Starting a Business? Find Something to Sell That is Close to Home
Business is hard enough without the business owner making it harder than need be. Here Brian Linton, founder of Sand Shack, talks about how he keeps it simple with his business by keeping it close to home.
Struggling to find the right product or service to sell?
You may not realize it, but business opportunities are all around you. When thinking of a business to start many people fail to realize that they don’t have to look far away to find a product or service to sell.
Most successful business ideas develop because of the unavoidable, obvious truth that, “everyone is different.”
So what does this have to do with entrepreneurship?
Each person has unique resources, knowledge, or experiences to build a successful company from – it is just a matter of exposing them.
When I turned towards entrepreneurship as a college student 3 years ago I came up with a ton of good idea. One of the ideas that I seriously considered implementing was buying and developing remote tropical islands in the Philippines. Ok, don’t laugh, I seriously considered doing this. Because I grew up overseas I speak Mandarin Chinese and I thought I could buy an island, fit it with a house and a helicopter pad and then sell it to some rich Chinese business mogul. Although to me the Philippines and China were “close to home” (I grew up in Singapore) – I obviously did not have the resources to carry out such an endeavor, as I realized $1000 would not be enough!
You Don’t Have to Have a Novel Idea or Innovative Product
Eventually I found something that was close to home, easy to get, and something a scalable business model could be built around. The idea? Buying beaded necklaces from Thailand and selling them under my own brand in Cape Cod, Massachusetts during my summer vacation from college. It wasn’t a novel or innovative idea but it was ‘close to home’ for a variety of reasons.
First off, because I grew up in Singapore I have friends all over South East Asia, including Thailand. Secondly, whenever I would visit the United States I would go to Cape Cod to see my grandparents, and during college this is where I would spend my summers. While going back and forth between Asia and America I made the simple realization that all the beachy, choker, shell necklaces being sold in Cape Cod for $10 could be purchased in Thailand for $0.20. Hence, Sand Shack was born.
Obviously, jewelry is a very competitive industry, however, truth be told, you can make money selling anything – the key is finding something ‘close to home’ to sell. Something you can easily get or develop. And although I looked in areas across the globe for my business, this to me was close to home – it was a natural and un-daunting process for me to carry out, and it was something I knew I had a competitive advantage doing.
3 Steps to Find Out What You Can Sell That Are Close to Your Home
So when you are choosing what your company will sell, take note to the following steps. Following these three simple steps will not guarantee your success, success will be based upon your merit to sell what you chose, however, following these steps will ensure that you enjoy, and are passionate about, what you are selling.
1. Decide what you are passionate about. What do you love?
2. Find out what product or service you can easily offer. What can you offer that is already close to home?
3. Research the market for the items you have chosen. Can you make money offering these products or services?
About the Author:
Brian Linton is the Founder of Sand Shack, an environmentally friendly brand of resort merchandise sold in stores across the United States. Brian is an entrepreneur, world traveler, and avid writer at his blog Brianlinton.com. Brian can be reached at brian [at] sandshack.com and followed @brianlinton
Photo Credit: martinreach
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The Vanity Advantage
Just admit it – we’ve all done it – a time or two, when you didn’t think anyone was looking, you typed your own name into Google just to see what would come up.
I’ve done it, more out of curiosity than a feeling that something may be lurking out there, but I’ve always felt a bit vain searching for myself. And as we all know, vanity is so unbecoming.
However, while vanity may be frowned upon at a personal level, I would encourage you to embrace your vainity when it comes to your business.
The Vanity Advantage
In business, vain is an advantage. Being aware of what is being said about you, what image your business portrays, and how you are perceived by your customer are critical to your success.
Embrace the vanity. Take an active and on going interest in knowing what is being said about you, and preen for your customer. Not only is it okay from a business perspective, I would encourage it!
Get Your Vanity Check On
Doing a routine vanity check on your business will help keep your finger on the pulse of your customer, fill holes in your service model, and more readily meet your customers needs. So where do you start?
Just like you Googled your name…Google your business. See what comes up, where are you listed, how do you rank online.
Look at review services like Yelp, or if you sell a product take a look at Epinions.
Start listening to the conversations being had about you online. Search Twitter conversations for your business, your product, or for comments about your service.
Use a service like Trackur to monitor blog postings, comments, news stories or video content published on the web about you, your product or service.
Set up Google Alerts to email you whenever your name pops up on a website, newsgroup or blog post.
Check out boardtracker.com to see if your products or services are being discussed on any number of message boards.
There is even desktop software available to help with your vanity advantage. Copernic for example monitors websites for your search terms and lets you know when they change.
The point is there are a host of services, many of which are free, to monitor the conversations being had about you and your business online. A simple Google search for “Online Reputation Management” should get you moving in the right direction.
Don’t Forget the Offline World
Your vanity advantage transfers to the offline world as well. Know how you are perceived by your customers, and listen to what they are saying about you.
Ask your customers directly how you are doing. Get their feedback, and take it to heart without getting defensive.
Want a more anonymous way to get feedback?
Use online survey tools such as Survey Monkey, or Zoomerang to quickly poll your customers.
Start giving out feedback forms to your customers as part of your product or service offering, and give incentives for them to turn them in (it’s amazing what a $25 Starbucks card will get people to do).
The Tip of the Iceberg
This is just a small sampling of the ways you can embrace your vanity and turn it into an advantage. There are literally hundreds of ways to listen to your consumers, hopefully the above gets you started down that path. The key is to search out ways in which to search for yourself. Remember we’re embracing our vanity here – so the more ways to look for yourself the better!
The Last Step is the Hardest
Your customers are talking. They are talking about you and your business right now, and it’s up to you if you want to use their conversations, feedback, and criticisms to move your business ahead.
The hardest part of this exercise doesn’t come with the listening, it comes with the responding. Only listening is of no real help, and if you choose to ignore what is being said you will loose the majority of the vanity advantage.
Hopefully much of what you hear will be positive, but there are bound to be some negatives too. Hit them head on – make any wrongs right – that’s the point.
Look for areas of opportunity in the conversations, and work to fix them. See what your customers love about you and keep doing it. Identify areas of improvement in your business model, or areas where marketing messages need to be refined, or customer education is necessary. Remember that responding can be done with actions as well as words.
The key is to listen, and then respond. Embrace your vanity, and use it as your advantage.
Photo Credit: nathalielaure
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Top 10 Tax Extension Questions Answered
The following guest post from FileLater’s CEO Ryan Thompson helps answer the most common questions about filing a tax extension. I know all readers of this blog are way ahead on their tax prep this year, but maybe you have a friend who can benefit from the info!
Does the IRS need a reason for my tax extension?
No! An IRS tax extension is “automatic” which means that your extension will automatically be approved as long as you file correctly and on time.
What are the deadlines associated with a tax extension?
A personal tax extension will grant you six more months, giving you a new tax deadline of October 15th. Most businesses that file for an extension will have a new tax deadline of September 15th. Tax extensions must be submitted by your original tax deadline, which is April 15th for individuals and most businesses (including LLCs, partnerships and sole proprietors), and March 15th for corporations.
Do my chances of audit go up if I file a tax extension?
The IRS never tells us what triggers audit; however, the fact that the IRS makes tax extensions possible, and that you are showing compliance by filing for an extension leads many CPAs and tax professionals to believe that your chance of audit may actually decrease if you file for a tax extension
How do I file an extension?
There are three ways to file for a tax extension. You can fill out and send in the IRS forms (IRS 4868 for individuals and IRS 7004 for businesses), have your CPA file an extension, or do it yourself online with an authorized IRS e-file provider like FileLater
What information is needed to file for a tax extension?
Luckily, the IRS doesn’t ask for any complicated tax information when you file for a tax extension. Some personal information is needed, such as name, address, and social security number, and you’ll also have to estimate if you’ll owe or get a tax return when you file your extended taxes. But, you won’t need any information from W2s, 1099s, 1098s, etc.
Does a tax extension give me more time to pay any taxes due?
A tax extension is an extension in time to file your tax extension, not an extension of time to pay. The IRS asks that you still pay any tax balance on time. However, filing a tax extension will eliminate the stiffest late penalty, which is called the late filing penalty, and is 5% of any balance due per month.
Why should I e-file my extension?
E-file is the only method to file a tax extension where you’ll get an IRS confirmation when your tax extension is approved.
Do I also need to file for a state tax extension?
Each state has their own rules for state tax extensions. However, many states will automatically grant you a six month tax extension as long as your IRS federal tax extension is approved. FileLater provides instructions and forms where needed for all 50 states: http://www.filelater.com/states.html
How many extensions are filed annually?
10 million personal extensions and 5 million business tax extensions are filed annually with the IRS, and is expected to grow by about 5% in 2009 with more complicated tax situations for many filers given the current economic environment.
What are the benefits of using FileLater?
FileLater is an authorized IRS e-file provider, which means that you’ll get an IRS confirmation when your extension is approved, and has over 98% of submitted tax extensions approved by the IRS! FileLater is also the only extension service on the web that can e-file business tax extensions, and is a BBB accredited business.
Ryan Thompson is co-founder and CEO of FileLater. After 3 years with Intuit’s TurboTax, FileLater was established to provide the 15 million businesses and individuals who file tax extensions annually with the easiest way to get a tax extension online. FileLater is an authorized IRS e-file provider, and the only place on the web to e-file business tax extensions online.
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Photo Credit: churl
Exercise: Think You Know Your Business?
Think about your core business, your flagship product, or marquee service.
Now answer the following question:
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When my customers refer me to others, what three things are they saying about what I do?
Have you got your answers?
Now ask your customers the same question…their answers may surprise you.
As a business owner I know that I’ve fell into the trap of marketing the service I think I provide, instead of marketing the service my customers think I provide.
There can be a big difference between the two. Only after you know what your customers value, why they use your service, and most importantly what they say about you to others can you begin to tailor your marketing message.
It’s okay if there is an initial disconnect between what you think of you, and what they think of you. Within the disconnect lies opportunity to more efficiently serve your current customers and attract new ones.
This exercise also provides opportunity to evaluate how well you are educating your customer base into the value of your services. If they are missing the big picture, the main “value add” of your business, you need to begin educating and crafting better messages to help them realize how you can help them.
Let me know how this exercise goes for you, I’d be interested in hearing your story.
Photo Credit: tantek’s photostream
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Turn Your Business into a National Champion!
If you’re not a sports fan the end of March and early April probably hold no special significance for you.
However in my household nearly all semblance of normalcy disappears as we hang on every second of action during March Madness, those few weeks before spring where college basketball teams battle it out to be the national champion!
Scores are checked incessantly, “smack” is talked amongst friends about who will win the title (I have the University of Connecticut winning it all this year), and the days between games seem like weeks and months. Yes, I’m a bit of a college basketball fan.
Becoming a Champion
One of the greatest coaches of all time in college basketball was John Wooden, his accolades are too long to list here, but he did win 10 national titles while coaching at UCLA.
But what does this have to do with business? On the surface it may look like not a lot. However, I got to thinking about the similarities between a successful basketball team, and a successful business, and saw quite a few parallels – teamwork, leadership, poise under pressure, just to name a few.
Coach Wooden’s teams were some of the most well coached, and best prepared to ever step on a basketball court. When it came to leadership, and fostering teamwork, nobody was better than Wooden.
Learn from the Best
So can we learn anything from Coach Wooden, keys that made him a successful coach, that we can take back to our own businesses and make them more successful? You bet.
Here’s coach Wooden’s 12 lessons in leadership, and I think you’ll see how these traits transcend basketball and can be used to make yourself a better leader and thus your business more successful.
12 Lessons in Leadership
- Good values attract good people.
- Love is the most powerful four letter word.
- Call yourself a teacher.
- Emotion is your enemy.
- It takes 10 hands to make a basket.
- Little things make big things happen.
- Make each day your masterpiece.
- The carrot is mightier than a stick.
- Make greatness attainable by all.
- Seek significant change.
- Don’t look at the scoreboard.
- Adversity is your asset.
Success Pyramid
Also Coach Wooden had what he called a success pyramid – which I love. It shows how success really builds onto itself. You can’t skip any step, or have a piece of the pyramid missing, without it falling down.
Success is like that, everything you do builds on itself. You can’t afford to be missing one piece of the pyramid and expect to continue building your business upwards.
Again, Coach Wooden was thinking of the success pyramid in the context of basketball, but the core values here are the same for any endeavor you want to succeed at.
You’ll notice the pyramid is built around “Faith and Patience”, with the pinnacle being “Competitive Greatness”, which Coach Wooden defines as “Performing your best when your best is required. Your best is required each day.”
Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best of which you are capable
Coach John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success – Free Legal Forms
In Closing
Take some time to think through Coach Wooden’s principals of leadership, and the success pyramid, and see how you can apply the concepts to your business. Anyone as successful as he is certainly worth listening too – who knows it could make your business a national champion!
What do you think is the most important aspect of leadership?
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7 Signs You’re Not Ready For Business Ownership
Before you go into business for yourself you’ll need to critically assess if you have what it takes to succeed.
Here are 7 signs you are not quite ready – but don’t get discouraged, you can get there!
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You’re not Quite Ready If…
1. You’re not comfortable being the decision maker
Are you the kind of person who is comfortable having the final, non negotiable say in something? You’ll need to be when you decide to start your own business. Countless times you will need to make “make or break” decisions about your business and those decisions will be yours alone. Other times you will need to draw a line in the sand and stick by your guns on a decision you know is right for your business – if you’re not currently comfortable with that, you’ll need to get there.
2. You lack long term focus
Some people live day to day, or have a hard time planning past next week. That’s fine in your personal life, but in business a short term outlook can be a killer. You’ll need to be comfortable planning for the next five years, and maintain focus on that plan in order to be successful. Remember – Short term outlooks lead to short term goals. And I’m sure you want to be in business long term.
3. You lack time or willingness to reprioritize your life
If you can’t picture a life where you won’t be able to watch every episode of Survivor, business owner ship may not be for you. Starting and run a profitable business takes an inordinate amount of time, and while we all have other commitments outside of our businesses, you need to sacrifice and reprioritize your personal time to make it work.
4. You don’t have the support of your significant other
Starting and running a business will affect your family, and especially your significant other more than you realize. They shoulder much of the burden of the startup, even if they aren’t actively involved in it’s management. Their support is imperative to your success. If they are not supportive, work to get them there before you launch.
5. The thought of 16 hour days make you cringe
As we said above, starting and running a business is an inordinate amount of work. The myth is that business owners have a lot more free time than the “wage slaves”, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. You will work longer, harder, and more intensely than you ever have working for someone else.
6. You have a hard time accepting full responsibility
Everything your business does, or does not do, is your responsibility. Sure a supplier may have dropped the ball, or an employee screwed up, but guess what? You are the person who will need to answer to that. More times than I can count I’ve had to step up and take responsibility for something that wasn’t necessarily my “fault”. It’s part of paying the cost to be the boss – be ready for it.
7. Your personal house is not in order
You will need to be in a strong position personally to make a business work. This means in a good place with your relationships, finances, and state of mind. When you are in the early stages of building a business you will be faced with numerous situations where throwing in the towel seems like a good idea. The stronger a personal foundation you have built the easier it will be for you to push on and make your venture a success.
Self Assess For Success
As you can see some of the above are personality based, and will be harder to change. While others are more lifestyle choice based. The idea here is to know where your strengths and weaknesses lie, and to critically assess yourself before you take a leap into running your own business.
If you find you exhibit some of the above traits, don’t get down, or throw in the towel. Just work at improving before you launch, you’ll put yourself in a much better position relative to the competition who didn’t do the same kind of self assessment.
What do you think? Would you add anything to my 7 traits?
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Photo Credit: Leo Reynolds
Four Lazy Business Mistakes
When I’m out and about I try to make notes of what other businesses are doing in order to help my own business.
Sometimes I see things that I want to emulate, and other times I learn what I don’t want my business to become.
What I’ve found in looking at these observations is that many of the areas of improvement fall under four general headings, and either the businesses feel their customers aren’t noticing them, or they’re just too lazy to fix them. So what are they?
Four Lazy Business Mistakes
1. Unorganized
People want to do business with a well oiled machine. It builds trust and loyalty when you see a business operating efficiently and effectively.
However many business are just plain unorganized. You’re fooling yourself if you think you can be unorganized in the back office and not have it effect the front office. Your customers know when your business is in disarray, and they consciously or subconsciously discount your services as such.
2. Going Cheap
If you cut corners to save a couple bucks – your customers see this and automatically think you provide a cheap product or service. I’m not saying you need to pave the showroom floor in gold, but keep in mind what image you want you customer to come away with when they do business with you. More often than not you want to provide quality at a value, not be thought of as cheap. There is always a cheaper, lazier way to do something, but is that the image you want to leave your customers with?
3. Faking It
Your customers see right through you. You can’t for a second fake anything that has to do with your business without it negatively affecting your customers base. You can’t fake enthusiasm, knowledge, or promises, yet many businesses try and once again fool themselves into thinking they are fooling their customers.
When you’re faking it the impression is you just want to turn a buck. You become a snake oil salesman who can’t be trusted. And that’s the lazy, non sustainable way to do business. If you don’t know it, feel it, or can guarantee it your better off admitting it.
4. Means to an End Mentality
How many businesses do you encounter that treat you like just another sale – just a means to their ends? And how many of those businesses to you go back to time and again.
Treating your customers like a revenue stream is the lazy way to approach service. Give them value, give them great service, and care about them. Once you treat them like meat, it’s very hard to work backwards and show you care.
Don’t Be a Lazy Bones
Like I said before these are the main areas I see businesses getting it wrong. They think the customer won’t notice and thus don’t do anything to correct it. To me it’s just lazy, and a lazy business doesn’t get my business more than once.
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