21 Tips for the Entrepreneur

Are you ready to become an entrepreneur and be your own boss? I have identified 21 tips that will help you.

1.     Don’t work for less. Offer a discount to customers or clients who sign contracts with you, but do not work for less than you can afford.

2.     Find People Who Will Refer Customers to You.

3.     Surround Yourself with Supportive People and Don’t be Discouraged by Anyone. If your idea is good and you’re determined to stick with it through the first few years, your chances of success are great

4.     Be Flexible in Your Thinking. Prepare to change the way you work, the products you use and the services you offer, in order to meet the demands of your customers.

5.     Admit Your Mistakes, Correct them and Carry On. For example, if you purchase a piece of equipment that does not meet your expectations, send it back, sell it or exchange it!

6.     Develop a Good Relationship with your Bank Manager and Creditors. Show a genuine interest in solving problems. Pay everyone whom you owe money.

7.     Get Trained! You’ll be spending a lot of time doing things that have nothing to do with your area of expertise, such as bookkeeping and marketing.

8.     Separate Your Work and Personal Life. Set your working hours and stick to a strict timetable. When you’re not available to clients, leave a message on your answer machine letting them know when they can expect a reply from you.

9.     Plan ‘Thinking Time’ into Everyday. If you pack your diary with back-to-back activities, your business will never grow.

10.  Plan time to do something you enjoy at least a few times a week in order to recharge your batteries!

11.  Write a business plan so you’re clear about what your plan of action and that you are achieving the short term and long term goals in your business plan.

12.  Develop an excellent telephone manner and react quickly to any complaints or problems.

13.  Never lose sight of the big picture. Look for innovative, yet-to-be explored directions in which to take your business.

14.  Solicit advice from people who know other entrepreneurs and reputable small business advisers.

15.  Don’t enter a business or a venture that you know nothing about. You’ll be running to catch up for the rest of your business life.

16.  Develop an existing, loyal customer base.

17.  Focus on a specific goal and work at it until it’s achieved.

18.  Never worry about how to get things done when you are first developing your idea.  Money and resources will come together once you have set your goals and begun to work at them.

19. Make quality in every aspect of your business your primary focus and aim.

20.  Use the Internet. Use email. Build a website.  Send out email newsletters, and register your site with all the major search engines.

21.  Delegate. You might have to hire a good Personal Assistant or marketing professional to ensure you’ll be profitable in the future.

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Karmen A. Booker is an Attorney, Business Consultant and Chief Consultant for Compu-Perfect Professional Services, a business consulting firm specializing in business incorporation, establishing limited liability companies, contract drafting & reviewing, and more.  CALL ATTORNEY BOOKER at

(301) 408-1082. View her website at www.compuperfect.net

She is also the author of “Business Tips” Report where you will discover tips that will put you on the Road to Business Success, Tips for creating and implementing a marketing plan, and more. This report and other books she has authored are available for online purchase at www.kbooker.wordpress.com by clicking on the respective report and book covers on the right sidebar of the blog site.

5 Hiring Mistakes

Following is a list of good hiring tips.   Avoiding hiring pitfalls helps you.  The good thing is there are some hard and fast hiring rules startups should follow. Most hiring issues occur as a result of looking to keep costs down or not having a clear vision about what the business is and where it’s going.  However, cutting corners in the hiring process now can mean trouble for the business later. To avoid trouble, here are seven hiring mistakes many startups make:

1.     Hiring someone because you know them. You should never hire friends, former co-workers, or family members, because there needs to be a certain sense of expectation to be treated differently rather than conforming to a standard of objectivity and accountability

2.     Hiring someone to “help them out.” Never hire someone to “help them out”.  Make sure they have the requisite education and skills for the position, and who is willing to go the extra mile.  If you hire someone just to help them out, they could be a liability rather than an asset.

3.     Bringing on a Partner. Bringing on a partner, can be a disadvantage for these reasons:

• Business does not generate enough income to pay the Partner 50% of the net profits.
• Partner may not have entrepreneurial characteristics such as self-motivation, flexibility, perseverance.

As an alternative, you should outsource projects or work on a fee basis.

4.     Hiring A “Jack of all Trades”. Businesses need to be staffed with people who are specialists.  Instead of hiring one person to do the marketing and administrative work, hire 2 people for these positions. Therefore, they can focus on fulfilling specific specialized duties, rather than trying to do too many thins and not getting much accomplished.  Most people don’t’ have the skills to do a variety of jobs.

5.     Clearly defined Job Descriptions. Just hiring for the sake of hiring, or hiring a generalist to bring some order to your internal chaos, is not a hiring strategy – it’s a move toward chaos.  Have clearly defined roles for any new hires. Not only will you avoid hiring a non-productive person in an ill-defined role, you’ll start attracting people who will add real value to their role and your operation

Hiring is all about finding the right skills, personalities and attitudes to fit your overall vision and mission for your company. Abiding by these parameters will help you make quality hiring decisions, which will undoubtedly enhance the efficiency of your business

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Karmen A. Booker is an Attorney, Business Consultant and Chief Consultant for Compu-Perfect Professional Services, a business consulting firm specializing in business incorporation, establishing limited liability companies, contract drafting & reviewing, and more.  CALL ATTORNEY BOOKER at (301) 408-1082.

She is also the author of “Business Tips” Report where you will discover tips that will put you on the Road to Business Success, Tips for creating and implementing a marketing plan, and more. This report and other books she has authored are available for online purchase at http://store.payloadz.com/go?id=787975

6 Principles of Successful Business Networking

When you learn how to network more effectively, you will gain a new appreciation for networking and realize it can enhance your personal and professional life.  Use the following five networking tips to ensure your networking experience and success.

1.  Set Goals

Before you attend a networking event, set goals. Ask yourself the following questions: Who do I want to meet? How many people do I want to meet? Why do I want to meet these people? Where will I meet these people?

2.  Always Carry Business Cards with You at All Times.

You never know who you may run into who can benefit from your business.  Be sure to put your business cars where they are easily accessible, such as your wallet or purse.

3. Take Good Notes

When you meet people and collect their business cards, make sure to take notes on the back of their business cards.

This information help you build your relationships with people. You should transfer this information to a database, so that you can continue to add future notes and readily access this information for future use.

4.  Offer to Help Others

When you talk to people, pay special attention to their personal and business needs, and you will know how you can help them.  Also, offer to help others.

You can help others by sharing are to share resources, making introductions, and providing consulting services. By extending yourself to others, you will build a reputation as a doer rather than a taker.

5. Follow Up

After you meet people, it’s crucial to follow up with people that you meet through networking within 2 – 3 days after your initial meeting. If you don’t follow up, you won’t be able to build relationships and your network.

If you don’t follow through, you won’t be taken seriously and your networking efforts will not be very effective. You’ll also create a bad reputation.

6. Build Relationships

Continue to build your relationship with people after you meet them at networking events.  If you don’t foster relationships, your networking will be ineffective. won’t be very valuable and attentive to your needs.

A great way to be in constant communication with people is to create an e-mail newsletter. Tailor the newsletter to a general interest so everyone can benefit from it. You can include business articles and events.

In addition, when you come across articles or other resources that could benefit individual people, send these items to them. Your contacts will appreciate your thoughtfulness and they will remember you.

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Karmen A. Booker is an Attorney, Business Consultant and Chief Consultant for Compu-Perfect Professional Services, a business consulting firm specializing in business incorporation, establishing limited liability companies, contract drafting & reviewing, and more.  CALL ATTORNEY BOOKER at (301) 408-1082. View her website at www.compuperfect.net

She is also the author of “Business Tips” Report where you will discover tips that will put you on the Road to Business Success, Tips for creating and implementing a marketing plan, and more. This report and other books she has authored are available for online purchase at http://store.payloadz.com/go?id=787975.

4 Mistakes in Setting Goals

Mistake # 1 - The goal is not clear. For example, how many people have a goal of making $100,000?  So, what will you do to make $100,000?

Solution: When setting goals, be sure to clearly define exactly what that goal means to you.

Mistake # 2 – The goal is too big. When people set goals that are too big, they are setting themselves up to fail because it is unrealistic

Solution: Make sure that you know how you are going to achieve your goals.

Mistake # 3 - The goal doesn’t have benchmarks. If your goal is to write a business plan in 3 days, you may get discouraged and quit after the 2^nd day. Many goals are left along the roadside because people haven’t set realistic benchmarks.

Solution: In the example above people don’t normally write a business plan in 3 days.  It takes weeks of research and writing.  Therefore, set intermediate goals for yourself, such as completing the vision and target market sections of the business plan in one week, and have victory celebrations when you meet each one.

Mistake # 4 – The goal isn’t connected to what’s really important to you.   Many times people set goals to conform to another person’s definition of success? Unless the goal is really important to you, it is very easy to give up when it gets tough to achieve it.

Solution: Whenever you set a goal, ask yourself why it is important to you.  Some people want to achieve wealth to please other people. But it is so important to connect goal to the passion is because without passion it is so easy to “throw in the towel”.

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Karmen A. Booker is an Attorney, Business Consultant and Chief Consultant for Compu-Perfect Professional Services, a business consulting firm specializing in business incorporation, establishing limited liability companies, contract drafting & reviewing, and more.  CALL ATTORNEY BOOKER at (301) 408-1082. View her website at www.compuperfect.net

She is also the author of “Business Tips” Report where you will discover tips that will put you on the Road to Business Success, Tips for creating and implementing a marketing plan, and more. This report and other books she has authored are available for online purchase at www.kbooker.wordpress.com by clicking on the respective report and book covers on the right sidebar of this blog site.

7 Tips for Creating a Marketing Plan Strategy

A marketing strategy consists of a series of ongoing activities you plan to implement over a period of time to achieve a particular goal in your business.

Planning your marketing strategy lets you know the actions you will take on a regular basis to keep your business growing.  Most people think of marketing as something that is done on an occasional basis without a real plan.  However, with a marketing strategy, you pre-plan when you’ll do these activities on a regular and consistent basis.

By designing a marketing strategy you take your business to a whole new level. Here are 7 tips to help you design a marketing strategy to build your business.

1. Overall Goal. Start by determining the overall goal you want to reach through a marketing program.  Do you intend to increase visitors to your website or storefront? Do you want to increase the amount of programs or services you promote? Do you want to increase the income for your business?

2. Select the Time Period. Over what period of time will you pursue these goals? Designing a year-long marketing strategy gives you a good period of time to create a plan of action.  It gives you time to develop consistency in placing your business name in front of the public, which will undoubtedly build your business.

3. The Target Market. A specific target market is needed to effectively design a message that speaks directly to the heart and mind of your consumer base. If you don’t know who you’re marketing to you waste time, money and effort trying to promote to everybody which is an impossible task in business.

4. The Message. With the target market identified you can create a marketing message that makes them pay attention to your business. Design an overarching slogan or theme for your marketing program that enhances your brand and places you in a positive position in the mind of the target consumer.

5. Chart Your Path. Get a calendar for the year and chart out the important marketing activities that you will do on a regular basis each day, each week and each month. Be consistent with these regular activities. This can include writing and publishing a weekly web article or posting to your blog and social networking sites on a daily basis.

6. List Periodic Activities. Identify the activities you will do periodically (quarterly, bi-annually, or annually). These could include a special live or Internet based event, getting published in a newsletter or online ezine of a joint venture partner or writing an article for a magazine.

7. Chart Special Opportunities. Find opportunities that offer special opportunities to promote your business. For example, will you purchase a booth at a women’s conference or be a speaker at a networking group? These opportunities might come up only on special occasions, or be annual events you decide to participate in during this marketing year. Chart these on your marketing strategy plan.

This is a simplistic way to get started on a marketing strategy.  This will help you to sit down, think things through ahead of time, and plan a whole year’s worth of activities. You’ll also start to develop an ongoing presence with your target group,  which helps to build trust and increase clients.

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Karmen A. Booker is an Attorney, Business Consultant and Chief Consultant for Compu-Perfect Professional Services, a business consulting firm specializing in business incorporation, establishing limited liability companies, contract drafting & reviewing, and more.  CALL ATTORNEY BOOKER at (301) 408-1082. View her website at www.compuperfect.net

She is also the author of “Business Tips” Report where you will discover tips that will put you on the Road to Business Success, Tips for creating and implementing a marketing plan, and more. This report and other books she has authored are available for online purchase at www.kbooker.wordpress.com by clicking on the respective report and book covers on the right sidebar of the blog site.

5 Tips to Help You Prepare for Growth Spurts

1. Get Outside Help. Growth is tricky and stressful, so smart business owners rely on outside assistance—such as consultants—to get them through it.
2. Hire Ahead of the Need. If you’re growing fast, add a chief operating officer and/or chief financial officer—even if only on a part-time or consulting basis.
3. Change Your Own Role. Stop “doing everything yourself.”  Delegate day-to-day operations to others and become the leader, the strategic thinker, and the planner — the CEO.
4. Weed out customers that don’t contribute sufficiently to your bottom line. Let go of those who distract you from your goal—for example, because they are outside the area in which you want to work or take too much of your time.
5. Have reserve capital to weather growth’s inevitable bumps. Reserves don’t have to be all cash—they can be excellent receivables or something else that can be turned into cash quickly.

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Karmen A. Booker is an Attorney, Business Consultant and Chief Consultant for Compu-Perfect Professional Services, a business consulting firm specializing in business incorporation, establishing limited liability companies, contract drafting & reviewing, and more.  CALL ATTORNEY BOOKER at (301) 408-1082. View her website at www.compuperfect.net

She is also the author of “Business Tips” Report where you will discover tips that will put you on the Road to Business Success, Tips for creating and implementing a marketing plan, and more. This report and other books she has authored are available for online purchase at www.kbooker.wordpress.com by clicking on the respective report and book covers on the right sidebar of the blog site.

5 Tips Regarding Preparing for Change

1. Examine your corporate culture to discover any impediments to change. Some traditions and practices may need to be revamped to meet new needs.
2. Keep talking about change so that employees think in terms of change and help make it happen.
3. Make expectations clear. Key employees should know that embracing change is part of their responsibility.
4. Monitor company procedures and systems to be sure they support change
5. Plan far ahead for the biggest change of all: your retirement or exit from the company, an develop new leadership.

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Karmen A. Booker is an Attorney, Business Consultant and Chief Consultant for Compu-Perfect Professional Services, a business consulting firm specializing in business incorporation, establishing limited liability companies, contract drafting & reviewing, and more.  CALL ATTORNEY BOOKER at (301) 408-1082. View her website at www.compuperfect.net

She is also the author of “Business Tips” Report where you will discover tips that will put you on the Road to Business Success, Tips for creating and implementing a marketing plan, and more. This report and other books she has authored are available for online purchase at www.kbooker.wordpress.com by clicking on the respective report and book covers on the right sidebar of the blog site.

Effective Business Planning for Starting Your Business

Effective Business Planning for Starting Your Business

There is no way to eliminate all the risks associated with starting a small business.  However, you can improve your chances of success with good planning and preparation.  A good starting place is to evaluate your strengths and weaknesses.  The first thing you need to do is ask yourself is — Is Entrepreneurship for You? It helps to carefully consider each of the following questions:

Are you a self-starter? It will be up to you – not someone else telling you – to develop projects, organize your team, and follow through on details.

How well do you get along with different personalities? Business owners need to develop working relationships with a variety of people including customers, vendors, staff, banks and professionals such as lawyers, accountants and consultants.  Can you deal with a demanding client, an unreliable vendor, or cranky staff person in the best interest of your business?

How good are you at making decisions? Small business owners are required to make decisions constantly, often quickly under pressure and independently.

Do you have the physical and emotional stamina to run a business? Business ownership can be challenging, fun, and exciting. But it is also a lot of work.  Can you face 12-hour workdays, six or seven days a week?

How well do you plan and organize? Research indicates that many business failures could have been avoided through BETTER PLANNING.  Good organization of financials, inventory, schedules, and production can help avoid many pitfalls.

There are three types of people who want to start their own business:

(1)           Those who have an idea and never put their ideas into action;

(2)           Those who have ideas and say “Let me do this and see what happens; and

(3)           Those who have ideas, plan how they are going to transform their ideas into a vision, and implement their vision.

Of the three kinds of people mentioned above, more than likely, the only type of person who will be successful is number three (3) because he/she has engaged in PLANNING – the key ingredient of success. As a matter of fact, the Small Business Association (SBA) estimates that 80% of start-up businesses fail in the first three (3) years of operation due to the lack of planning.  Therefore, it is crucial to convert your ideas into a Business Plan (action plan) in order for them to produce fruit.

START PLANNING TODAY and DON’T DELAY

Then you will be on your way to operating an efficient business that is well planned and destined for success.

For more information on Planning and Writing Your Business Plan, purchase my book, “Biblical Entrepreneurship” by clicking on the book cover on the Right Side Bar of this Blog

How to Write a Mission Statement for your Nonprofit Organization

What Is a Mission Statement?

The nonprofit organizations mission statement describes the purpose for which your organization exists.  Without a clear mission statement, the nonprofit organization will not be able to remain focused and provide quality services for its target market.

A great mission statement is also a great branding tool that can be used to promote your organization and help convey the essence of what you are all about.

Essentially, your mission is your goal – your reason for existing. Try answering the question, “Why did I start this organization?” The answer will be your first try at writing your mission statement.

To carry out your mission, you will develop objectives and strategies.  All of these will be part of your strategic plan. But it is important to first write a clear, succinct, and inspiring mission statement.  It will pay off in the end and keep you from wasting time and resources on non-essential activities.

The Benefits of a Well-Defined Mission Statement are:

• It focuses your energy and clarifies your purpose. When you try to write your mission statement, you will find that you have to really define what you are going to do. Many questions will come up that must be resolved. For instance, whom will you serve? What areas will you serve – local or the whole sate?  Keep your mission narrowly focused to ensure that you don’t bite off more than you can chew.

• A well-defined mission statement can and should motivate board, staff, volunteers, and donors. It also helps attract people and resources. A mission statement is not just for internal use or to submit to the IRS for tax-exempt status. It is a beacon that will attract people and resources to your cause.

• Make your mission statement compelling as well as clear. It will be your best public relations tool.

Some Tips for Writing Your Mission Statement

• Bring in different perspectives.  Get input from the community you plan to serve, as well as from your board, staff, and volunteers. This will help you develop a broad base of support. You can obtain this input through meetings, surveys, or phone calls.

• Allow enough time. Provide time to reflect on the information you gather, so you can write an initial draft and allow key participants to read it and make changes.

• Be open to new ideas. The founders and the Board of Directors should be open to new ideas. You may have had tunnel vision while getting your organization set up, but now it is time to get some fresh perspective. Be open to different interpretations of what you should be doing, and new ideas about how to accomplish your goals.

• Write short and only what you need. The best mission statements are clear and concise. Your statement’s length and complexity depends on what your organization wants to do, but keep it as brief as possible so it can be easily remembered and easily communicated.

• Review your mission statement regularly. Some major nonprofit organizations review their mission statement every two to three years because the organization changes.  Therefore they want to ensure that the mission statement is alignment with its purpose and reality.

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Karmen A. Booker is an Attorney, Business Consultant and Owner of Compu-Perfect Professional Services, a business consulting firm specializing in Business Entity Formation (Corporations, Limited Liability Companies, and Nonprofit Corporations), Completing 501(c)(3) Federal Tax Exemption Applications, Grant Research and Writing services, and more.

She is the author of the “Nonprofit News”. In this Report, you will learn:

*  How to Protect Your Tax-Exempt Status While Running your Nonprofit Corporation

*  What are Corporate Records, and the Importance of Maintaining Corporate Records

*  How to Determine if Your Nonprofit Organization is Ethical

*  Principles of Ethical Decision-making

*  How to Handle Conflicts of Interest

*  Funding Sources and Strategies, and more

So be sure to DOWNLOAD Your Copy of this GREAT RESOURCE Today so you can start “Moving on the Road to Nonprofit Success” – http://kbooker.wordpress.com/2010/02/06/nonprofit-news-report/

She is also the author of “Fundraising Tips”, It provides information on Fundraising Fundamentals and Fundraising Tips, that include but are not limited to:

* Developing a Fundraising Plan

* Writing a Fundraising Letter

* Specific Fundraising Tips such as selling advertisement space in your newsletter and on your website, and more.

DOWNLOAD YOUR COPY TODAY for Only $3.00 – http://store.payloadz.com/go?id=785511

5 Tips for Effective Business Planning

1. Clearly define your business idea and be able to succinctly articulate it. Know your mission.
2. Examine your motives. Make sure that you have a passion for owning a business and for this particular business
3. Be willing to commit to the hours, discipline, continuous learning and the frustrations of owning your own business.
4. Conduct a competitive analysis in your market, including products, prices, promotions, advertising, distribution, quality, service, and be aware of the outside influences that affect your business.
5. Seek help from other small businesses, vendors, professionals, government agencies, employees, trade associations and trade shows. Be alert, ask questions, and visit your local SCORE office.

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Karmen A. Booker is an Attorney, Business Consultant and Chief Consultant for Compu-Perfect Professional Services, a business consulting firm specializing in business incorporation, establishing limited liability companies, contract drafting & reviewing, and more.  CALL ATTORNEY BOOKER at (301) 408-1082. View her website at www.compuperfect.net

She is also the author of “Business Tips” Report where you will discover tips that will put you on the Road to Business Success, Tips for creating and implementing a marketing plan, and more. This report and other books she has authored are available for online purchase at www.kbooker.wordpress.com by clicking on the respective report and book covers on the right sidebar of the blog site.