Here is the second part, you can read the first installment here!

5. You get some cool stuff!

I have gotten a few books to look over and read from people that read our blog, I have a review coming on one pretty soon so keep looking. I really love to read, so this has turned out as a great bonus to my blogging. I hope everyone will go out and look for these books when I post the review, because they were all excellent.

I have even gotten invited to a few entrepreneurial conferences here in my home town from readers that have caught on. There is quite a thriving business scene here that I didn’t even know existed!

6. How to write better

I will admit that my writing style leaves a lot to be desired, but I think I have made quite a few strides in my writing style over the past few months. I can confidently write and article now, and while not perfect I don’t feel as paralyzed looking at the screen than when I first started.

My idea’s seem to flow onto the page much easier and my structure has gotten better. I am always open to constructive criticism as far as my writing goes, and I would welcome and tips that people have that could help me improve. And I promise my writing style will continue to evolve in the future.

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Coming up with idea’s for posts has been stumping me lately, just can’t get a great idea to expand on. On top of that my son does not really want to grant me the time to write when I am home, he just wants to play or get into trouble! So I have decided that keeping a regular diary about working on a few business start ups would be a great way to keep the content flowing while I am stumped, so here it goes!

PetEcommerce.com

For the last couple months I have been working with YGG’s own Joey Pomerenke on getting his great idea, a store builder and e-commerce platform for people in the pet industry, up and running. This was an idea that was in the back of his mind for quite awhile now and he sold his Pawsuppetsupply.com company to make it happen.

I joined the team in mid February and it has been a roller coaster ride from that day, taking care of the sales department I have been interviewing and hiring people, dividing territories and getting ready to help market this business. Our only problem is getting the site up, there have been a few delays in site design and programming. The programming is a big job and there have been some hiccups in that getting done lately. For a sales guy that is amped up and ready to sell this has been a trying time, knowing there is nothing I can really do makes it even worse.

Right now I will sit and wait until it is ready to go, hopefully soon but I will keep you updated!

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I was sitting in my chair the other day and the thought popped into my head, “I manage a blog that helps teach people about business, but what has it taught me?” Over the last few days I have dug deep for an answer to this question, and I think I have it below. As I list my points I wonder what your thoughts are, so please leave them as comments because I am truly interested!

1. It has opened doors to me I never thought possible.

I have only been doing this blogging, mostly behind the scenes, for the past 6 months and I have met some extraordinary people! I reconnected with Joey Pomerenke, one of the original founders of YGG, and we are working on a business together. You can also find Joey doing a lot of interviews with some great entrepreneurs that share our values on YGG. I have teamed up with Paul Ocalian, and avid YGG member in creating a new media boutique. What a talented designer, that without YGG, I probably wouldn’t have known.

I have also met a lot of great people through the Brazen Careerist network, which we are a part of. What a great idea that combines so of the best up and coming bloggers that are out there, many of which I have gotten to know lately. All of this thanks to taking a leap of faith and trying out something new to me.

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Tisha Kulak is a writer for Creditorweb.com, where she writes about credit card offers, business credit cards and responsible credit card use.

There are more entrepreneurs moving forward and following their dreams of opening a business and operating a successful business of their own. While many have found success in starting up, most will face the all-important decision of how to continue to finance their businesses, especially if they are still in the early stages and require more capital to continue on. Here are some things to consider when searching for money beyond a personal savings account.

The Business Plan

This is the first consideration you need to make before even approaching anyone for money. You need to have a solid business plan that you understand and feel confident is complete. While you may have begun your operation without one, it is essential that you have a full understanding of what it takes to keep making your business work. People who give you money want to make certain you are not setting yourself up for failure, or at least a lot of struggle.

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Feign “important” text messages.
I’ll admit it – I’ve done it, too. Standing in a room full of unfamiliar faces, attempting to mask the discomfort I feel about not knowing who to approach, or how, I instinctively fish around in my purse for my blackberry, furrowing my brow when I find it, pretending to tend to an “urgent” message.

Whether you’re meeting up with two potential clients, or you’re entering an event with 200 seemingly-random people in attendance, initiating conversations can often be – err – easier said than done (yes - pun intended! ). Talking about how happy you are that it’s nice and sunny outside (or how frustrated you are that it’s raining), or how magically delicious the spicy sauce on the mini crab cake hors d’oeuvres is, can only take you but so far. When advising clients on how to communicate more effectively, one strategy that I recommend is to “put the onus on yourself to make the most effort in conversations.” Now, by effort I do not mean yack everyone’s ear off for hours, however, it’s important to remember that you can only expect to get as much from a conversation as you are willing to put into it. And unless you’re a mime or a monk (or a member of the Halitosis Club of America), conversation is an absolutely crucial part of building meaningful personal relationships and successful businesses.

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If you didn’t get the chance to check out the first article on buying a business, get up to speed here.

The Drawbacks

Simply put, buying a business presents a completely different opportunity to owning a business than the traditional “start from scratch” strategy that a lot of us are familiar with. Before jumping in, you get the chance to see how well the business is running before you make a decision. If its something that has passed your screening process and it’s something you are considering, chances are the business is structured well already. Of course, this means that there’s less risk involved and maintaining the business shouldn’t be an insurmountable task, theoretically speaking. As well, with a stable business, most likely a steady positive cash flow will accompany it. When it comes to market share, starting a business creates more competition, whereas acquiring a business maintains the existing market share. As you can see, the benefits of buying a business are clear, but before you head to the bank or go running around frantically searching for businesses, there are a few other things to consider.

Park Place vs. Baltic Ave…

The first thing you have to understand that it’s going to cost you a lot more to buy and existing business than to start your own. Built in to the cost of a business is the sweat equity, the time and effort that the original owner put into the business to start it and get it off the ground. It was them that took the risk for you and spent countless hours developing a foundation and you can expect to be paying for every bit of it. Essentially you’re paying a premium price for someone else to create a business. They’ve already created a brand name for themselves and you’re not just buying the business, you’re buying the brand name too.

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Whether you’ve been thinking about moonlighting or going full-time with your own business, right now is the best possible time to get started. I know what you’re thinking: “Hey Jason, you read the news, right? We’re in a recession. Nobody told you?” Oh, they told me. They tell me every single night on the news how everything is doom and gloom, how gas prices are up, foreclosures are up, the mortgage crisis…blah, blah, blah. Guess what, I don’t care what “they” say, I’m still right. Now is the best time to get started and now always has been.

Everyone loves a good list so here’s a VERY short list of some of my favorite reasons why you should start a business RIGHT NOW. Here we go…in no particular order:

Businesses have tax benefits

So, we’re in a recession and money’s tight. News flash: if you start a business, you actually get to keep more of your money! I’m sure you’ve heard the staggering numbers about companies, BIG companies, that pay little or no tax. I’m not suggesting that you’ll be in the same boat, but every dime counts.

Start a business, even a side business, and a whole slew of expenses — such as the cost of your Internet connection, mileage on your car, and even a portion of your home — now become at least a partial write-off on your income tax, which means you pay less. There have been years that I made over $200,000 at my job, and still managed to get money back on my taxes. That was all because of my side business. Obviously, you’ll need to consult with someone who knows tax laws and such, but trust me, it’s worth it. Nuff said.

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Steve Farnsworth is a serial entrepreneur and a student at Fort Lewis College and at the age of 24, a Young Go Getter! Check out his site Burner Sports, where he serves as the President.

Anyone who has ever bought a car or a house from a dealer knows that sales people have MOTOR MOUTHS! It’s a fact, just call up any real estate agent, or car salesman, and you won’t be able to get off the phone until you commit to something. These two industry’s are an exception to what I am about to tell you. Real Estate Agents and Car Salesman are paid to talk, yet even they should know their limits.

I worked for an Environmental Chamber Manufacturer for about three years (I still do consulting for them), as a sales associate. It was primarily a position where I would make sales calls and receive sales calls. We were trained to do 2 things while on the phone with a prospect, or a current customer. The first thing we were trained to do was keep the conversation brief. I would time how long I was on the phone with each customer by using a stop watch that was always on my desk. I was trained to keep the conversation at about 3-5 minutes per sales call. This was a typical sales call, some situations required more time because more knowledge and information was communicated back and forth which is perfectly fine.

The second thing that I was trained to do was to ask questions. I would ask a lot of questions. This gets the customer talking; it gets them excited and engaged in the sale. I would just sit back, listen and take down as many notes as possible, which could be used for the next time we talked. This process of listening also allowed the buyer to sell themselves in many ways, I mostly just had to supply the information that they required. Sure I would talk about why our products are better than ‘the other guy’s’, but the real sale was made when I asked questions that allowed them to see the benefits in our products without me saying too much.

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Ryan is a twenty something attending graduate school in Texas. He fancies himself an entrepreneur and writes about relationship marketing, eCommerce, and other elements of business as it relates to Generation Y, on his blog, Ryan Stephens Marketing.

Most of the MBA students I know think they are absolutely brilliant. Because of the piece of paper they get when the graduate they will probably get to start out at about $100K a year. Evidently this notion, coupled with their narcissism, entitles them to think they are better than you and me. And that is okay with me because I am confident I can attain that status (provided I want to) in the amount of time they spent in the ‘real world’ and coming back to get their MBA.

The rest of this post outlines 3 reasons why you should skip obtaining your MBA or online MBA.

Reason #1: It’s about PEOPLE — not rules, theorems, and formulas.

Being a great business person, or a great marketer is about connecting with people; it’s about building and solidifying relationships, and it is about making your brand a Lovemark. Managerial Cost Accounting doesn’t help you do that. I do not want to spend my life tucked away in a cubicle (or an office), but out on the streets interacting with and learning from consumers. What do they really want? How can I facilitate our relationship by providing them with the solution they are looking for?

What theorem teaches me how to do that? When you start seeing your business as a business of margins you are in danger of becoming a commodity. You can learn all the strategies in the world to get attention for your business, but what do you do when you get it? Is it sustainable? Learning about the people, your consumers and what they want enables you to thrive and consistently answer these questions. A piece of paper that dictates how well you ran regressions does not.

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A Look at the Benefits

We can all remember the days as a kid where we wanted to be a cowboy or an astronaut when we grew up (I still think being a cowboy would be kind of cool). Then the year after that, maybe you’d have the desire to be a pro hockey player or an movie star. Eventually, we’d all grow up and some of us would go to college while others entered the work force. With that, our childhood dreams evolved as well. For some of us, they evolved into running their own company, the desire to work for yourself as opposed to working for someone else. Now, a lot of you here are already in the driver’s seat cruising down that path, you own your own business and somewhere along the line the thought of buying an existing business has strolled through your mind. If you’ve ever found yourself in that position, you’ve probably asked yourself questions like “Is it right for me? If so, where do I start?” There are a lot of things to think about and the choices you make can greatly impact the outcome. In a series of upcoming articles, I’m going to touch up on some details of buying a business.

You Don’t Exactly Need a DeLorean…

Alright, so you may not be able to tell the future (…yet. Great business idea here, folks.), but there are ways around that, which can prove equally as beneficial. When you’re looking to purchase an existing business that is up and running smoothly, you get the chance to know what you’re getting into before you actually get into it. The opportunity to look at all of a company’s bookwork allows you learn a lot about the company besides just the numbers. The more organized the bookwork is, the better the chance that the company itself is well organized and properly structured. Just like buying vegetables at the supermarket, you get to look for what you want without having to spend the time growing it and not knowing how it will turn out.

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