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Six Steps to Guarantee Your Business Success
Many of us slave away for years for one uninspiring company after another and dream of the day when we can sack the boss and go it alone. If you're contemplating starting your own business then I'm here cheering you on from the sidelines because the best decision I ever made was to walk away from my well paid but oh so frustratingly boring job and start my own business from scratch. I'd always believed in Bob Dylan's definition of success - "a man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do." And it was these words and this sentiment that drove me to seek out business success on my own. While I was in the planning stages of things I read around a lot and discovered that there are six main steps that you can follow to give your business the best chance of survival and success. With hindsight I can confirm that these six steps do guarantee your business success, so here they are for you, use them as your guide: - 1) Plan to Succeed "Action without planning is the cause of all failure. Action with planning is the cause of all success." - Brian Tracy. You need to establish an intricate business plan that will guide you through the start-up hurdles and ongoing development of your business. Whether you're planning on establishing a global company that will eventually employ many individuals or you're intending to establish an on-line business from your bedroom that will employ only you, you must spend the necessary time and effort plotting out how exactly your company will be established, who your customers are, how you will reach them, how you will finance your ongoing operations and where exactly you're headed with your business. "Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. Accordingly a genius is often merely a talented person who has done all of his or her homework." - Thomas Edison Be a business genius, remember the planning stages are critical to the future success of your business - don't rush them. 2) Money Matters "Before you can really start setting financial goals, you need to determine where you stand financially." - David Bach You need to look at your own personal financial situation and determine exactly how much money you will need to live on, how much money you have to invest in your business, how much money is required to start up and run your company and how exactly you're going to fund the future of your business. Get down to the financial nitty gritty before you get down to business and you will avoid the number one reason why businesses fail - namely, lack of capital. Crunch those numbers and be realistic rather than fatalistic or optimistic! You can and will succeed, but first you must arm yourself with the boring facts and figures and then you can put in place the financing you need. 3) To Score Goals You Have To Set Goals "Most people struggle with life balance simply because they haven't paid the price to decide what is really important to them." - Stephen Covey Having mapped out your business journey intricately, having put in place the financing you will need to travel the path towards success you have to begin setting yourself business and personal goals. If you have nothing to aim for you will never achieve your target! Where do you want to be in one month's time, where do you want your company to be in one year's time? Set stage goals for you, your company, your employees, your finances and your success. Follow your progress closely, keep one eye on your goals and you will never fail to succeed. 4) Sure Up Support and Understanding "Getting things accomplished isn't nearly as important as taking time for love." - Janette Oke No man is an island therefore your hopes, dreams, ambitions and goals should be shared with your loved ones and they need to give you the support and understanding required for success. Starting a business is always challenging, it is at times stressful and it can take up a very large part of your life. If you explain what you're doing and why you're doing it to your loved ones they will give you the time, love and support you need to succeed. At the same time it is critical that you do not lose your perspective and fail to take the time necessary to love and care for your family. All too often you hear tired and stressed out businessmen and women complaining of a lack of spousal understanding, whining that they are working so hard directly for the benefit of said spouse - this creates disharmony and acrimony on both sides - what a waste of a great life! Get everything in perspective and keep everything in perspective at all times, and bring your family and friends on board for guaranteed success. 5) Protect What's Important "Happy is the man who can endure the highest and lowest fortune. He who has endured such vicissitudes with equanimity has deprived misfortune of its power." - Seneca To further deprive misfortune of its power you can put in place various insurance policies to protect yourself, your family, your current situation and your business from undue risk. Because there are no two ways about it, starting out on your own is a risky business - focus on the success of your business and follow these six steps and you will achieve all you want to. And in the interim protect what's important to you - for example, think long and hard before mortgaging your family home to fund your company! Get business and personal indemnity insurance in place, make sure health and life insurance policies are in place protecting you, your family and any key employees. But - don't get hung up on this point because worrying unduly about risk will blinker your vision. Deal with this point and move on! 6) Face The Enemy - Deal Directly With Accountants & Lawyers "Money is plentiful for those who understand the simple laws which govern its acquisition." - George Clason Every single business has to act within the laws of the countries it operates in and deals with and every single business has certain reporting and taxation requirements. These are definite hurdles designed to restrict the visionary, but they are necessary hurdles to protect a company's consumers, a business' partners and a country's economy. Take the time to establish a good working relationship with your company's accountant and lawyer. Make sure your company is properly structured from the start and that you fully understand and adhere to taxation and reporting deadlines and rules. Know what is expected of you, understand why it's important to follow the rules and structures that have been put in place and have a system to deal with tax returns, pay runs, company disclosure and contract negotiations and remember: - "Taxes are not good things, but if you want services, somebody's got to pay for them so they're a necessary evil." - Michael Bloomberg Use these six steps as the guide towards your business success and always strive to keep your vision alive because "vision is perhaps our greatest strength?it has kept us alive to the power and continuity of thought through the centuries, it makes us peer into the future and lends shape to the unknown." - Li Ka Shing Rhiannon Williamson is the co-creator of Shelter Offshore - an innovative and exciting company which is specialist in international real estate, the offshore financial world and starting a brand new life or business overseas for expatriates, international investors and anyone dreaming of escaping the rat race and living an unrestricted life to the full.
Latest News:Site: Yahoo! News Search Results for news Myanmar's Suu Kyi to get family letters, news mags (Reuters via Yahoo! News) Detained Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has managed to wring small concessions from the ruling generals in the form of letters from her family and some international news magazines, her lawyer said on Friday. JCDecaux in talks for News Outdoor Group in Russia (AP via Yahoo! News) French outdoor advertising firm JCDecaux SA said Thursday it is negotiating to buy Russian rival News Outdoor Group from global media company News Corp. News Corp tightens grip on Premiere with new CEO (Reuters via Yahoo! News) Rupert Murdoch tightened his grip on German pay-TV broadcaster Premiere by appointing News Corp executive Mark Williams as CEO in a move to get the company back on track. SEC Looks Into UAL Stock Scare; Implications For Online News? (CBS News) A ton of digits have been devoted to this in other spots but the SEC's decision to investigate takes it to another level. The backstory: a six-year-old news story about UAL declaring bankruptcy made it into the Tribune-owned Sun-Sentinel 's current news flow, was picked up by a Google (NSDQ: GOOG) News bot and, via a reporter for a newsletter, made it onto Bloomberg News. After a lot of buck ... JCDecaux and News Corp. in talks to combine outdoor ad groups (International Herald Tribune) The News Corp. chief executive, Rupert Murdoch, has recently expressed nervousness about investments in Russia, where News Outdoor generated the bulk of its revenue last year. SEC Looks Into UAL Stock Scare; Implications For Online News? (paidContent.org via Yahoo! Finance) A ton of digits have been devoted to this in other spots but the SEC's decision to investigate takes it to another level. The backstory: a six-year-old news story about UAL declaring bankruptcy made it into the Tribune-owned Sun-Sentinel's current news flow, was picked up by a Google News bot and, via a reporter for a newsletter, made it onto Bloomberg News. JCDecaux in talks to buy News Corp. billboard unit (AP via Yahoo! Finance) In a deal that would create the world's largest outdoor advertising company, French conglomerate JCDecaux SA said Thursday that it is in talks to buy Russian rival News Outdoor Group from global media company News Corp. Phila. mayor to announce grim budget news (The Philadelphia Inquirer) The Nutter administration is expected to announce grim budget news today, which is all but certain to lead to significant spending cuts - perhaps as high as 10 percent - in some city departments, according to three sources familiar with the budget. News Corp says Mark Williams interim Premiere CEO (Reuters via Yahoo! News) News Corp. executive Mark Williams has taken over as chief executive of German pay-TV broadcaster Premiere in an interim capacity, News Corp. said after the move led to renewed takeover speculation. News Corp. says Mark Williams interim Premiere CEO (Reuters via Yahoo! News) Mark Williams, a News Corp. executive named late on Wednesday as chief executive of German pay-TV broadcaster Premiere, has taken over in an interim capacity, a News Corp. spokeswoman said on Thursday. Site: news - Google News New Voices in Congress Will Change the Tone of the Democratic Majority - New York Times
MORE RESOURCES: Site: Yahoo! News Search Results for entrepreneurialism Lone Star Library: Green Mountain founder shares entrepreneurial insights (Fort Worth Business Press) Rural Southerner Sam Wyly came by his self-made captain-of-industry status the hard way, developing a passion for business strategy by playing schoolboy football and observing his parents? natural gift for small-business operations and hard-bargain bartering. S.C.'s brightest complete Business Week (Columbia Star) Approximately 200 high school students from across S.C. have successfully graduated from South Carolina Business Week, presented by the South Carolina Cable Television Association, July 13- 18, at Presbyterian College in Clinton. Wellington West opens Montreal branch (CNW Group via Yahoo! Finance) Wellington West Holdings Inc., a privately held, employee-owned financial services firm, today announced the expansion of its national network with the opening of a Wellington West Capital Inc. full-service retail investment branch in Montreal, Quebec. Ctek Selects Kyocera 300 Module for Z4100 Wireless Router (Centre Daily Times) Kyocera Wireless Corp. (KWC), a leading global manufacturer of wireless handsets, devices and embedded machine-to-machine (M2M) modules, and Ctek, a leading manufacturer of specialized communications solutions for industrial and commercial applications, today announced the selection of the Kyocera 300 Module for Ctek's cost-effective Z4100 Router. The Kyocera 300 Module enables reliable, ... Memphis confident of growth campaign (Memphis Commercial Appeal) One year after the launch of a $64 million economic development campaign, city officials are increasingly optimistic about the impact of MemphisED on the Bluff City. Summer break project: JTCC student lives, learns nonprofit leadership with Pheonix Project (The Petersburg Progress-Index) CHESTER ? Jamie Poniatowski, a Class of 2008 human services major, spent her summer break in Petersburg, participating in the Phoenix Project?s 2008 Nonprofit Leadership and Social Entrepreneurship Program, which transforms committed undergraduate and graduate students into effective social entrepreneurs with the knowledge, skills and connections to succeed in Virginia?s nonprofit sector. Ctek Selects Kyocera 300 Module for Z4100 Wireless Router (Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance) SAN DIEGO & RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif.----Kyocera Wireless Corp. , a leading global manufacturer of wireless handsets, devices and embedded machine-to-machine modules, and Ctek, a leading manufacturer of specialized communications solutions for industrial and commercial applications, today announced the selection of the Kyocera 300 Module for Ctek?s cost-effective Z4100 Router. $1 Million Opus Prize Finalists Announced (PR Newswire via Yahoo! Finance) Seattle University and the Opus Prize Foundation today announced three finalists for the $1 million 2008 Opus Prize, one of the world's largest humanitarian service awards. Guided by faith and an entrepreneurial spirit, Marguerite "Maggy" Barankitse, Krishnammal Jagannathan and Michael Woodard are working throughout the world to give people the tools to transform their lives. Scotiabank Online Small Business Contest Last Call (CNW Group via Yahoo! Finance) The chance for Canadian small business owners to win $50,000 in cash prizes is coming to a close. As part of Scotiabank's 'Get Growing to a Million' Campaign, the online challenge has offered small business owners across Canada a chance to win one grand prize of $20,000 and six regional prizes of $5,000. In cinemas this weekend (Guardian Unlimited) RocknRolla | The Duchess | Bangkok Dangerous | Disaster Movie | Sweete Land | El Cantante | Never Apologise | Mera Pind My Home Site: entrepreneurialism - Google News Ohio House Speaker Budish touts regionalism in his first address - WKYC-TV
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