Crude oil is arguably the most important natural resource in existence today, and possibly even the most important in history. The oil industry as a whole generates hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue each year.

Due to increased production in the US and Canada, OPEC is predicting a slip in demand for their crude. However, the Texas-based company Tidal Petroleum Inc. stated in a recent press release, “Global demand will always grow while supply will become more costly to produce.” They further state that while demand is not likely to decline, the focus is on where the supply is coming from will shift, explaining that, “Oil production within the US is likely to increase ten-fold in the next 20 years, as many producers are exploring new opportunities in shale production.”

As a result there is a lot of money to be made in various different areas of this multi-billion dollar industry. You don’t even have to be involved in the actual drilling or refining of the crude, nor do you need personal knowledge of the oil industry itself. Here are three ways you can capitalize on the expanding oil industry without any prior knowledge, and without being involved in drilling or refining.

Labor
It’s estimated that 90% of US companies use staffing agencies and the oil industry is no different. In fact with the recent boom in US oil production many companies are finding themselves unable to fill a growing number of positions, especially since as much as 50% of the energy workforce is expected to retire by 2017. This is where you can help.

By starting either a temporary staffing or human resources outsource company that serves the oil industry, you connect those companies with the employees they desperately need, for a fee of course. Temporary staffing agencies typically fill positions on a temporary, permanent, or temp to hire situation, whatever the client requires. Conversely, an HR outsourcing company will handle all HR related matters, including hiring, training, payroll, etc. on an ongoing basis.

Consulting
Consulting companies throughout the world are offering their expertise to other companies in order to help them succeed. In the oil services industry, consultants like Halliburton are employed in various stages from exploration to development planning, well construction, and ongoing operations. They bring innovation, fresh ideas, and expertise to help solve problems, increase profits and decrease expenses for their clients.

Transportation and Storage
Once the oil is extracted it has to go somewhere. Oil and petroleum products are transported in practically every fashion known to man. From pipelines to ocean faring vessels, by rail and over the road by truck. This presents a wide range of flexible possibilities depending on your financial resources. Need to start small? No problem. You can scale your business according to your capabilities, starting with a single truck and gradually expanding your services as well as your reach.

At various stages of transportation from the well to the refinery to the end consumer, oil and petroleum products need to be stored until they can continue on to their destination. This is typically done at independently owned and operated storage facilities. As an independent storage facility operator you would provide onsite storage and security for your clients as well as helping to arrange and facilitate transportation at times. You can even take this area one step further and combine storage and transportation together at a single rate, further simplifying things for your clients.

As long as oil exists in the world there will be an ever growing need for it, providing increased opportunities to capitalize on this multi-billion dollar a year industry. However, as with any other industry remember to do your homework before opening your business.

Thinking about starting a business overseas? The current economic news might have some thinking twice, but the European market is complicated. Some countries are doing quite well, like Germany, but others are slipping in the economic scale. In America, so much is dependent on an inactive congress.

In this period of political and economic limbo, either location would be a valid choice. So let’s break down the pros and cons….

Costs
Costs for things like taxes and fees may be higher in Europe. Some states in the US, like Utah, have a low cost for businesses to incorporate. Business taxes vary by state, but it’s likely that the US has fewer taxes than Europe. Space rental is also higher on average in Europe than it can be in the United States, which has a much wider area.

Part of the trouble is residency, and Europe has a clear map to it. With Residency Permits foreigners can become permanent residents if a venture becomes successful. Entering the American market is getting more manageable, but the path to citizenship is still up for debate.

The EU has certain requirements business professionals must also satisfy. For instance, the EU would like businesses to be able to operate within 3 working days, and have a single administrative body that can be held accountable when things go wrong. In America, according to the Small Business Administration, you’ll need a federal tax ID and an Employer Identification number, both of which are linked to your social security number.

Market Size
The US has the largest market, but European markets can service a smaller base and remain agile. As a result, OpenSource software tends to be popular in the European market because it can be customized to fit your needs. This is why software providers like Avanquest, based in France, see more success in the US market than in the European market.

Overall, US businesses tend to face more competition for slices of a larger pie. In Europe, the markets are segmented and much smaller. There are more established names and fewer startups as a result, but the environment is ripe for disruption. In the US, big ideas conquer all.

Work/Life Balance
US is generally faster paced, but different European countries hold different standards. The fabled two hour lunches of Italy and Spain are gone, but Germans are notorious for being prompt to meetings and for work.

In the US, flex time and the ability to work from home keeps employees less concerned with actually being in the office during a set time. There are meetings and certain anchors, but the environment is a bit more flexible. This is not to say there is no schedule, Americans are punctual, but they are also more forgiving of circumstances. The trouble is that Americans are also workaholics and there is a definite temptation, especially with startups, to get sucked into working life.

Jack Dorsey, the co-founder of Twitter, is famous for working two 8 hour shifts in a day between Twitter and his other company “Square.”

Culture
Aristotle Haikias, Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees at the National Hellenic Museum, points out that a connection to culture is crucial to a civilized society. Haikias says, “humanities continue to be lost with the advent of the Internet and the fast-paced modern world. Understanding ancient cultures will have a profound effect on providing some of our deepest connections to the human race.” With that in mind, there is so much history in Europe, and a lot to see and do. Especially for foreigners looking to come in. American cities are much more modernized, but pockets of the country still have a deep sense of culture and history.

In America, the employees and the people tend to drift in and out of your business venture, and your life. In Europe employees are more likely to stay with a company and seek lifetime employment. That difference drives a culture of long-term growth vs. short term gain.

Ultimately the decision on where to start your business is usually based on where you live. It may be easier to start a business in the US, but you’ll need to work a lot harder. There is a definite emphasis on making profits faster in America, but Europe’s history and customs create a rich environment. If you are choosing between starting a company in the US or Europe, it’s certainly not a cut and dry decision.

One of the most valuable assets that any startup has is the data the business generates as customers interact with your website. Data on what they click and which pages keep them hooked help you grow your site in tune with your audience. If you’re rethinking how you want to present data to your customers, or you just want to improve the conversion flow of your site, build tracking into your design and learn which stats will make the biggest impact on your work.

Create a Measurable Flow
Business executives are used to thinking about goals, and working towards accomplishing them. Apply that same strategy to your site and create a goal funnel. Funnels are a step by step flow that customers must follow before they accomplish a goal, like all the pages viewed before signing up to an email address.
Defining goals in Analytics helps you figure out whether the funnel works and where customers tend to bail throughout the process. One you have a flow defined, you can work on making incremental changes to improve it. One of the first things you can do is shorten the time it takes for a customer to complete an action. The more steps involved in doing something, the higher the probability of that customer bouncing from your site without finding anything of value.

Set Goals with Values
Defining dollar values for your goals helps you put the actions on your site into some monetary perspective. You can determine the amount of revenue generated per visit by looking at the revenue your site generates monthly and dividing that by the number of visits it receives. It’s a rough estimate, but it gives you an idea of the average amount each visit generates for you. Start with that baseline and increase or decrease the value of steps in your goal funnel as needed. If you see lots of traffic coming into a low value page, you can take steps to add goals to that increase the value of that page, or increase the time spent reading that page by giving customers something they want to see.

Test Landing Pages
The landing page you send someone to is the next most crucial step in refining the conversion power of your website. If you want to improve your landing page, you can focus on broad concepts like changing colors or adding images, but your best course of action is often falling back on data. Experts like Conor Goetz Cornell know by looking at the statistics for your site that when bounce rate is high, your landing page is weak. There are a few things you can do to improve the stickiness of your landing pages:

• Add headlines, using the H1 tag, that are keyword rich
• Use bullet points, bold and italic lettering to help identify key points
• Avoid flowery language, make every sentence punch

One of the most overlooked concepts, believe it or not, is giving customers something they can do. Giving them a button to click or a form to fill out that puts them on a mailing list is one of the most compelling aspects to your landing page. That call to action sums up the main ideas of your page behind one simple, impactful statement.

Brainstorm New Content
Google’s Analytics platform keeps a record of your all-time most visited pages, so you can use that data to help create new content that is guaranteed to see large volumes of traffic.

Publish Case Studies
Publishing a case study that looks at your site critically and shows how you improved based on data you analyze helps establish you as an expert. You might teach someone a valuable skill while presenting original data for research purposes. Google, and the community at large, will love you for it.

Nobody plans to fail they just fail to plan. That statement is no less true about the business world than any other aspect of life. One cause of new business failure is lack of funding and the inability to properly anticipate cash flow problems. However if you take the time to fully explore your possibilities and know where to turn for needed funding your chances of success are increased.

STARTUP FUNDING
If you have created a well thought out and detailed business plan you should have a good idea of the amount of money you need and there are several places you can turn to secure funding. While it’s possible you may get every penny you need from one source it’s likely you may have to find multiple sources.

1. Personal Savings.
This is the most popular source of funds for startups, and for good reason. Many investors and loan agencies will be hesitant to put up their money if you haven’t shown that you are able or willing to invest a portion of your own savings into the idea.

2. Friends and Family.
This is the second most popular source of funding. People close to you know your character and integrity and therefore are often more likely to help fund your business than outsiders. However this can become a tricky situation so be sure to set clear expectations and boundaries for all parties involved.

3. Angel Investors and Venture Capitalists.
Many of these individuals or corporations will gladly invest money in a business that has a solid business plan and the potential to make money. Crowd funding websites would fall under the category of angel investors. These people generally will help fund your business with little or no expectation of return or reward. Venture capitalists are in the business of making a profit off of their investments however. Before approaching an angel investor or a venture capitalist be prepared to make your pitch.

4. Government and Bank Loans.
These can often be the hardest types of funding to secure, especially since the Great Recession. Yet if you have a proven credit history and a solid business plan you shouldn’t overlook this potential source of funding.

DAILY EXPENSES
Congratulations, you made it through the startup phase and opened your doors! But don’t stop now. You now have to work hard to maintain the steady cash flow needed to pay your expenses. This is not always easy or possible on a daily basis.

Often business, and subsequent profits, will come in waves but your creditors aren’t willing to wait for you to pay them. Hopefully you anticipated this ahead of time and secured enough initial capital to get you through however, things can happen that even the most savvy business person was unable to plan for. In cases like this you may have to turn to a business cash advance.

Business cash advances are short term loans designed to help businesses pay their daily expenses. They are available from a number of sources and usually have specific criteria your business must meet in order to qualify. But for those that do qualify, this can mean the difference between getting through a rocky patch intact and having to close your doors for good.

Don’t fail to plan. If you adequately anticipate your financial needs and know where to turn for funding, your business will have a greater chance of success.