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Entrepreneurship

How to Pick a Business Name

Naming your business is one of the funnest parts of starting your company. My name is Clayton Christopher with Sweet Leaf Tea Company. When you think about the name for your business, it should be-I feel like fairly short, something that's easy to remember. When I say short, sometimes less syllables in the words make it easy to remember. Your name is who you are. It's the personality of your company. So it should really reflect the personality of the company, the service you provide, or the benefit there. So, your name-it's really important, but people will oftentimes get too hung up on the name, so don't take it too seriously, but it doesn't have to completely
define who you are. Your company can continue to grow and get into other places, even if your name may say something different. You can also change your name along the way. Again, the name's important, but I wouldn't get too
hung up on it. But make sure it's memorable, and make sure it's something that is-you're proud of, and something that reflects the personality of your brand. When we came up with the name Sweet Leaf Tea I was on a sailboat
down to the Florida Keys with some friends, and we tossed around all different sorts of name, and it was actually a buddy of mine who came-I actually wanted to call it Big Leaf at first, and he said no, how about Sweet
Leaf. And so we settled on Sweet Leaf. This is Clayton Christopher on how to name your business.

Category:

Entrepreneurship

How would you run your own online marketing company?

>> CUTTS: Here's a fun question from Daniel in Thailand. He asks "Hi, Matt! If you would open your own Digital Marketing/SEM/SEO Company, what would you do different from the other thousand companies out there?" It's a really
fun question and it makes you think a lot.

Image by SigmaEye via Flickr

You know, there's a lot of great strategies that a lot of great SEOs and marketers already use. So things like running a really useful service can be a great way to attract attention and get buzz. And the sort of people who run open source great projects are often the sort of people that build up reputable trust in the real world. And so they build up trust online as well. You know, you could think about various ways to turn this on its head. What if you operated-well of course, it would be completely White Hat. But what if you operated completely transparently, you more or less recorded , you know, every meeting and put every, you know, recommendation and guideline up on the Web that you've made in your company. I think that would be interesting because the people that would show up, you didn't make them say, "Okay, you have to be willing to, to go on the record with what sort of stuff we're doing." But Eric Enge did a really neat project that was almost like this old house where he did a few case studies where he said, "I'm going to take this site and I'm going to show you exactly what I did. And I'm going to show you how much more traffic you get as a result." And I thought that was a very powerful case study. So just off the cuff, those are some of the things that I can think of. But the beauty of the marketing space is it's entirely based on creativity. You know, the more you can come up with a cool idea that no one else has, the more you can get to be well-known and build your reputation. So I think there's a lot of different niches and a lot of different ways that you could think about things.

Category:

Entrepreneurship, Sales & Marketing

Notes when doing manufacturing business

Making plan to establish a manufacturing company is little bit different with the service company. Hence, here are some things that you should know about your starting your own manufacturing company.

  • Find source of fund

Opening a manufacturing company needs more funding than service firms, as you need to invest fund in buying equipment. Thus, the first thing you must do is finding the appropriate financial resources to invest in your own business. To successfully apply for funding, you must demonstrate the ability of the company's success to the investors. It is difficult for lenders to give you money, without some sort of guarantee that you will make this company a success. Investors also provide a great opportunity to generate the money you need to get your business started. If you are able to find the right type of investors, it can be easier, for you to get your manufacturing business up and running, and to start making a mark in the industry.

  • Test product before building your business.

This will help you and your potential lender see the viability of your products. If you can product a favorable response, from your target market, you will be able to assure your lender, other investors and even yourself that your manufacturing business can be successful.

  • Invest in good business plan

Good business plan gives you the right direction, you will know where you are, what you are doing , if problem happens, you can decide any problem at any stage, so fixing it will be easier. In addition, good planning plays an important part in attracting big investors. If you have been down for a loan, it is most likely related to your business plan. Your business plan will need to include: a definition of your products and services, along with a marketing strategy, so that any potential lenders or investors will be able to see how you can reach out to your customers, and develop a relationship with them, and earn money.

  • Find suppliers

At the time when you start to think about idea of building the manufacturing company, you should step by step, find and develop relationships with investors, suppliers such as few retailers and wholesalers to estimate the successful ability that you can cooperate with them.  In addition, having a good base to get started with shows lenders you are taking all the right steps, to start a successful manufacturing plant, and they will have a stronger desire to offer you financing

The another steps are similar with doing service business, such as finding right employees, setting up compensation benefits ..

Category:

Entrepreneurship

7 great books for entrepreneurs that 800 CEO read

1. The Art of the Start:

By Guy Kawasaki

"The Art of the Start" will give you the essential steps to launch great products, services, and companies whether you are dreaming of starting the next Microsoft or a not-for-profit that as going to change the world. It also shows managers how to unleash entrepreneurial thinking at established companies, helping them foster the pluck and creativity that their businesses need to stay ahead of the pack. Kawasaki provides readers with GIST, Great Ideas for Starting Things , including his field-tested insider,  techniques for bootstrapping, branding, networking, recruiting, pitching, rainmaking, and, most important in this fickle consumer climate, building buzz.

2.  The E Myth Revisited

By Michael E Gerber, Michael E Gerber

In this first new and totally revised edition of the 150,000-copy underground bestseller, "The E-Myth," Michael Gerber dispels the myths surrounding starting your own business and shows how commonplace assumptions can get in the way of running a business. He walks you through the steps in the life of a business from entrepreneurial infancy, through adolescent growing pains, to the mature entrepreneurial perspective, the guiding light of all businesses that succeed. He then shows how to apply the lessons of franchising to any business-whether or not it is a franchise. Finally, Gerber draws the vital, often overlooked distinction between working on your business and working in. your business. After you have read "The E-Myth Revisited," you will truly be able to grow your business in a predictable and productive way.

3. Republic of Tea,

By Bill Rosenzweig, Patricia Ziegler, Mel Ziegler

Almost all of us have at some point dreamed of starting our own business but have not been able to get past our fear, anxiety, and uncertainty about pursuing those dreams. The book shows the budding entrepreneur how to start a successful business that embodies his or her own soul and economic realities. The insightful correspondence between Mel Ziegler and Patricia Ziegler, co-founders of The Banana Republic chain, and their new partner Bill Rosenzweig provides a map for the entrepreneur.  It tells of the day-to-day breakthroughs and breakdowns of the creative process-inventing a product, developing a plan, and structuring a business partnership-and even provides the actual business plan used to raise money for the venture.

4.  The Partnership Charter

How to Start Out Right with Your New Business Partnership (or Fix the One You're In)

By David Gage

In "The Partnership Charter," psychologist and business mediation expert David Gage offers a comprehensive guide to the art of establishing and maintaining a business partnership. The charter identifies potential sources of conflict and how they will be resolved, while addressing such sensitive issues as personal styles, values, money, and power.

5. Growing a Business

By Paul Hawken, Hawken

Paul Hawken - entrepreneur and best-selling author - wrote "Growing a Business" for those who set out to make their dream a reality. He knows what he's talking about; he is his own best example of success. The most successful business, "your" idea for a business, will grow from something that is deep within you, something that can't be stolen by anyone because it is so uniquely yours that anyone else who tried to execute your idea would fail. He dispels the myth of the risk-taking entrepreneur. The purpose of business, he points out, is not to take risks but rather to get something done.

6.  Guerrilla Marketing

Easy and Inexpensive Strategies for Making Big Profits from Your Small Business

By Jay Conrad Levinson, Jeannie Levinson, Amy Levinson

Levinson offers a new arsenal of weaponry for small-business success including

* strategies for marketing on the Internet (explaining when and precisely how to use it)
* tips for using new technology, such as podcasting and automated marketing
* programs for targeting prospects and cultivating repeat and referral business
* management lessons in the age of telecommuting and freelance employees
Guerrilla Marketing is the entrepreneur's marketing bible - and the book every small-business owner should have on his or her shelf.

7. The Monk and the Riddle

The Art of Creating a Life While Making a Life

By Randy Komisar, Randy Kosimar

A Virtual CEO reveals how to blaze a path of professional and personal success by playing the game by your own rules.

Category:

Entrepreneurship

Steps to Starting a Business

[ music ]
>> Delivering Success, is brought to you by the US small business administration and the United States Postal Service. In this chapter, getting started, we will learn from two entrepreneurs how a mentor can help you get your business off the ground, learn where to get help writing a business plan and how to find small business friendly financing. From her first salon in 1997 Kathleen Jennings has built Blue Sky Spa Works and Gallery in Warwick Rhode Island into a full service spa. For her demonstrated successes as an entrepreneur, the SBA honored Kathleen as the 2006 Rhode Island small business person of the year.
Kathleen explains how she got her business off the ground. >> Well, I was a sales rep for almost 6 years and retired from that, and I was road weary and decided to take on a different challenge and bought an existing business.

Category:

Entrepreneurship