harvard Business Review 51 10/30/08 2:02:12 PM Reinventing Your Business Model IDEA panies understand their existing busistylish. So why did the iPod, rather than IN BRIEF ness model well enough – the premise the Rio or Cabo, succeed? behind its development, its natural inApple did something far smarter » Breakthrough, game-changing terdependencies, and its strengths...
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...How Can a Website Help You Scale Up Your Business? Maintaining some form of online presence has grown exponentially important for small businesses in today's worldwide marketplace. Figures from the National Small Business Association show that 82% of business owners rely on a traditional website to help promote themselves online, with an increase in the number of mobile websites at 18%. These sites can vary, offering simple promotional attributes to selling goods and services online directly through their page. Either way, this method of marketing and distribution is a vital ally in helping to scale up your business, especially with an estimated 70% of consumers doing their shopping online in 2013. You may be intimidated, you may even be unsure of where to begin, or afraid it's going to cost too much to implement. Fear not, starting and maintaining a website is easier than ever and will go a long way to helping your business reach customers and thrive online. Build the Right Website Merely having a website doesn't necessarily benefit you or your business if it's not compatible with your product or your brand. A good website is tailor-made to reflect the company that it's intended to market. Think of it as a virtual storefront window. Your website is the first thing people see online when they are looking at your business. Therefore, your site has to be built as a business tool and should exhibit what your company has to offer in a clear, concise, and easy to navigate...
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...Ireland: The Place to Grow your Business Tom Cain Indiana Wesleyan University ADM 549 January 22, 2013 Rick Saint-Blancard Abstract Relations between the United States and Ireland have historically been based on shared values and common ancestral ties. Emigration has been a foundation of the U.S.-Irish relationship. Besides consistent dialogue on economic and political issues, the United States and the Irish Governments have official exchanges in areas such as education and medical research. With Ireland's membership in the European Union, discussions of EU trade and economic policies as well as other aspects of EU policy have also become key elements in the U.S.-Irish relationship. This long-term relationship, some cultural similarities and a strong educated workforce makes Ireland a good place to go international with a U.S. based business. Ireland Ireland is a nation emerging as a great place for the United States to conduct business. The relationship of the United States and Ireland are deeply based on shared values and common ancestral ties. These ties help breakdown communication issues that could occur in other dissimilar countries when trying to negotiate business. In addition to shared values, these two countries have similar cultures, as well as similar needs and wants in relation to consumer purchasing history, which makes the exchange of business easier, more lucrative and less risky. Economic Overview Ireland is a small, modern, trade-dependent...
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...Research Paper Accelerate Your Small Business-eBay Every year there are hundreds of thousands of companies that surface themselves as new small businesses. With that said every year there are also hundreds of thousands of small businesses that close down (1). There are many contributing factors to a successful small business. One of the greatest marketing tools to sweep the retail industry is eBay. EBay has allowed and continues to allow both small businesses as well as individuals to market and sell new goods. EBay has been a great entry point for many small businesses into e-commerce. However, eBay has also led to a problem that manufactures should be aware of, product integrity. EBay started out in 1995 as an online marketplace for the sales of goods and services from one individual to another (2). Individuals would simply list items that they no longer have a use for on eBay. Others, interested in a particular good would search eBay in hopes of discovering a treasure. As the saying goes one mans trash is another mans treasure. Well, after sometime eBay became a real hit. Are you asking yourself what this online flea market has to do with business? A few entrepreneurs had the idea to search beyond the confines of their residences for items to sell. Soon there were bargain hunters that would travel from yard sale to yard sale looking for just the right items. Some of these bargain hunters developed small businesses with the aid of eBay. Instead of getting up early every...
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...Your Business – Part 1: Assignment #3 LaPrincess D. Allen The roots of strategy are in competition. The word “strategic” comes from the Greek “strategos,” which means “a general set of maneuvers carried out to overcome an enemy during combat” (Nutt & Backoff, 1992, p. 56). The heritage of “overcoming an enemy” is alive and well in business strategy today. Gaining market share, differentiating products and services from competitors, and—certainly—“gathering marketing intelligence,” all can trace their roots to the competitive, military-based concept of strategy. In Porter’s words: “developing a competitive strategy is developing a broad formula for how a business is going to compete, what its goals should be, and what policies will be needed to carry out those goals.” (Porter, 1980, p. xvi). The business I chose is a non-profit business, named Time To Go (TTG) that focus on natural energy that can also use chemicals and natural resources. Some non-profit organizations may also be a charity or service organization; they may be organized as a not-for-profit corporation or as a trust, a cooperative, or they exist informally. A very similar type of organization termed a supporting organization operates like a foundation, but they are more complicated to administer, hold more favorable tax status and are restricted in the public charities they support. Nonprofits have benefited from the development of strategy concepts in the for-profit world, and have applied many of...
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...entrepreneurs need to pay particular attention to the benefits and deductions available to them in order to reduce their tax liability. There are many different types of business structures and strategies for how a successful business should be run, but one thing is certain -- across the board -- everyone is looking for ways to save money! Here are four tax strategies that can help any small business or entrepreneur save money: 1. Use your startup costs as a deduction. Starting a new business can be really exciting, but it can also be time consuming and expensive. Fortunately, the IRS provides a tax break by allowing you to deduct up to $5,000 of your initial startup costs in your first year of business. This deduction allows you to reduce your taxable income, both for income tax and self-employment tax, which includes Social Security, and Medicare tax. Typical startup costs include things like purchasing equipment, supplies, and operational fees, but the rest of your startup costs should be depreciated over 15 years. 2. Use the special depreciation rules to take larger deductions. When you purchase large items for your business -- items you expect to use for more than a year -- you generally cannot deduct the entire cost in that year. Instead you must depreciate the items and take a portion of the cost on your tax return each year. To get around this and deduct a larger amount in the year of purchase, you can use the special depreciation allowance. This allowance lets you...
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...Abbey Bartosiak Final Paper Wednesday, December 10th, 2008 Businesses and Ethics: They’re Surely Not Your Top Running Candidate for “The Golden Rule” The Golden Rule is a rule that is universally known. Although it has been translated differently and all the words may not be the same, it has the same universal meaning: “Do to others what you would want done to yourself.” This rule is one of the few rules that every person is the world is taught and abides (or tries to abide) by in their everyday life. When young children learn this rule, they are told to never forget it and to use it for the rest of their life: through school, for families, for work. There becomes a gray area, though, when The Golden Rule is brought into the workplace. For some reason, offices and workers feel that this rule doesn’t apply to them. They don’t need to be honest because, in some way, they are benefitting themselves. Business is where The Golden Rule gets tossed and people and firms start to act out of egoism, a form of moral belief. To uncover the “how, where and why” of business ethics, one must explore deeper beyond the surface. First, to understand how big businesses violate ethics, one must know what business ethics are and what they consist of. Second, to understand how businesses and workers act of out egoism, one must know what egoism is and what the beliefs pertain to. Then, connections and examples of businesses violating their ethics and how this unites it with egoism...
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...Vanessa Zsorey Dr. McCort College Comp 11 December 2015 Sonic Highways A band lasting as long as twenty years in the music industry with their original sound not suffering is a rarity. The Foo Fighters, led by the legendary Dave Grohl, are magnificent rockers who throughout two decades, continue to stay relevant in many ways. Throughout these twenty years they have released nine albums, each of which contained some of the biggest alternative rock hits of all time. Though they may not be riding the radio waves constantly or may only appeal to a shrinking audience, their craft has never once suffered. Their newest album, Sonic Highways, is pure proof that the Foo Fighters continuously try to push themselves out of their comfort zones in order to remain interesting to their fans. Sonic Highways was the most recent project the Foo Fighters have put out and the most creative of the past eight albums. The process to create this album was far more in depth and unique compared to the traditional methods. Typically, when a band decides they want to record, they find the closest studio that is in their price range and is the best quality necessary to fit the project. Mixing the recordings has gotten incredibly easy in recent times, where all that is really necessary is the ProTools program. With Protools, any errors can easily be cleaned and corrected, then moved on to the master CD and sent off to be pressed. A decade ago, recording and mixing were not nearly as simple or cheap...
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...5 Cheap Ways to Market Your Business Talk to your clients. It's amazing how much money businesses spend to gather market information and attract new clients when they have a wealth of opportunity and information in their existing client base. One of the best ways to increase revenue is to talk to existing customers. Ideally, this should be done by someone outside your company so clients are willing to be honest and open. When you assess perceptions, you don't need to talk to hundreds of individuals; simply choose 5 to ten clients and contact them to ask if they'd participate in a phone interview. Here's how it works: 1. Send a letter asking permission to have someone contact them about your company 2. Have the interviewer call and ask value-based questions such as: * What problems were you trying to solve or what challenges were you facing when you considered the services of Company ABC? * How important were Company ABC's services in solving your problems or addressing your challenges? * What did you value most about this company's work? * What other products or services do you wish they offered that could help you with other business challenges? 3. After all the interviews have been conducted, compile the information to discover trends and themes. 4. Send a thank-you letter to every client who participated. Include key lessons from the interviews and explain the specific changes you plan to make to your business based on this information. The important...
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...Marketing Your Business Learning Team B Monique Hickley, Marvin Ray, Richard Brannen, Alonzo Julian, and Coral Nelson MKT/431 May 13, 2013 Joseph Tradii Marketing Your Business Marketing a business brings several components into operation. If a business wants to achieve success it must examine and capitalize on those components. A restaurant business must understand that importance of those major areas of marketing. Marketing a business takes time and accomplishment but when a business tend to maximize on key aspects of marketing that business tends to flourish and challenges any competition. Distribution Channels The number of hands involved when getting products to the end consumer can vary depending on how many producers, wholesalers, and retailers are involved in the channel (Entrpreneur Media, Inc., 2013). Unless the business concept is completely new, most industries have distribution channels involving purchasing goods through wholesalers and producers already in place. In other words, the business does not get to choose the distribution channel, the channel is already chosen for the business (Schindehutte, Morris, & Pitt, 2009, p. 237). Although the business concept presented here follows the traditional restaurant distribution channels in needing products, one of the biggest differences is not in the supplies needed but rather who some of the suppliers are. The restaurant will need to have traditional suppliers for some goods but the majority...
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