Opportunities Business Opportunities

Seeking the right business opportunity.



A Google search for the term 'business opportunities' returned over 750 MILLION results - which one suits you?



Looking for a genuine business opportunity that will suit your skills, fit your budget and give a realistic chance of earning a living (let alone make you rich) is a mammoth task and one that you should be taken slowly and carefully.



Top Ten Tips.



1) Take professional advice

2) Pick an industry that is 'on the up'.

3) Ignore any opportunity that asks for money 'to tell you more'.

4) Pick a business that suits your skills or a subject that you love.

5) Research thoroughly BEFORE parting with any cash.

6) Question who is really going to make the money - you or the person selling you the 'opportunity'.

7) Don't borrow more than you can afford to lose.

8) If you are buying an existing business - ask an accountantto analyse the accounts - don't rely on your own intuition to save money (unlsess you are an accountant!).

9) Don't believe everything you are told - it may be true but is always worth double checking!

10) Anything that sounds 'too good to be true' will be!



Buy a business?



Buying an existing business is a good way to leapfrog much of the set up process. Although the cost of purchase may be higher than if you started from scratch, you do gain a trading concern from day one and should be able get a realistic idea of the potential turnover/profits from the audited accounts.



Top tip - if you like the idea of buying a business, Daltons Weekly and Exchange & Mart have a vast selection of opportunities advertised every week. Over 30,000 business are also offered for sale at: www.businessesforsale.com



Buy a franchise?



Franchising is the granting of a license by one person (the franchisor) to another (the franchisee), which entitles the franchisee to trade under the trade mark/trade name of the franchisor. The franchisor will receive an initial fee from the franchisee, payable at the outset, together with on-going management service fees - usually based on a percentage of annual turnover. In return, the franchisor has an obligation to support the franchise network, notably with training, product development, advertising, promotional activities and with a specialist range of management services. For more information see our Franchise section.



Business Opportunities Articles



Opportunities How to find the best home business opportunities
Since companies have started downsizing their workforce, more and more people are looking for ways to work and earn from home and start their own home based business.

Opportunities Business Opportunities
A Google search for the term 'business opportunities' returned over 750 MILLION results - which one suits you?

Special Thx : Seeking the right business opportunity.

Tips good online business

Online trading can benefit both businesses and consumers. However, the online trading world can be a scary place for some consumers.

The Best Practice Model, a best practice guide for business, has set out practices for businesses to encourage consumer confidence in eCommerce (see the eCommerce website of the Department of the Treasury).

Using the principles in the Best Practice Model the following information is a general guide for businesses when developing an online presence.

The trader’s full contact details including a street address will give consumers more confidence. Some may even choose to make contact before making a purchase 'just to be sure'.
If trust marks or seals are used they should be easy to verify and relevant.
Secure online payments or the provision of an offline alternative are vital. Few consumers are prepared to trust their money to an unsecured site.
Terms and conditions should be clearly written and displayed, easily accessible and comply with all local and federal laws.
Warranty and refund policies are important to consumers. These should also be clearly written and displayed, easily accessible and comply with all local and federal laws.
Products/services should comply with all Australian standards such as product safety standards.
Advertising and any representations made about the product/service should be accurate with no hidden fine print. Consumers do not like surprises where their bank balance is concerned.
If prices are displayed, accuracy is the key. For instance consumers should be made aware of which currency is being used.
A reliable complaints handling procedure will also encourage consumer confidence in a business. No one wants things to go wrong but if a speedy, helpful service is in place the customer’s experience will ultimately be a positive one.
Special care should be taken when dealing with minors. Businesses should be aware they are dealing with a minor and when appropriate get consent from the child’s parent or guardian.
Online businesses may need to make adjustments in the provision of goods/services to ensure that they are accessible to people with a disability.

Good online business practices will encourage consumer confidence and this will generate more sales.
For more information

For more information on eCommerce and the Best Practice Model visit the eCommerce site of the Department of the Treasury and the National Office for the Information Economy (NOIE) now called the Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO).
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5 problems in IT business

Lindsay is an IBM distinguished engineer, having held positions at the software giant for over 20 years. He's worked variously as product manager for VisualAge Generator, co-leader of the Eclipse platform development team and director of WebSphere studio and Rational modelling tools departments. He is also a developer and researcher, contributing 14 patents to IBM's portfolio. He told Builder AU that when it comes to managing responsiveness in IT, there are five key factors you need to examine.

1. Asset Management

The problem is in knowing everything that a business owns, in terms of software resources. Code sitting on a mainframe is not like products sitting in a warehouse. According to Lindsay, many businesses claim to have trouble keeping track of all of their software once it's deployed.

"Most businesses suffer from a lack of inventory of existing code. You've got millions of lines of COBOL code and you don't know anything about it. The same problem is occurring now with Java code, everyone's got legacy Java code that they don't know what to do with," Lindsay said.

2. Architecture

If you don't design your software with the goal of being maintainable and reusable then it cannot be any surprise when it becomes difficult to maintain and reuse it, he said. The solution is in designing your systems and interfaces with an eye to the future. "You don't have the flexibility of repurposing code if it's very brittle, or it's poorly architected, with ill defined or even not defined interfaces and the like," he said.

3. Skills Modernization

Lindsay says that IBM has worked with thousands of COBOL developers to help them develop for more modern platforms, such as J2EE with Java. The dream for Rational and IBM is to remove the barriers of platform and middleware as to where developers can work.

"We want to move to a position where if you have 500 developers, instead of having 200 COBOL, 100 PL/1 and 200 Java, you end up with 500 general purpose business developers that can be applied to projects independent of deployment platform," he said. "You need to focus on better design and architecture of your systems, but at the end of the day people are the ones who are doing that, you need to focus on your staff."

The solution, according to Lindsay, is in retraining developers to higher level languages, which are agnostic to the issues of architecture. IBM Rational's answer to this is the Enterprise Generation Language, which can be compiled to run on CICS in COBOL, J2EE in Java, or as a native Linux, Windows or Solaris application. It also targets IBM platforms such as Websphere and Weblogic.

This is not a new phenomenon. IBM themselves have been working at the problem for two decades, and other languages also support multiple platform targets. Other languages also support this pattern: high level language Python can deploy on .NET with IronPython, or Java with Jython. In fact, this one language, many platforms approach is the other side of the coin to the many languages, one platform approach favoured by .NET.

The approach best for the business depends on what is easier to retrain: language syntax and semantics or the specifics of your middleware platform. IBM Rational is well and truly a proponent of the first. "There are a lot of people who have tried to retrain COBOL developers to Java. The failure rate is huge, it's in general not a winning proposition to try to do it. EGL is a higher level language and so you have less to know about. Learning the Java syntax would be rather straight forward for a COBOL developer, that's not the issue. The issue is learning about the concepts of OO, learning about the various J2EE extensions. I'm not telling you it's impossible, I'm just telling you what customers have told me: that they've tried it and in general it's not a path that most of them choose to go down again."

4. Team Infrastructure

Too long has a divide existed between mainframe and distributed infrastructure, Lindsay says. "I'm sure if you talk to many enterprise customers a lot of them have duplicate infrastructures. They have something for the mainframe or the enterprise system, and something totally different and disconnected for the distributed side. This came about because of the digital pilot projects they did in the early client/server days, it grew up and grew even more with Web investments."

The problem this causes is that it creates barriers that prevent a business from efficiently using their personnel and tools, he said. "You have this duplicate infrastructure and this limits your ability to move people around, because they're using totally different sets of tools, totally different processes. Of course it's more costly, our assertion here is that you need to move back to a consolidated team environment. You need to take advantage of all the tools that have come about in the distributed areas and apply them to mainframe development as well."

5. Budgetary Inflexibility

Lastly, it all comes down to money. Lindsay explains that "This is really simply the phenomenon that 70 to 80 percent of most companies IT budget is spent on maintenance, and you need to figure out ways to freeing up some of that money, so you have more than 20 to 25 percent to spend on the backlog. This is something to help mitigate the fact that there isn't this vast number of people you can bring into IT, at least get a better use out of the ones that you have."

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10 Great Business Plan Ideas!

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The first of our great business plan ideas is:

1. Use Color, But Use It Sparingly.

For decades business plan were excruciating boring documents in black and white, mostly because color printing was expensive. Even back then we recommended buying one ream of paper with a color line down the left side and using that for the business plan. It was just enough to add a touch of zing to the presentation.

And it is that "touch of zing" that makes the difference. Bankers are quiet people. Don't shout at them with blasts of color on every page.

2. Incorporate Charts

Yes, you may need some long columns of numbers. But turn the important numbers into charts. A visual impact hits a lot stronger with a picture.

3. Picture Yourself

Speaking of pictures, do include one of yourself, perhaps in a group with others. Yes, it creates a personal approach. It also makes you "real". Including pictures of some of your top clients is a good idea too. Most business plan ideas incorporating work you have done previously is good.


4. Double Duty Advertising

Advertising isn't cheap. But it is probably pretty good. So include some of your ads in the business plan. The ads certainly show what your business does, and how you approach your clients, two very important considerations.

5. Beam Me Up, Scotty

Your entry into the world of the internet can indeed impress, and is one of our top business plan ideas. There is nothing else that will demonstrate your creativity and business acumen at such a low price. Take your site as far as you can. Turn it into a retail site, or a lead generation site, or an informational site. Structured properly, it will even begin to generate income for you.

6. e-Plans

Convert your business plan to a pdf. Put it on a disk, and put that disk in an envelope in your business plan. Be sure to add linking and chapter headings for easy searching. The more complex your plan, the more important this becomes. It makes it very easy for investors to find just the section they are looking for.

7. All That Other Stuff

When we asked associates for business plan ideas, several of them suggested that you should include a "supplemental book" with all the backup information in it. We disagree. Such a book is bulky, intimidating and easily misplaced. Rather, put that "other stuff" onto the disk with your pdf. Or, put the "other stuff" onto a protected, password accessed area of your business plan.

8. Cover It Up

Always include a cover letter. You may personally deliver the business plan to your banker, but still put a cover letter on top. You really don't know how many hands that business plan will pass through, so make it as professional as possible.

9. Drop Names

Do you have an Advisory Board? Did you approach industry leaders for advice? Now is the time to use those names and use those connections. The names may look nice in an annual report, but your company may never get an annual report if you don't start using those connections now.

And here is one of the best business plan ideas ever:

10. Promote Yourself

Break every rule in the book if need be. But make sure that the business plan represents you and your business. Mess up the order of the sections. Put in non-standard material. Use an unusual design. It doesn't matter what it is that you do, as long as the plan shows your company in its best light.

Return to top of Business Plan Ideas

Read more: www.businessplanmaster.com/business-plan-ideas.html#ixzz0ufyjzrm3

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Taking Action When Starting an Online Business

The dream of starting an online business is one that many aspiring entrepreneurs possess and it is a realistic way to earn a respectable income. Considering the typically low costs associated with marketing on the internet this opportunity seemingly offers unlimited potential. Many times however the biggest obstacle online entrepreneurs face is their own inability to even get out of the starting blocks due to confusion. The importance of getting a successful start can not be overemphasized since this creates momentum that is especially critical for a new business. However this successful start can not be realized without first taking some type of action.

Here are 5 steps recommended to all aspiring online marketers who are experiencing difficulty getting started online.

Take Immediate Action

By taking action right away you have already overcome a common nemesis which is procrastination. Your initial action does not have to be significant as long as it goes beyond the 'dreaming' and places you into the game. Establish a website, set up a blog or even decide upon a domain name. Look around and see what your next logical step is and move in that direction…

Education

Obviously you will need to better familiarize or educate yourself with your field of interest. Take courses or purchase any necessary products that will help further your knowledge in the field in which you are looking to start your business. This may concern the field itself or perhaps the focus may be on business operations. Either way the need to further educate yourself exists and will help increase your chances of a successful start.

Seek Advice

This is a great compliment to any educational materials you may be using and also gives you more perspective along with first hand knowledge and working experience. Having a mentor is invaluable for the advice and insight you can gain!

Network

Go forth out into niche you are targeting and pick up what are the hot topics, pet peeves, common problems and any other additional advice you can uncover. Networking in this way gives you a higher profile and also helps create bonds that will be very useful for future business purposes as well.

Remain Realistic

Having a positive mental attitude is an asset you need to succeed however you must learn to control your optimism. Do not walk away from any other source of income you have until your business venture online proves it can supply you with the income you need. Being hopeful will keep you motivated but being Pollyanna (unrealistically optimistic) can put you out on the street, literally!

Starting an online business is a realistic way of earning an income without having to invest a lot of money. However many still experience difficult moving beyond the 'thinking' stages of marketing on the internet. Quite often online entrepreneurs experience difficulty taking the first step towards starting their business due to their confusion and a lack of direction. The 5 steps recommended above serve to help lend direction and establish where aspiring online marketers need to focus in order to give their business a successful start. The key is in simply putting your ideas into action and then further educating yourself to increase your chances of achieving the success you seek online.

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5 Tips for Small Business Start-up

The Recession has contradictorily opened up a variety of opportunities for the people wanting to start up their own business.The small business concept is picking up pace and there

are numerous kits and organizations volunteering for the required assistance. Business does not follow a regular pattern of success or failure and hence it entirely depends on the party planning for it. However, there is a lot of help available.



Once the entire package required for starting up the business has been arranged for, some cautionary tips can be followed to evade entering the risk zone. These may comprise:

1. Selecting the business of your liking and expertise: Since the entire capital is being invested, it is advisable to choose the field carefully and then following it up enthusiastically. It can be started while still employed, to further avoid risks of losses and bankruptcy.

2. Having a reliable support system as back up teemed with optimum research: An experienced ally or training might prove useful and a thorough knowledge of the chosen field of expertise and the work pattern is always beneficial.

3. Staying professional and acquiring professional help: Knowledge of tax and other legal responsibilities is required before setting up a business and the further actions must follow suit. Professional bookkeepers and accountants may be hired to avoid future problems and added expenses.

4. Arranging for potential funds: This may be achieved by approaching suitable investors and lenders. A fall-back plan should be figured out in advance too.

5. Starting small and growing big: Initializing the business with affordable capital and taking it to higher heights is the key.

A journey to the peak should begin with a step. Optimism, faith, strategy and hard work used tactfully with the above steps can ensure a better opportunity in the market and success.
Thx for tipsonsmallbusiness.com/starting-a-business/small-business-start-up-tips.html

Show Them That You Mean Business

It’s time to get down to the nitty gritty — the day-to-day operations of your business, including hours of operation, manufacturing schedule, and the internal operations and equipment required to produce your product or service.

Your Operational Plan

Your operational plan demonstrates that you’ve thought through — or you’re already using — a viable approach to creating your product or service and getting it delivered. Cover these four key areas.

Your business’ location

Explain where your business is located or will be located, and include the size and type of space, including square footage and whether it’s an office, manufacturing facility, retail space, or warehouse. Describe any advantages (or disadvantages) to your location, and if relocation is possible, explain when it will be necessary and why. (Include a rough layout of the property in the appendices.)

Your equipment

List and describe all the equipment you require, from office to vehicles to manufacturing machinery. Explain what each does and how they work together. Include the cost to purchase, lease, and/or maintain the equipment.

Your labour

Include details on all your employees, including full-time, part-time and outsourced. Create a table that lists the number of employees, hours worked and pay — organized by overall job function. Include job descriptions and skill sets.

You production and/or service
Explain the production, manufacturing or service process from beginning to end. List your key suppliers and how you pay for and receive materials. Where do you store finished products, and what does this cost? How do you distribute finished products? How long does the entire process take? How do you track inventory?

DON’T MISS THESE KEY COSTS!

1. INSURANCE – Discuss the potential liability and the cost of insurance.
2. QUALITY CONTROL — Explain the process the procedure.
3. TAXES
4. SHIPPING
5. MAINTENANCE
6. CONTINGENCY PLANS
7. STAFFING SHORTAGES
8. LONG-TERM EQUIPMENT CHANGES
9. LONG-TERM FACILITY CHANGES
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