Make Your Next Move Your Best Move - Now It's On You

There are many small business opportunities right under your nose. But you must look at the world around you with fresh eyes and listen with newly tuned ears. New local ordinances may help you come up with an unheard-of business. Where others see trouble, look for opportunity to start a new service or to make an innovation in an old business model. A small business opportunity may be waiting in the talent of your hands. Do you garden, fix your car, or do bead work? Whatever you know how to do there's a market for it, especially if you add a new twist to your idea. You can sell those plants at auction sites like a friend of mine. How about starting an emergency car repair service and bring your shop with you? Expand that bead work talent into making and selling art jewelry. There are sites where you can sell your jewelry art. As a small business entrepreneur, the world is yours. The green industry is wide open. Do they have recycling where you live? If not, consider...

So, you've decided to start your own business - congratulations!   It's a huge leap from letting someone else take care of taxes, accounting, payroll, inventory, and/or a myriad of other activities necessary to run a business.   However, running your own business has its advantages, too.   You get to be your own boss, set your own hours and days to work, and are responsible for your own success.   It can be a wonderful way to free yourself from the monotony of 9-5 and work at doing what you love, but you have to begin by asking a few questions: 1. Are you doing what you love, or just doing something you’re good at?   A desire to get away from the regular working world can be a good motivation to work for yourself, but you should be excited to get up in the morning to do what it is you have chosen to do for a living.   2. What is it you are planning to do?   What niche is it going to fill?   Is there a need for what you can provide? ...

As a freelance writer and business consultant, a lot of people come to me with a business idea and want my help with writing a business plan. Contrary to what many aspiring entrepreneurs think, writing a business plan isn't the first or most crucial step to start a business. For most people-especially those who have not yet started a business-this is one of the last things you want to do in the start-up and get-off-the-ground phase. This article is specifically designed for those brave souls who have never started a business, have a burning desire to do so, but don't know where to start. Here are 10 practical, learned from the school of hard knocks, tips that will help you avoid common pitfalls and get started right. (And keep in mind that these are intended for businesses that need little to no start-up capital.) 1. Read Before you do anything else, read these four books in order: Cash Flow Quadrant by Robert Kiyosaki, The Art of the Start ...