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Startup Capital – Ways to Raise Funding and Grow Your Small Business

Guna — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 12:03:56 +0000

A principal concern of many small business owners is how to finance the continued growth of their business. While in the past, conventional means like bank loans, and even SBA loans, were popular, today’s economy has business owners reaching for some less-utilized means of finance which, while unconventional, can be as helpful (if not more so) than traditional loan programs. Among others, here are a few popular and reputable ways to finance your business growth.

Find Your Angel

Angel Lenders provide start up or investment capital (usually from their own private funds) in exchange for equity in the business in which they’re investing. Angel investors are often affluent individuals or a group of people who have pooled their resources to provide this service. Angel investing generates a large return due to the risk involved to the investor, but statistically, businesses who employ angel investing are actually more likely to succeed than their traditionally financed counterparts.

Big Money

Venture Capital typically comes from institutional investors, pools of investors, or individuals with high net worth. Particularly common in technology fields, venture capital investments generally involve lending a business money in exchange for equity in that particular business. Since many businesses who utilize venture capital are too small or too new to qualify for a bank loan, the risk to the investors is high, which translates to a high return on investments and usually a sizable interest in the business.

Trade?

Equity Trading is a newly-coined term to describe what happens when businesses decide to leave money out of it and trade equity for services. This arrangement can benefit both businesses since the investor doesn’t need money, simply a skill that the other business needs to utilize, and the business needing the investment receives free or reduced work from a company who has a vested interest in their success. An example where this might be a highly valuable arrangement is if you own a great keyword rich domain name, but lack in online marketing skills and need more traffic to grow your business. By finding a complement, where it’s a win-win situation (you make more money and they make money if they produce results) can be a beautiful thing. But if you’re considering using equity trading, be sure to get documentation of your agreement in case you run into any problems down the road.

Though these methods might seem at first to be odd or unconventional, each has proven to be hugely effective and profitable for the vast majority of business owners who use them. Let’s face it, today’s difficult economic climate has made alternative financing strategies a necessary step to financial success. Taking advantage of these lending tools can provide small businesses with a more flexible financial solution as well as the peace of mind that comes from knowing that their business is on sound financial footing.

This is a guest post from Kevin Kaiser of Startup Biz Blog, bringing resources together for aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners. For more, follow him on twitter, @StartupBizBlog.

adflyer: A Smarter online Marketplace

Guna — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 19:57:57 +0000

adflyer, yet another classified advertisement system is trying to fill the gap that exists in the marketplace at the moment. They claim their goal is to fill the big gap that exists between good classified system and all the good shopping sites.

Recently, I was contacted by Ben O’Brien from UK regarding his new startup. Ben wanted me to take a look at his website and mention it to all of you. When asked why he came up with yet another classified system, the said, “we already know that there are a number of classified sites out there, but the more we researched the market, the more we realised that there was a big gap for a site which combined the best of classified ads with all the good points of shopping website.”

I had a chance to to ask Ben a few questions regarding his new venture.

What is your vision? (what are you offering to your visitors?)
adflyer offers a simple but effective classified advertising service. adflyer is not just aimed at private sellers to online retailers too.

What is your business plan or model?
adflyer is aimed at both the public and business users who want to buy and sell new as well as second hand.

Why did you start this website?
adflyer was created because of the frustration of ebay – fee’s were always increased and too many scams

How are you planning to market it?
adflyer plan to launch a major PR campaign in 2010 – to date marketing has been down to word of mouth and search engine optimisation

What is the name of the founder/creator of the site?
The two founders are Ben O’Brien (25) Sam Naylor (25)

Where is the location of the website (country, province or state) ?
adflyer are currently based in Birmingham England UK

When was the site launched?
adflyer launched September 2008

Why is your site different than your competitors?
adflyer differs in a number of ways – to name a few, merchants can sell through their own payment processing system, users can select from new and second hand items, free to list items.

Any other information that you believe is relevant to your startup?
adflyer are constantly looking to partner with high trafficked websites to offer an orange label service (similar to a white label) – this partnership is designed to be highly beneficial to both parties. adflyer has already partnered with a radio group in the West Midlands.

NeedCube – Let Your Needs Find You

Guna — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:07:52 +0000

Have you ever had the desire to just tell someone what you need and when you need it and then expect them to fulfill all your needs rather than you do it each time? Well I believe NeedCube, a new website, has a solution to your desire.

NeedCube allows you to create a profile/identify for yourself in which you can define your needs, desires and wishes. NeedCube will then bring you what you need and when you need it. According to Gergely Nagy, the founder of this website, this website revolutionizes the way you seek information on the web.

It does sound like a buy and sell website that allows you to post for items that you are in need of and someone who has that item will contact you to sell it. However, according to Gergely, this is a different concept. It really acts as a reverse matching concept of the traditional searching for a product or a service.

We had a chance to interview Gergely earlier with a few basic questions. I believe his answers to these questions will provide you with a bit more information about the new venture.

What is your vision? (what are you offering to your visitors?)
NeedCube is a unified field for people’s needs. We offer free need submission and search among existing needs. The vision is to have a central place for all the need of people no matter what the category is. At NeedCube you don’t have to struggle with categories.

What is your business plan or model?

At the moment everything is free. Later on we can introduce premium services for premium needs.

Why did you start this website?

Because none exists at the moment. We wanted to build a unique place for people’s needs. NeedCube is centered around the demand side not the supply.
It is not a classifieds site, it is about needs. If you are a seller you can come to NeedCube and search with keywords for the stuff you have to offer and see if anyone needs it or not.

The main slogan is: find people who need your stuff or register your own!

According to Gergely, there are no other similar website. I haven’t come across any at the moment but if Gergely can really serve the need of the people, then the website will be successful.

Gergely has also created some youtube videos on the basic functions and how to effectively use them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuS3jSbYfF8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfIHbr2_cIk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AWIzlSw_0o

Visit NeedCube.com for more information.

Entrepreneurs: Your Network is Your Net Worth

Guna — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 15:48:01 +0000

How good are you with networking? Networking is becoming more and more crucial for success in today’s interconnected world. You might be a hard worker but if you are not good at networking and making a few good friends outside your comfort zone, you will not be successful unless you invent something extraordinary.

What do I mean by the “comfort zone”?

In networking, “comfort zone” is often referred to the circle of people that you are comfortable interacting with. This could be your friends, family, co-workers and to an extent the people you may have to interact daily at your work. These are people that you can actually start a conversation with and talk about any particular topics. However, when it comes to introducing yourself to a total stranger, you are not comfortable because it is outside your “comfort zone.” If you want to be successful at networking, first you must identify your “comfort zone” and avoid spending time with that group at a party or at a get together of some sort. I am not suggesting that you don’t talk to them; I am suggesting that you limit the amount of time you spend within your comfort zone. If you go to a professional reception or a conference and spend time talking to a member from within your “comfort zone”, you are just wasting your time. You might as well have been at home instead of this event. You need to reach outside your comfort zone and connect with people.

First Step of Networking:

Networking has two important elements that run in parallel to each other. Without one, the other won’t get too far. Hence you need to work on both at the same time to be successful. In order to be successful in networking, one must give as much as they expect from others. Giving and Receiving are the two pillars; the two tracks. So giving and receiving run in parallel to each other. You must add value and give others an opportunity to expand their network as much as you want someone else to offer you the assistance to expand your network.

I can’t say that I am an expert in networking in my personal life. Two days ago, I had a chance to run into Kiefer Sutherland at a film ceremony reception that I’ve attended as part of my work. I had an opportunity to say hi to Mr. Sutherland but I didn’t really have the guts to get more than about 5 words out of me when I shook his hand. My intension wasn’t really to network with Mr. Sutherland, although I would love to know him, but I am just raising this as an example to show you that not everyone is professional at networking. You just have to continue to work at it every time you have a chance. Each time you should try a different approach. Once you get used to your own technique of saying hello to new people that you meet on a daily basis, you will see your network grow faster and faster. As an entrepreneur and as a business owner, you must remember that you network is your net worth!

Also don’t forget to read my previous article on relationship: Make a Habit to Invest In Relationships.

How to Find Two Extra Hours Everyday for Your Own Business

Guna — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 11:59:14 +0000

Are you finding it difficult to make time for your own business? Is this keeping you from achieving your success? Well let me tell you something, you have within you a power that you can take advantage of today to gain a few extra hours everyday.

Well there may be many solutions to this but I am going to talk about one option that you can implement today to save up to 2 hours of productive time in your day.

You can all find two or more hours in a day by simply changing your sleeping pattern. I am sure you’ve all heard that before but I want to tell you what is working for me.

Two approaches to saving time by changing your sleeping pattern:

Sleep at a fixed time and wake up at a fixed time

This strategy is to sleep at a set hour every day and wake up after 8 hours. For example you will go to bed at 10 pm every night and wake up at 6 am. The argument here is that your body will learn to rest well when it follows a certain fixed pattern.

Well I am not sure about you but this strategy of sleeping in at a fixed time will not work for many entrepreneurs, especially if you are just starting up a business. You have many things to worry about and you have many meetings to take everyday, hence by the time you reach home it may be early one day or it may be late one day. It is hard to predict and set the agenda for bedtime when you really is focused on making your business successful.

One other argument against this strategy is that how does one know they need 8 hours of sleep everyday? I think this is one of the biggest myth. Your body needs just enough time to rejuvenate. Sleeping extra hours than required would also have negative impact on your daily activities. You may feel tired and your productivity will be low.

Wake up at a fixed time

This strategy is to wake up every morning at a set time like 5 am. You make your body get used to this time so that you will automatically wake up every morning at this time. You go to sleep when your body is ready to go to sleep. For example, one day your body will feel tired at 9 pm and you may want to go to bed at that time; another day you may go to bed at midnight because until midnight you are not sleepy. In other words, you let your body manually adjust on a daily basis rather than letter it run on auto pilot.

This strategy tends to increase the number of hours you have available to do work. You let your body guide you when you need to sleep and how long you need to sleep for. Waking up at 5 am everyday (early risers) will help you plan your day properly. You can also use the extra time you’ve gained in the morning to do productive work.

I have used the second strategy (wake up at a fixed time) lately and it seems to work very well for me. I have been using the extra hours I get in the morning and sometimes at night to prepare blog postings for this site. I hope you recognize that I am putting in more and more effort to have quality posts lately. This is only possible because I have changed my sleeping pattern so I can make this blog successful. For someone like me who has a full time job that takes up most of my daytime hours and sometime into the night, this strategy is helping me keep my blog hobby alive!

Two hours of saved time could really mean four hours of productivity because early in the morning your body and mind is fresh so you can concentrate more on what you are doing. This way your will be producing results that are far better than staying up late at nights to complete the tasks.

Let your body guide you to success. I wish you all the best.

Please share your experience by posting a comment. If you find this article helpful, please use the icons below to share it with your friends through Digg, Delicious, Twitter, etc.

Thank you.

Entrepreneurs: Understand the Importance of Social Media Marketing

Guna — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 14:23:45 +0000

If you are an entrepreneur, then you must endeavor to understand “Social Media Marketing” before it is too late. Everything is moving toward real time sharing of information between real people. Understanding the concept of social media could be a bit tricky. Everyone talks about Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, etc but if you don’t look into how they disseminate information, you will not understand the true meaning of social media.

Here is what Wikipedia says for “Social Media”:

“Social media is media designed to be disseminated through social interaction, created using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. Social media supports the human need for social interaction with technology, transforming broadcast media monologues (one to many) into social media dialogues (many to many). It supports the democratization of knowledge and information, transforming people from content consumers into content producers.”

Content is generated in real time by consumers rather than by the site owners, webmasters or editors. Consumers, instead of reading news papers are now producing news in real time. This is where the world is today and it is headed in light speed to further advance the technology to allow consumers to fully be in the driver seat. You as an Entrepreneur must be on top of the “Social Media” concept in order for your business to be successful.

I will be focusing more and more on this topic on my blog in the future. I am working on an experiment on Twitter and I will be sharing that here as well.

So if Social Media is defined as above, then what is Social Media Marketing? Wikipedia explains social media marketing as:

“Social media marketing also known as social influence marketing is the act of using social influencers, social media platforms, online communities for marketing, publication relations and customer service. Common social media marketing tools include Twitter, blogs, LinkedIn, Facebook, Flickr and YouTube.”

If you master this topic, you can generate leads for your business with very little expense. If you master this topic, you can drive mass amount of targeted users to your website with minimal cost. If you master this topic, blah blah… I think you got my point.

Social Media is here to stay. Just like when internet and web site ownership was new back in the early 90s, Social Media is the new wave of technology advancement. Millions of people are involved in creating content on the internet than ever before.

Couple of reasons why you should consider mastering social media:

Low Cost/High Return

As I mentioned above, the cost of launching a social media campaign is next to nothing if you are doing it yourself. Yes it will cost a lot more money if you are using a professional consultant or a firm. The benefits of social media will exceed the cost (if any) by far.

Not Very Difficult to Learn

You just have to be yourself and build a network of influencers around you. Just like any real world, trust is number one factor in being successful in social media marketing. Once you have the basic fundamental requirements, just choose a platform that you feel comfortable with. Also make sure your target audiences are also using that platform so you can drive them to your site.

Build Natural Traffic/Links

Once you’ve build your network, it is easy to drive customers to your site or to get your stories out. You will get targeted traffic to your website and in most cases other users will link your website and talk about it on their own social media platform. i.e. a blog, etc. This way you are building natural links to your website. This will eventually drive natural traffic to your website.

It is Complimentary

The traffic you get from social media marketing is complimentary to the traffic you get from search engines. You also have no control over the amount of traffic you get from search engines but you can control social media marketing. If you work hard and build your network, you can drive high volume of quality traffic to your website.

So where should you start?

If you haven’t already, please go back to my blog posting, five basic rules for startup success, and make sure you have done your homework on successfully starting a business. Just like every startup, you have to plan ahead of time because if you fail to plan, you will not succeed.

Once you do that, you should join a social media platform and start contributing and build your network. Remember what I told you earlier, just be yourself and be honest with others. You will grow your network in no time and you can then take advantage of the network.

Here is a list of sites for you to consider joining:

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Entrepreneur: Keep Your Heads Up and Think Outside the Box

Guna — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:34:13 +0000

I think it is time for you to wake up and smell the roses. Really, is it just me or are you all feeling the same today? It is 2009, almost 10 years from the peak of the dot com bubble, a lot has changed but have you? In this article, I am going to try and touch on a few points as to why you will fail today if you follow the “status quo.”

I don’t mean to make you panic but I want you to understand the urgency to think outside the box.

Since the economy has tanked over the past year, thousands of people are left without a job, consumers are reluctant to spend money and overall a lot of uncertainty on the market. I am sure I don’t have to elaborate on this point but have you ever asked yourself what this means for you and your startups? Well if you haven’t, then you should once you finish reading this posting. “Diligence” must be taken in the wake of the current economic crisis.

There is a lot of uncertainty associated with the recession but one thing we know for sure about recessions is that all countries, including all of ours, will bounce back in time. They have all bounced back out of a recession in the past and this time too, we will bounce back. So while we are down in the trenches at the moment, are you working on your building blocks so you can excel when the economy bounces back?

In order to succeed in today’s market; you need to think outside the box. Move away from status quo. Status quo kind if mentality is not going to get you in front of your competitors; it will only keep you afloat. Afloat only if you are lucky! Thinking and doing the same as your competitors is not going to make you successful.

Source WikiPedia

Learn to think differently than others. Learn to stand out among others. Do something different so you can show your visitors that you have something unique that is not found anywhere else. Think about Richard Branson and his well known controversial marketing tactics. He created his first business when he was 16! Think about the amount of free exposure he generates just by thinking outside the box. I am not suggesting that you work on setting world records to make your startup fly but what I am getting at is that you need to think a little different than the million others who are trying to do the same thing as you are. Then only you can stand out among other entrepreneurs. Everyone has different traits, show your talent by coming up with something unique.

Here are few things you can work on that will help you with your startups.

Social Media Marketing:

Yesterday I’ve discussed about the “Importance of Understanding the Social Media Marketing.” I think it is worth mentioning that again today. The fundamental aspect of marketing is to fulfill certain objectives of yours by gaining the attention of an audience (the visitor). Such objectives could be as simple as to build your reputation, make a sale, redirect to an affiliate program, get a few clicks on your ads or to capture the lead (users, subscribers, etc).

Social Media Platforms offers a wide range of opportunities for you to take advantage of millions of people who wants to participate and collaborate with you. Some entrepreneurs focus on building profiles that are self serving with user generated content only to get traffic back to their websites. Some focus on building a community by participating and contributing to a network of people and eventually building his/her authority in that particular topic or niche. Then there are those that fully take advantage of the social media market and really push it to reap the full potential of social media marketing.

Just think about Twitter. It has millions of users from all around the world with thousands of different interests. It is like you don’t even have to be specific to one niche or to a target audience when you launch something viral on the social media. It is time to leverage the size and the reach of large user base of these Social Media Platforms.

Many large companies such as Dell are taking advantage of sites like Twitter. They are posting “exclusive sales only for Twitter users.” I am sure you would have heard of the Dell earning $1 million in revenue by posting offers on Twitter. These are different tactics used by leading companies to take advantage of Social Media Marketing. Dell probably don’t care who is looking at their tweets. In other words, with such a large user base of Twitter, Dell doesn’t care who or when a user reads their tweet. Dell today has over one million followers on Twitter. Where else would you get this sort of attention when you hit the “send” button with your message or your sales pitch? People just waiting to read what you have to say! This is very powerful if you know how to master it.

Just think about it. Are you taking advantage of social media marketing? Are you leveraging the large user base of such platforms? If you aren’t, why are you not thinking about it?

In order for you to succeed with your social media marketing strategies, you need to understand why the people are there in the first place. You need to understand why some spend time on Twitter while others spend time on Facebook or other social media platforms such as Digg. Some spend time on all of them. People tend to cluster in places they feel comfortable with – the tools that provide them with the ability to interact with other users. Therefore, your marketing tactics should differ for each platform. Once you understand what makes each platform unique, you need to launch your campaigns accordingly to satisfy the need of those people.

Once you learn to gain the attention of these users, you will have no problem monetizing your efforts. Some of the key things for you to keep in mind about social media marketing is that when you work on your own profile, make sure you are being honest with people in your network and also try to build relationship with key influencers. These key influencers can make your story/product go viral in no time. They have a huge fan base and they can get the words out. Therefore, associating with key influencers is a must in social media marketing strategy.

Give Before You Ask:

I am sure you’ve heard these terms many times in your life. Are you really taking advantage of this strategy? How are you adding value to your audience? So you work so hard with your social media marketing strategies and drive traffic to your site but if you are not adding value to your audience, then what is the point of driving them to your site in the first place?

Many people have used this strategy and it still works. Yesterday I logged into my Google Adsense account and I saw some unusual activity. I’ve made 3 times more money than any other days. I was happy but in the mean time I wanted to know what was happening. So I went over to my site and watch what sort of ads are being displaced. With no surprise, I found an ad that was giving away a “FREE” product on internet marketing. My visitors found it interesting enough and click through to get their free product. The point of this story is that you should make an effort to add value to your audience before you ask something of them. People will almost all the time will go for it. They will click through or they will subscribe just to get the free product.

If you are a blogger, write good content so you can keep your visitors and gain their trust before you ask them to buy a product or something. If you have a website, give them a free e-book of all of your knowledge. People love the free stuff and they will sign up or even subscribe to get the products.

However, when you offer them a free product, you have to do it in a way that you don’t come across as a spammer. Therefore, you need to make them feel comfortable on your site then you offer them something they want. Do whatever you can to add value to your audience before you ask for something.

Build Strong Relationships within Your Niche:

Don’t take every competitor as an enemy and that you need to take over their business. Everyone during this recession is hurting, so why not think about working together to achieve your goals together? I am not suggesting that you should share your secrets or your products but I am suggesting that there are ways to take advantage of each others traffic, knowledge, etc.

Governments across the world are working together to tackle the economy. They know it is best to work together at this time than to compete. The same strategy should be used by entrepreneurs who are looking to build a foundation for future success. The internet is huge; there is traffic for everyone. Sharing and sending traffic back and forth between sites will allow the audience to feel fulfilled. They will feel that they have gained more by visiting your site or your competitor’s site. Refer to each others products and services. Once a visitor see you working together with your competitor, they also feel comfortable enough to trust you as well.

I talked earlier about the recession and how we need to work on our building blocks for future success. Well if you know your customers are not spending the big bucks today because they are out of a job or something, why not just work on gaining their trust over the next few month so when they have the money, they will spend it on your products? This is what I meant earlier about working on your building blocks and assembling them in a way that you are standing on a stronger foundation when this recession is over.

With this article, I didn’t mean to scare anyone about the recession or anything but just suggesting that everyone should open up their eyes, keep their heads up and start thinking outside the box.

If you find the article helpful, please use the icons below to share it with your friends through Digg, Delicious, Twitter, etc. I would really appreciate if you could leave a comment as well.

Entrepreneur: How to Go From Failure to Success

Guna — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 13:54:50 +0000

Knowing how to get through a failed attempt and having the attitude to move on with another startup is what makes up a true entrepreneur. How do you cope with failure? Are you better at handling failures? How do you do it?

Entrepreneurs are risk takers which mean you will face multiple failures in life. Although Entrepreneurs are confident and are better than many people in coping with such event, many still find it difficult to get through this period. This is why learning to accept and moving on is crucial for future success.

You need to look at the positive aspect of failing and take advantage of it. This is how you become a successful entrepreneur. As I mentioned on my previous posts, 21 Words All Entrepreneurs Eliminate to Become Successful, you can learn a lot from your failures.

Here are few things you should do if you fail so you can be successful next time around:

Accept & Pull Yourself Together

Accept that your business has failed. Although this may be difficult, it is the first thing you need to do. Many people can’t get out of the “denial” cycle hence stuck in one startup that has failed on them. They don’t go on to succeed with new startups. In order to move on and to succeed, you must accept the failure. Embrace the knowledge learned from this venture for future attempts.

Identify Mistakes

You need to do your homework. You need to make some time to decipher what just happened with your startup. This will help you identify your weaknesses. By identifying the mistakes you’ve made, you are on track to be stronger next time around because you will be on alert and will not repeat the same mistake twice.

Identify What Worked For You

Make sure you also note the things you’ve done right as well. The experience you have just gained is priceless. Hence making note of things that worked for you during the process. It is essential that you save this knowledge for your next startup so you can be successful.

Adjust Your Viewpoint

Were you trying to moving up to the top quickly? There is no such thing as becoming a millionaire overnight. You need to work on the building blocks step by step. You should reconsider your perspective and see if you can make small adjustments for incremental successes.

Find Something New and Try Again

Like I said above, you can learn a lot from your failure. Embrace the knowledge and find something different to try again. You will be surprised with the results when you apply your past knowledge. You must stay alert on your weak spots so you don’t repeat the same mistake again.

No one can teach you lessons similar to what you’ve just gained from failing. You have to learn to accept the failure and move on to something new. Success does not come with one try. Consider this as a building block to success.

If you find the article useful, please use the icons below to share it with your friends through Digg, Delicious, Twitter, etc. I would really appreciate it if you have comments as well.

Startups: To Outsource or Not To Outsource Explained in 5 Steps

Guna — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 19:02:27 +0000

There are many that would argue that outsourcing during the early part of your startup is probably better. On the other hand, many would also argue that keeping it in-house and doing it all by yourself is better for you. Which one is it? Which one is better for you?

In this critical time, with tight budget and a tough financial market to raise money, this question to whether to outsource or do it in house has become more crucial than ever before. Startups with no internal staff on various core functions are struggling with this question on a daily basis to get their business off the ground.

From my experience, the answer varies from startup to startup. It varies because you need to ask yourself the question, “What are you good at doing and how much time you have for your startup?” If you answer this question honestly, you will have the answer to whether you should outsource some non-core functions or if you should manage it all within by wearing multiple hats.

You should follow this simple 5 step guide to help you answer the question. I have seen this work in the past. Throughout all of this, especially if you are going at this alone, find a mentor to guide you.

Your Numbers and Time:

Figure out how much time you have and how much money you can actually bring to the table for this startup. You need to be honest with yourself in making this assessment. This step determines the available startup capital for your startup. If you get this wrong, you will probably make the wrong decisions in the steps to follow.

Problem You Are Trying to Solve:

What is it that you are actually trying to solve with your startup? Figure out what sort of skill sets are required to complete the development work and what is required to market this product or service. Make a chart and figure out how much of this you are realistically capable of doing on your own and how much of this you will need some sort of help with – either in-house or external. You can wear multiple hats but you only have 24 hours in a day and 7 days in a week, just like everyone else. Hence, when your startup heats up, you won’t have the time to manage all functions by yourself.

Financial Analysis:

This is the most crucial step. You should always spend more time here and try to run through every component of your project and compare the cost between in-house and outsource. In order to do this, take your project and divide it into individual tasks and resources required to complete each task. Then examine the time required to complete each task. Do some research using employment websites and see what you will pay for in-house staff. You will also have to add the cost of providing office space for the employees. In order to find out the cost of outsourcing, call up a few outsourcing firms and get an idea of the kind of cost and time it would require to complete your project.

Numbers speak for themselves and many times, you should be able to decide by this step whether outsourcing is for you or not.

Make or Break a Project – Find the Right Talent:

Many startups are not the experts in managing staff or directly dealing with another outsourcing firm. Hence when the pressure mounts to get additional help, they tend to make the wrong decisions. Even if they make the right decision to outsource or to hire staff, they end up hiring the wrong employee or outsource the work to a firm that does not deliver. You can make or break a project with your choice. Timing is crucial for any startups so make sure you do your homework to either hire the right employee for your office or find the right firm to outsource. Don’t cheap out on either one. You need to go back to the above points and see how much you can afford, then find a decent firm that can deliver for you on time or hire a professional that can help you with your startup.

Decide if Mixing Outsourcing with In-House will Work for You:

Many will find this model work for them because there are core functions that you may not want to outsource. Such core functions could be financial related or security related. Once you follow the above steps, you will be able to identify the core functions and you will also be able to identify how much money you got to play with. These two pieces of information will help you figure out what you should keep for in-house and what you should outsource.

From my experience, mixing both works well most of the time. As a founder of a new business, you tend to wear multiple hats. Hence you able to do many functions but at the same time, you will need help with tasks that are beyond your skill sets. For those tasks, I usually look for a firm that I can outsource the work to. Once you start dealing with a firm or a few, you will begin to create a relationship with some of them. You should work on this relationship because if you find the right firm, you can use them over and over again because you know they will deliver on time and on budget.

I hope this simple step by step guide to decide whether to outsource or to do it yourself works for you. If you’ve experienced this in the past, share it with our readers by leaving a comment.

Entrepreneurs: Make a Habit to Invest in Relationships

Guna — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 20:49:39 +0000

How do you know if you are truly making the most of the people around you, the people you come in touch with on a regular basis and all other people you meet through social networking sites, etc?

Today I had a chance to read Martin Zwilling’s blog post “Can You Find My Contact Info in a Second?” In this particular post, Martin explains why it is so difficult to find up to date information on the people you’ve met and why the rolodex with 100 business cards doesn’t work anymore. I totally agree with him. It is very difficult to find someone’s current contact information these days. Many people are moving around from job to job and hence their contact information is changing on a regular basis. His posting made me wonder throughout the day and it made me think about my own relationships. So I wanted to share my perspective on why it is so important for you to maintain your relationships on a regular basis to not only succeed in business but also in life.

How many true friends do you have? Are you in touch with them on a daily basis? I believe many entrepreneurs don’t take this particular subject seriously before they go about starting their own new business. If you maintain your relationships, it will be one of the best tools you can tap into when you launch your new startup. In most cases, this will not cost you a penny. These are the people you can count on to provide you with some feedback for your new website, new service or a product. They are the people that can spread the words about your products and services. They are your free marketers when you are ready to launch your next startup.

However, maintaining the relationship comes with responsibility. It is not an easy task. It requires daily commitment from you to make a phone call or to send an email just to say hi. I think many of us take relationships for granted and we don’t give the attention it requires. We believe it will be there when we need it the most but forget to understand that just like us, everyone is busy as well and that old relationship does not wait around for you.

In order to maintain the relationship you need to invest in people. You need to first learn to value who they are, respect their work, respect their view and finally understand them. Understanding one another is not an easy task as well but at least if you want to build relationships to help you with your business analyze the following areas and help them along.

find out what their goal in life is
find out what they like doing the most
do they have any interests or hobbies
find out what they need help with
find out what they are working on

Many successful people find a way to keep in touch with hundreds people all the time. They don’t know much about the individuals but they have a way to keep a tiny bit of crucial information that they know will spark an interest or a conversation with their contacts. This sort of delicacy will help you go a long way in terms of building relationships. You will need to find a way to keep this information along with your contacts. Martin’s post suggests a few tools for you to try out.

In order to find this delicacy, first you need to understand the truth about people. You need to understand that at the end of the day, they are all human beings as well. They have feelings too and they want to feel important and special. You need to learn to give them what they want or lack. For example, if they want to associate with success then you should help them achieve that. If they are insecure then you give them confidence. If they don’t feel special, make them feel special by truthfully complementing about their work etc. If they are starting up a business, be the first one to lend a hand.

This is how you build a network of true online friends. This is how you build relationships in your life. If you do it right and help them along, they will be there when you need to count on them. In your niche market, you will meet a lot of people on a regular basis. Help them along and keep in touch. You will need them one day.

I hope my thoughts help your relationships. Please leave comments for others to read on how you manage your relationships and how it has helped you with your startups.

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