Money Advice Guide

Thinking about starting a business? What is your business background? Do you understand and I mean, really understand basic business? You know, things like general management, marketing, communications, advertising, sales management, sales, human resources, business planning, systems analysis, accounting, basic business law and contracts, technology & systems management, taxes and compliance issues and the like? Most people who are starting a business for the first time may know some of these issues but not all. And just being somewhat familiar with the terminology is not the same as actually knowing what is required of each discipline.

Too many people who start a business only think about doing what they love to do, like making candles, repairing equipment, baking or whatever floats the boat. This is referred to as “the technician mentality” when people see themselves performing the task they are specialized at. Let me clarify: every business owner has to wear (and be good at) three different tasks: 1. The technicianyou have to intimately familiar with your product or service. 2. The administratoryou must have well-rounded knowledge about the business issues indicated in the first paragraph and 3. The entrepreneuryou must have the ability to see (realistic opportunities) in the market and have the spirit to weather the risks and rewards of your vision for the future.

Most people are pretty good about getting fired up about their idea or project but lousy at finishing the task. Why? Burn out. People who launch a business based on hope, guesswork and fantasy burn out under the diversified load of responsibilities required of starting a business. Especially when the business has no inertia, no forward movement, and every spoke of the wheel has to be reinvented from the bottom up before you can begin marketing and selling. This is made more difficult when you are overwhelmed with learning on the fly while inventing every element related to your business.

Just thinking through the business systems of a new venture can cause burn out. Everything in business must be systematized for efficient operation. Either you have a system or you don’t. If you don’t have systems than your business will be chaotic with a different response to every event. And where is the starting point of your systems? That depends on your business but for most it starts at the point of acquisition of your raw materials (supply) all the way through the business process to eventually delivering a product to a customer and also has to contend with a system for potential returns. Everything must be thought through and everything must be systematized. If you have done it, you know what I am talking about. If you haven’t then take what I am saying factually, developing business systems is difficult and gets worse with the complexities of your business model.

I don’t want to be a buzz killer about starting a business but I do want people who are thinking about setting up a business to think intelligently about the quantity of details that must be worked through to help increase the skinny chances for success. I said “skinny chances for success”. Here’s reality: The SBA statistics indicate that 80% of businesses fail within the first two years.

That means 8 out of 10 business won’t make it. Why?

1. Poor business planning.
2. Lack of management skills.
3. Lack of accounting skills.
4. Lack of marketing or sale skills.
5. Over estimation of sales and under estimation of costs.
6. Insufficient financial resources.
7. No market.

And the list goes on. I should know, I have been a business consultant for over 20 years and I have seen my share of business blowouts during that period of time. Failure is a great teacher and nothing can replace experience. But who wants to fail if you can avoid it? To help people increase their chances for success we put together SBS. SBS is a website that contains a wealth of top-flight information a person needs to get smart fast about real estate, business, technology, government and more. SBS puts top-flight information at your fingertips with a few clicks of a mouse. I sure wish I had access to a site like SBS 20 years ago! So if you are thinking about buying or selling a home or starting a business, check us out. I think you will be surprised at the intuitive layout and quality of information that appears on our site. And remember; knowledge is power and applied knowledge is powerful. Jim Hart/CEO Copyright © 2006 James W. Hart, IV All Rights reserved

SBS is an online information resource for people. Our focus is real estate and business and we have a number of important books, kits and Ebooks including free downloads and high quality link categories to help you get information fast. SBS has an aggressive link exchange program for anyone with a websitevisit us now by clicking this link http://www.smart67.com

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For those who have never given their financial future a second thought, the term “Financial Planning” could be a scary one. Investments can be a smart way to invest money for your future, but it can be confusing for those who have no experience in the financial business. Before you consult a financial planner it is wise to become familiar with some of the terminology that you are likely to hear from him or her.

* Mutual Fund-An investment made with money that is collected by individuals with an investment goal in mind. The mutual fund is handled primarily buy a person known as the fund manager. Mutual funds are easy and cost efficient, since you are not responsible for making the decision as to where to invest the money.

* Asset Allocation Fund-A mutual fund that incorporates several types of investments such as stocks, bonds, real estate, and foreign stocks. These are typically for the small investors who want to invest in a variety of funds in order to maintain a constant return.

* Risk-Return Trade-Off-This is the amount of money that you can stand to lose versus the amount of money you are willing to invest. Investments that are low-risk often have low payoffs, while investments that are high risk usually have higher payoffs. When investing money you must determine the amount of money you can lose before determining how much money you will invest and where you will invest it.

* Compounding-Money made from an investment that will then be reinvested into the same or another investment to generate its own earnings.

* Bonds-Money that is loaned to a company or the government at a specified interest rate. The company will usually give some kind of document that states the amount loaned and the agreed upon interest rate and the total amount that will be repaid at a specific time or “maturity date”.

* Stocks-Pieces of a company that are for sale. One would buy stocks from a company at a given price in hopes that the company would gain a significant amount of money and that they would be able to sell the stocks at a higher price.

* Money Market Funds-Money invested in debt by a mutual fund. The goal is to obtain money from interest to the debt. The benefit of the Money Market Account is that they offer very low investments of less than $1.00.

Timothy Gorman is a successful Webmaster and publisher of Debt-Relief-Solutions.com. He provides more debt relief, credit counseling, repair and free financial planning information that you can research in your pajamas on his website.

Tags: debt, finances, financial, financial planning, investing, manage money, management, money, planningdebt, finances, financial, financial planning, investing, manage money, management, money, planning

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