When you have a small business, should you hire your family or friends? Here are some pros and cons to consider: Pros: You know them; and they know you so the getting-to-know learning curve is non existent You trust them You know what they can do and their area of expertise They know how important this business is to you They know how you work (whether you are intense, easy going or high strung) They know how to deal with you and they can offer you the work complement you need (e.g. your father may be a great accountant and

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My comments on the post I wrote on “Business License Search Engine” was featured in an article today in the Long Island Business News. The article “SBA site leans on links, search engine” discussed this new search feature at Business.gov where users can find out the business license regulations of counties and states. More interestingly, I got an email today from the SBA’s Business Gateway Initiative, which developed this new search feature, inviting me to share my insights with them. Of course, I look forward to working with the folks at SBA.

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The government website Business.gov http://www.business.gov/ has created a new search capability that will allow you to search for the business license needed to start a business at the state and county/city level. This new search feature is very much needed. A lot of small and home-based entrepreneurs know that they have to fulfill some regulatory requirements, but they simply do not know where to begin, what do they need and who to contact. Having this type of information can ease the new entrepreneur’s confusion of what to do, and avoid costly mistakes for failure to get the necessary licenses and

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If you are planning to sell your business, one of the key questions you’ll ask is: “How do I find buyers?” One way is to use the Internet and list your business in sites that brings business buyers and sellers together. Watch out, though, as many sites are sketchy at best. The most effective and reputable sites are: BizBuySell.com http://www.bizbuysell.com/ = This site has the biggest traffic in this area, and cost of listing your business for sale ranges from $59.95 per month to $99.95 per month. Businesses for sale also appear in Wall Street Journal’s online edition, ensuring more

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Website owners are always faced with challenges, such as: Why can’t I get traffic to my site? Why are my sales so poor? Why are my sales poor when I have lots of traffic coming to my site? Why are my advertising revenue so low? If you have extensive knowledge about how the Web works, savvy about online marketing, and loves to analyze web metrics, you can earn money by reviewing other web sites. Think of yourself more as a consultant who is willing to look at the website as a whole and analyze why it is working or why

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One question frequently asked by many small and home-based online entrepreneurs is: how will I get my website to rank well in the search engines — without spending a fortune? Many make the mistake of thinking that there’s a magic software to get to the top of the search engine rankings. Or that there’s an easy trick that can be used. Well, many resort to trickeries but search engines have become so smart and savvy that they catch up to these tricks — and banish the offending websites from their databases. The best and most inexpensive way is to have

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Nothing is forever; even your business. There may come a time when you want out, and one way is to sell the business. Selling a business is not easy, and you need a lot of preparation and even assistance. When thinking of selling a business, here are some questions to ask yourself: Why are you selling your business? Is selling the best option for you? Is it the right time to sell, considering the state of the economy and the industry? What type of business are you selling? What are the unique characteristics of this business that may come into

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I envy the young would-be entrepreneurs in the universities today. A growing number of schools and universities are offering classes, mentorships and valuable support to students with entrepreneurial dreams. First there’s the business plan competition, where students’ business plans are critiqued and judged and the best ones receive valuable startup capital ranging from $10,000 to $25,000. There are even stories of situations where students presenting in the business plan competition got funding for their fledging business ideas because some venture capitalists or investors heard about the business plan and want in on the action (case in point: how Jenny Lefcourt

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When you think of public relations, the first thing that comes to mind is a press release. A press release is, and will always remain to be an important tool for reaching the media and getting the word out about your business. But there are other ways to tap the media, and here are some strategies you can use for your business: Bullet articles = readers and editors love articles with numbered tips — e.g. 10 Ways to Save on Taxes; 6 Steps to Losing 10 Pounds; or 81 Tips to Market Your Business on the Web. Editors love this

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PowerHomeBiz.com has a new blog called “Learning from Big Boys” at http://www.learningfrombigboys.com/ . This new blog focuses on what small and home-based entrepreneurs can learn from big businesses — both the great things that make them successful, as well as the mistakes that make them stumble (yes, they make lots of mistakes, too!). Big businesses may need 100,000 employees to run their business, but the process that a 1-person business owner goes through remains the same: determine the needs of the market, provide the product or service that market needs, and reach that market (albeit using simplier operations and processes).

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