Successful Blog

Top Five Industries to Start a New Business

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Where Do You Start?

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Starting a new business is a big decision, which has to be taken with much thought and diligence. No two years are the same and with changing trends one has to be vigilant enough to tap the right business opportunities at the right time.

The year 2012 is the year of the retail business, personal care, hospitality and education. While these are not the out-of-box industries that seem to be providing good potential for growth, but it is the way one propels their business using the right techniques catering to the modern times. Success lies, not in what you sell, but how you sell it. Here is a brief overview of the top five industries to start a new business:

Health and wellness: a healthy lifestyle is something which every one aspires for. The health and wellness industry covers a large domain including healthy eating, fitness centres, fitness consultancy, personal grooming, care of the elderly and to an extent hospitality. Consumers are growing aware of what they are eating, the sources of their food, keeping fit by visiting gyms and fitness centres, consulting with yoga gurus and experts and even opting for stress management activities. All these areas of health and wellness offer opportunities to start a new business.

You could start a franchisee that offers healthy snacks or open up a fitness centre or a gym. If you are good at providing consultation, you can go for a health and fitness centre with expert consultants offering tips on healthy and nutritious eating. The corporate sector too is urging its employees to be more fit, healthy and stress-free, which means that you can introduce wellness plans for the corporate sector.

The beauty industry: trends are indicative of the fact that the beauty industry is a growing sector and so it has made the list of the top five industries to start a new business. As per the surveys conducted worldwide, it has been seen that consumers have more disposable income, allowing them to spend more on personal grooming and healthcare. For this reason, there has been a surge in beauty salons, spas and centres for beauty treatments. Barber schools and cosmetology are the growing sectors in this industry with more and more people becoming interested in looking and feeling good.

Clothing industry: clothes have always been a favourite with women. However, with the new trends pouring in, it is seen that even men are getting more particular about the way they dress up. For this reason, the clothing industry along with the clothing accessory industry is a very good area to tap into when looking to start a new business.

Education: with increasing globalisation and the need for highly trained and skilled professionals all over the world, education has come to the forefront as one of the top industries to start a new business. Whether it is a business school, language school, a trade school or an educational consultancy, you are sure to receive a very good response.

Food industry: with recession almost gone now, people have higher levels of disposable income. This means the capacity to spend on healthy and organic foods and snacks has increased. Taking up franchisees of a frozen yogurt, healthy snacks, organic foods can be a way to start a small business.

So, if you are interested in starting up a new business, one of the safest bets would be in one of these mentioned industries. However, these are only 5 of the many industries out there. So, if these don’t take your fancy, there is a plethora of other industries to choose from.

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Author’s Bio:
Working as business & finance analyst in Brisbane, Jim is very much interested in management consulting for finance projects. He writes about new challenges coming up in next year’s in the industry. You can find more information at bsbdc.com or follow Jim on Twitter at @JamesForrest8

Thank you, Jim!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

Will Your Business Get Credit for Finding the Right Merchant Services Deal?

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Especially in a day and age when the economy is still struggling to get a firm grip, companies that are wavering on or turning their backs to small business credit card processing are missing the boat.

As a small business owner, you know myriad of challenges you must deal with when it comes to competing with large competitors. By having the right credit card processing system in place, your business can effectively compete and even win in some instances.

So, where do you start as a small business in securing the right credit card processing deal?

Options Abound for Merchant Services

The first step is locating a service that treats its merchants well, including providing stellar customer service and not tacking on a ton of fees.

Businesses would be advised to turn to sites like the Better Business Bureau and other such groups that have a handle on which businesses are best to deal with. Among the businesses you make look to for credit card processing include banks, independent sales organizations, third party processors and trade associations.

Once you have some companies with which to compare (consult as many financial institutions as possible, minimum three), be sure to sort out the different fees that they may possibly charge you. If you feel you may be hit with too many fees, do your best to negotiate them out of any contract. One reason for being charged high fees is if your history includes having credit issues, i.e. being in credit card debt.

After reviewing the companies and deciding on one, then comes the time to sign the contract.

Before signing a contract, make sure you read the fine print, including what happens if you decide to terminate the deal before it is up. In the event that should happen, will you be hit with any early termination fees?

The type of merchant account your small business will require depends on a number of factors, most importantly, how you conduct sales and process credit card payments.

A retail merchant account is slated for companies that physically swipe an individual’s card via a credit card terminal. In the event you need to process credit card payments electronically, you could find yourself facing additional fees, not to mention penalties and surcharges.

Meantime, both mail and telephone order merchant accounts are geared towards business without a physical card present. In this case, the credit card details are provided to a terminal with a keypad and then processed using software available on a personal computer.

In the event you travel at times with your business, making sales at your customer’s locale or other venues, you should look into a wireless merchant account. In this scenario, you will utilize a wireless credit card terminal that allows you to process the credit card transactions wherever you may be.

Lastly, you want to work with a vendor that deals with transactions from the major credit card providers, among which would be MasterCard, Visa, Discover and American Express to name a few.

Finding the right merchant credit card company doesn’t have to be like pulling teeth. If you do your research and listen to and read carefully the terms of agreement, you need to give yourself a lot of credit.

Photo credit: blog.chargesmart.com

Dave Thomas, who writes on topics such as business equipment leasing, writes extensively for online resource destination Business.com.

Investing: Even Fixed Income Products Have Risks

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Investment Risks in Fixed Income Products

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One of the key things to understand when investing in fixed income products is risks associated with this asset class. Contrary to popular notion, fixed income products are not devoid of risks and you need to be aware of them before investing in these products.

Investment risks: The Basics

Risks fall under two broad categories – Systematic risk (also called Market Risk and cannot be mitigated) and Unsystematic risk (this can be mitigated through appropriate portfolio strategies). Systematic risk impacts the entire market. Examples of this include change in government policies. Unsystematic risks are specific to a particular investment and can be mitigated through portfolio diversification. Within a fixed income portfolio, you can diversify your holdings across a number of products and minimize the risk. We will look at the unsystematic risks and see how you can avoid some of them.

Sources of Risks in Fixed Income Asset Class

Interest rate risk: This is caused by movements in interest rates. The value of bonds is inversely correlated to the interest rate and hence an upward movement in interest rates in the market will cause the value of bonds to dip. The Federal Reserve is holding the interest rates low for a prolonged period to spur credit demand in the economy. Once there are visible signs of the economy picking up, the Fed will announce an increase in policy rates which would cause the prices of bonds to decline. While you continue to receive your periodic interest payments on the bonds, the capital value of the bonds that you hold would decline, causing a capital loss. However, if you hold the bonds to maturity, you will not suffer a capital loss, as the bonds would be redeemed by the issuer at the face value.

Re-investment risk: This is the risk that you may not be able to reinvest the proceeds from an earlier investment at the same rate (as the original rate) at the time of maturity. If interest rates go up, you would gain and lose out in a declining interest rate scenario. You have to consider this risk when the maturity profile of the instruments you hold is less than your time horizon for investment. Laddering is a popular technique that helps reduce re-investment risk. What you should do is to invest your money in a staggered manner and vary the maturity profile of your investments. This would help you ride out the volatility on the interest rate front.

Liquidity risk: This is the risk that you may not be able to sell your holdings when desired. Or you may end up selling your holdings far below their intrinsic worth. Certificate of Deposits come with definitive lock in and are not liquid instruments whereas bond funds can be bought and sold on the exchange and carry minimum liquidity risk (the bond funds that are listed heavily traded). Always keep in mind your liquidity needs when you decide to allocate your funds to fixed income instruments.

Exchange rate risk: You would be exposed to exchange rate risk when you invest in instruments denominated in a currency, different from your domestic currency. You may find interest rates attractive in emerging economies and choose to invest in bond funds that hold these securities. What you should also remember is that this investment has an inherent risk of currency exchange rates. During uncertain times, an adverse currency exchange rate movement may offset the interest you earn and even cause a capital loss. One way of mitigating this risk is through currency hedges; however, these instruments are not available to all. And the cost of these hedges may outweigh the returns and make the whole exercise not worthwhile.

Credit risk: This is the risk that the issuer of the instrument may default on the obligations to pay the periodic coupon payments and/ or the principal. You should look for those instruments that carry a high credit rating and not get swayed by attractive coupon on offer. Instruments with good credit ratings carry a lower coupon as a general rule. Sticking to highly rated securities would protect you from this risk.

Summary

If you are looking at building a fixed income portfolio, it would be worthwhile to understand that this asset class is not devoid of risk. The objective of fixed income investing should be to generate steady income without taking undue risks. And understanding the risks in this asset class and ways of mitigating them would help you plan your allocation to this asset class.

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Author Bio:
George is a full time financial adviser and blogger. His interest lies in trading, investment, portfolio management and business finance. He also owns a couple of finance blogs which provide valuable information to intellectual readers.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

Start Doing

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Rosemary O’Neill

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“First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin. Then shalt thou count to three, no more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who, being naughty in my sight, shall snuff it.” Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Stop messing around and just throw the grenade already!

King Arthur, Galahad, and Brother Maynard wasted a lot of time debating the proper way to hurl the hand grenade while the killer bunny escaped unharmed.

What are you doing that is sidetracking you from your real purpose? Your 200 blog subscriptions are useful, but only if you do something with the information you’ve read (and the ones you aren’t reading…I give you permission to delete them). The teetering stack of business books on your nightstand might contain ideas that will launch your business to the stratosphere, but only if you have a way to implement the ideas (and yes, they still count if they’re clogging up your Kindle instead of your bedside).

Instead of counting to three over and over again, take action that will get you closer to your ultimate goal.

Here’s how to toss the grenade:

  • Every time you read a blog, article, or book, write down the “action items” you pull from them. Keep a notebook handy so that you can remember what you decided to do.
  • Check off the hardest task first thing in the morning. That thing you’ve been delaying because it’s hard or unpleasant. That thing you need to tackle in order to get to the next step. Didn’t do yours yet today? Go do it right now!
  • Find something that will snap you back to the original goal. Some people keep a dream board, or a written “big picture” list that they refer to at least daily. Keep your eyes focused on the prize, and feel free to turn off your social network notifications in order to do it. (Note to self: read your own blog posts, lady.)
  • Spend some time mentally considering how you will feel once you’ve taken action. Give yourself the mental image, how it will look, feel, taste. Savor that feeling and it will give you the power to start moving.
  • Take one bite at a time. Often, inaction or indecision is the result of feeling overwhelmed by the enormity of a project. If that’s happening, you need to stop and break the project down into manageable pieces. Then, you can gain momentum as you check off each task.

What strategies do you use to get yourself to take action?

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Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for social strata — a top ten company to work for on the Internet . Check out their blog. You can find her on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee
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What Could Changes to EU Internet Mean to Your Business?

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Ideas and Infographics

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Changes in European Internet Access

The EU is in a digital race to decrease its dependence on financial services and improve its Internet access. What exactly is on this agenda?

Europe plans on making high-speed broadband connection available to all EU households by 2012 (a lofty goal given the time frame) and a 50% subscription rate of more than 100 Mbps by 2020. Because of the recession, EU countries are fighting to be the first to reach these goals in hopes of opening up opportunities for businesses.

So what does this mean to you? An increase in global Internet usage could mean more international business opportunities for you. To put this into perspective, let’s look at a graphic that visualizes this race.


Click image to open full-size version (via Interxion).

According to the infographic, the UK is leading the pack in the number of consumers purchasing goods online. Moreover, it’s B2B purchasers aren’t that much further behind. Yet despite so many people purchasing goods online (79%), only 15% of businesses are selling goods online.

That means there is a huge demand not being met. So while businesses in Europe are slowly trying to lessen this gap, there is prime opportunity for your business to steal some of the international market share. Especially if you are already in the e-commerce business, there might be an opportunity to gain international exposure easily.

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Author’s Bio:
Adria Saracino is a marketer and blogger. When not developing content strategies, you can find her writing about style on her personal fashion blog, The Emerald Closet.

Thank you, Adria!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

Would You Hide Behind an E-Mail to Let an Employee Go?

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Many of us have been down that road no employee wants to travel; you are laid off or fired.

In my case, it was the former some six years ago while working for a company in San Diego. What made the action even more difficult to take was how it was handled.

To set the stage for you, I worked as an online editor for a publishing company. My responsibilities had grown during my five-plus years with the company from starting out as a staff writer, to temporary editor during some transitioning, to full-time online editor when all was said and done.

As I was nearing my sixth year of service with the company, I had a Friday that would forever change my life and especially how I would look at employers going forward.

Something Smells Here

On that Friday, I began my day working from home since we were allowed to do that from time to time. Just the day before, I was at my desk in the office working and nothing seemed terribly unusual. The owner of the company and I exchanged usual pleasantries and went on about our work days.

I left the office later that afternoon at my normal time, unbeknownst to me that it would be the last time I would ever set foot in that building again.

The next day (Friday), I started my work assignments online from home when I got an e-mail from my manager. She asked if I was coming in the office that day to which I replied no.

She then e-mailed to ask if I had time to do a conference call with her and the company CEO, something that seemed a little out of the ordinary for a Friday. I was never a Dean’s List student by any means, but I like to think that I make up for that lack of book knowledge by being rather street smart. The bottom line is something smelled here.

I e-mailed the manager back to ask her if something was up and she responded a few minutes later to say that I was being let go.

Okay, I don’t know how you would handle such an event, but about a dozen different emotions ran through my head at that time. The first and foremost one was why was this not done face-to-face the day earlier in the office?

Hiding behind a Computer

As it turns out, the owner of the company had his daughter-in-law (my manager at the time) do his dirty work for him. All the respect I had for that man over a five-year period went out the window in about 30 seconds. At least the way I was raised, you handle your business face-to-face with people, not hide behind a computer screen.

I would go on to find out that the CEO, a man that told me one day to my face his door was always open and I could always talk to him, was the one that orchestrated my dismissal. He also chose to hide behind his computer and not get on the phone with me at the least to give me an explanation of the dismissal. Again, he didn’t owe me that, but his previous words rang rather hollow at that point.

In 23 years of employment, I have come across some very good companies to work for and one or two that were not so good.

In a sense, what happened that Friday morning over a computer screen altered my outlook to a degree on employers forever.

One thing that will never change, I will always give 100 percent to any person that is kind enough to take me on and ask me to work for them; to do anything less is not the way I roll or how I was raised.

Secondly, however, I will never get as attached to a company as I did to that one six years ago.

The people at that company that I thought were my friends, the ones I traveled to conferences with, the ones I went to ballgames with, etc. dropped me like the plague when I got laid off. While they certainly were under no obligations to stay in touch with me, it really opened my eyes as to who your true friends are in such a scenario.

Years later I am happily employed with another company and coming up on a year anniversary.

What happened six years was a good learning experience,  one that will always make me look twice at people.

Some would say doing that is unhealthy and unfair to others – I see it as a way to never put myself in that position again of thinking those I worked with were any more than that – co-workers.

So, what are the ways you have been laid off or fired in the past?

Photo credit: ehow.co.uk

Dave Thomas, who writes on subjects such as VoIP phone service and credit card processing writes extensively for SanDiego-based Business.com.