11.20.2007

Building the BIG Brand on a Small-Biz Budget

Part of running a successful enterprise is the ability to build a recognizable and unforgetable brand. Large corporations pay millions of dollars a year to maintain their brand. However, as a small business person, you are fully capable of doing some of the same things for far less. In fact, you probably already do and some of these things and don't even know it.

But, what is a brand? Your compnay's brand is its name and basically anything and everything your company's reputation rests upon. Know what your consumer values and create a mission statement that centers upon their values and belief structure. Further, you have to truly believe in what you say because anything disingenious will lack sincerity and easily be noticed by your audience. So, do not insult your audience's intelligence-put youself in their shoes and market to them the way you would want to be marketed to. Evolve with them so that your communication never fails to asuage their deepest needs, wants, concerns and desires.

According to allbusiness.com, a small business owner can sharpen his brand without incurring fees from a full-fledged branding company. At a minimum, business cards, letterhead, signage, and other existing corporate identity should all display a consistent usage of the company name, logo, and tag line information. If this isn't the case, an overhaul is in order. Make decisions about the color of all of your business cards — letterhead as well as the ink. It takes some discipline, but it's important to your brand to stick to those decisions for years to come.

Before you go much further in starting your startup business-consider your brand. What do you have to offer? What makes you unique? And what are your business's core values? All of these things will play an integral role in helping you position your company within a market potentially flooded with other companies just like yours. You want to STAND OUT and make your company's presence memorable, and most importantly...unforgetable. And you CAN do this on a smaller budget...just be clear about your wants and needs and be creative as you go to attain them.

Good luck!

For more small biz advice or other business strategy questions, please email betterbizservices@yahoo.com OR visit our website at http://www.betterbizservices.com/.

11.19.2007

Setting Up an Effective Home-Office

In today's fast-paced, convienience-first, technologically-saavy society: working from home has become the new norm. Telecommuting is the money-making method for everyone from stay-at-home mom's to wall street executives. However, as my favorite business and financial advisor (Jean Chatzky) notes: "If you want to work effectively from home, you need to put some serious thought into how to best set up that home office." Here are three quick tips to get you started.

Set up shop in a spare room
If you want to maximize productivity in your home office, working out of the dining room amy not be your best bet. Your best alternative from both a productivity and tax perspective is to use an alternate room. Do you have a finished basement, a bedroom (with closet for supply storage), or even a private den? Make these spaces work for you! Be careful about the zoning restrictions and other regulations in your area. Double check before setting your home office up.

Go online to compare products, services and prices
You will need many things in order to have a succesful at-home business. One of these is a fast computer with lots of storage space-shop around and you can probably find one at Walmart, Amazon OR Overstock for about $500. Paul Edwards, career strategy coach and co-author of "Working From Home," (Tarcher, 1999) suggests consolidation whenever possible -- you may need a scanner, fax machine, printer and copier, but "you can get a perfectly good, multi-functional device that serves as your printer, fax machine, copy machine and scanner, for a couple hundred dollars," he says.

Services can also be bundled, so you pay one (usually discounted) bill for Internet, phone and voice-mail. Outsource tasks that you don't have the time or equipment for and be sure to keep receipts and canceled checks for all of the above.

Adhere to Uncle Sam's standards
This step is more simple that some might think. If you want to be able to claim a deduction for your home office, the room must be used exclusively and regularly as your principal place of business.

Lisa Kanarek, home office expert and author of "Home Office Solutions: Creating a Space That Works for You" (Quarry Books, 2004) says: "It has to be a separate space -- it cannot be part of a guest room or a spare bedroom that is occasionally used for overnight guests. And even if it's in a separate room, but the closet within that room has personal items, you cannot use that for a deduction." There is one out: If your home office isn't your primary work space, but you regularly use it to meet with clients, it's still eligible -- but again, only if it the space is used exclusively for business. Also, keep in mind that your business' gross income must be greater than your deductions.

Keep good records. If your home office qualifies for a write-off, you can deduct expenses directly related to your office -- such as the business phone line and Internet connection. According to Chatzky, "for costs that are indirectly related, like utilities, you have to figure out your deduction by comparing the room's measurements to the size of your entire home. The resulting percentage -- say your office is a 10th of your house -- is the portion of your home's expenses, such as mortgage or rent, electric, insurance and the security system, that you can deduct."

Working from home can be incredibly profitable and convienient if you do your research and utilize the right tools. Be incredibly vigilant and seek out every opportunity for a tax write-off, as well as every opportunity to save time and money.

For more helpful hints on setting up your home office, email betterbizservices@yahoo.com or check out our website http://www.betterbizservices.com for a list of services.

Good Luck!