Your questions about small business entrepreneurs

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Sharon asks…

How to start a small business in London at the age of 14?

im 14 yrs old and i live in London i want to start my own business in which i can soon become either an entrepreneur when im older or to just get some extra money to place in my saving account, i need to know how to start my business either online or something start a company online i don’t know i just need some ideas on how to make sum money over the internet

admin answers:

You can not start your business in this age.

The law does not allow you to work in this age.

Even you cannot open your bank current account. so how you can do business online.

Betty asks…

define and the impact of credit crisis on small business?

how can i discuss the impact of credit crisis on small businesses and the government response to support them through a period of economic slowdown?

Evaluate any advice you may have for any entrepreneur wishing to start-up a new business or grow an existing one in the current economic climate?

any ideas then pls response me..thanks

admin answers:

Dear Good Ash,

The credit crisis is hitting small businesses in a BIG way. Suddenly the business credit cards used to purchase materials don’t work. Oops, that bank went under…So, the owner goes to the bank to borrow money on behalf of his business to purchase the needed materials to make his business run. Sorry, they are not making business loans right now. So, the owner, who has been a member of that bank for over thirty years, decides to take out a quick signature PERSONAL loan. Hmmm, we will have to see if we can do that for you. (They have done this several times before and always gotten the money repaid). Eventually the bank decides to loan the money on a personal basis at 11% interest.

How is the government responding to the credit crisis and the needs of small business owners? I have to ask, what government ?????

Michael asks…

What are some extremely small business’s? i.e. Taco Stand, Payment center, etc.?

I’m making a list of extremely small business‘s.

I am a young entrepreneur, & I want to consider everything that is with in my budget.

I will give you some examples, I’m making a list. so anything helps.

1. Taco Stand
2. Payment Center (place wher you can pay your bill)
3. Swap Meet store.
4. Vending Machines

Please help me continue, thanks.

By the way, I have read “Rich dad, Poor Dad”

admin answers:

This requires a $299 investment, so if you’re not serious, don’t waste your or my time!

If you’re serious about being your own boss, making an honest income commensurate with the effort you put forth. I have been working with a company for a while and have had great results. If you are interested contact me at allican57@yahoo.com

Nancy asks…

My parents own a small business. Will Obama bankrupt them with crazy tax increases on business entities?

Additionally, I am an entrepreneur myself. Will I be taxed to submission and be drawn toward large corporate entities for the rest of my career? Will all these entities be assimilated into the government? Will all those that oppose Obama’s policies be erased?

admin answers:

The real danger for tax policy of an Obama presidency is to small businesses. Democrats have long wanted to subject 100% of the net profits of a S-Corp to self employment tax. If that happens it will mean a huge tax increase for the owners of these businesses.

Bush or McCain would veto such foolishness were it to pass but Obama would likely sign the bill.

Linda asks…

Can anybody give me the names of organizations and associations that cater to small buisness?

organizations and associations that cater to entrepreneurs and small businesses

admin answers:

sba

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Put a Price on Anything: 5 Tips

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Who’d put a price tag on the White House? Truth is, you can figure out a fair market value of just about anything. Try it with these tips.

Earlier this week the real estate website Movoto.com had some fun trying to set a smart listing price for the White House. To do so it recruited a luxury homes expert who proposed $110 million, and then said he’d expect a sale price somewhere between $75 million and $80 million.

The thing is, that’s ridiculously low. Earlier this year a Russian billionaire dropped more on a penthouse apartment in Manhattan. Granted, real estate prices are higher in New York than Washington, D.C.—but c’mon!

There’s a key lesson here for entrepreneurs. Figuring out valuation is tough. We ask ourselves over and over: “What are our products and services worth to customers?” And maybe someday, if we do well, “What is my business worth to a prospective buyer?”

I’ve been working on a writing project with Ken Marlin, managing partner of Marlin & Associates, a boutique financial and strategic advisory firm. With this White House story in mind, I asked him to talk about how to put a smart price tag on just about anything—especially when there is no active market shaking things out for you.

Here’s the five-point, back-of-the-envelope plan he came up with.

1. Understand precisely what’s special about the asset.

Movoto’s expert estimated the listing price based on the White House’s size and location, but of course that has almost nothing to do with why someone might theoretically want to buy it. They’d do so for the history and the symbolism. (Wouldn’t you love to be a fly on the wall as a listing real estate agent walked through the White House, suggesting that it be staged a bit differently, or that that facade would be more striking if it were painted a nice robin’s egg blue.)

“You’ve got to know what’s really cool about the property, or about the business,” Marlin said. “And, that’s what you have to make sure you highlight and communicate to potential buyers.”

2. Understand the range of potential buyers.

The flipside of this is that you have to figure out how the asset—whether it’s real estate or a business—would fit into a potential buyer’s portfolio.

If you’re selling a business, for example, you might find that potential buyers might want to acquire you for purely financial reasons. Others might want to acquire you strategically as part of a plan to continue building their businesses.

As for the White House, Marlin said, think about who might line up to bid on it.

“You’d have hugely wealthy Russian oligarchs. Donald Trump would want it as condos with a golf course on the South Lawn,” he said.

3. Create a market of those potential buyers.

Valuations are always tough when there is no functioning market, and thus no comparable sales to point to. So a smart entrepreneur, whether he’s trying to sell a company or a piece of iconic real estate, tries to create one.

Often, that means staging an auction. You don’t need hundreds of potential buyers: just two, although having more is better.

“When we advise sellers, we tell them you want an auction. When we advise buyers, we say you want to avoid an auction,” Marlin said.

4. Be trustworthy, and create bidding comfort for buyers.

Whoever buys the asset—whether it’s the White House, a product you’re selling, or your business—wants to pay as little as possible, of course. But there’s a second factor that a potential buyer considers in coming up with a bid: He or she doesn’t ever want to look like an idiot.

So your job as a seller is to give them a good-faith basis for your asking price or listing strategy. And, you need to negotiate in such a way that the potential buyer understands you could legitimately walk away.

“Nobody wants to look stupid,” Marlin said. “So, if you’re asking them to pay twice as much as the guy down the street, you need to give them a reasonable basis for that.”

5. Remember: You’re trying to sell the future.

Here’s where the strategy diverges a bit between selling something like the White House and selling a business. With the White House, a buyer would mostly be buying the past.

But while business buyers need to understand your asset’s history, they’re only interested because they need to understand the future.

“That’s what they’re buying—the future. And a buyer always has a fear that you know something they don’t–that you’re selling at the top of the market,” Marlin said. “They don’t care about the past. From a business perspective, from a corporate perspective, you have to help a prospective buyer see the future the way you see it.”

The bottom line, Marlin told me, is that putting a price tag on just about any asset is, well, about much more than just the bottom line. So you’ll do yourself a service by thinking long and hard about the people involved in the transaction.

“Valuation and negotiation are as much about the human element as they are about math,” Marlin said. “Probably more about the human dimensions. You can’t just apply the math and say, ‘My competitor sold for 12 times EBITDA, so multiply my EBITDA by 12.’ It just doesn’t work that way.”






Source: Start-up

How Hard is Trading in London?

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*Really great site David, you’re really a life saver for someone trying to set up in the business!* (I apologise if this question has already been asked!)



Read real small business experiences and stories written by people from around the world.Also get inspiration from their real life business experiences.

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Your questions about learn effective time management

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Lizzie asks…

what wrong with this?

What is wrong with this?
CORPORATE TRAINING
Jill Smith
Axia College of University of Phoenix

Corporate Training
Today, managers need well-trained employees and are finding they do not exist. Corporations are providing additional training for their employees. One such training program that is being added to corporate learning environments is an awareness of emotional intelligence. Business managers are learning that successful managers need high Emotional Quotient (EQ) or Emotional Intelligence (EI) to work effectively.
Emotional intelligence is the ability to accurately perceive emotions in self and others, to identify different emotional responses, and to use emotional information to make intelligent decisions (Goleman, 2000). A leading expert on EQ finds, “people good at managing relationships tend also to be self-aware, self-regulating, and empathetic” (Goleman, 2000, p. 33). Emotional intelligence is especially important “at the highest levels of the company, where differences in technical skills are of little importance. In other words, the higher the rank of the person, the more emotional intelligence capabilities are needed for decision making effectiveness” (Goleman, 1986, p. 94).
Emotional intelligence is crucial to a successful business career and for effective group performance (Goleman, 1986). The core competencies required for emotional intelligence are “the perception of emotions in one’s self and others, the understanding of these emotions, and the management of emotions” (Feldman, 2001, p. 4). Success in the modern workplace requires teamwork and collaboration. Emotional Intelligence training is essential because most modern companies rely on teams of employees working together, rather than on the action of individual managers working in isolation (Ganzel, 2001).
Several accredited universities are delivering EQ training in hopes of preparing their students for the workplace. Grossman (2000) states:

A current trend in education is to teach students about how their emotional intelligence can have a positive or negative effect on their career. Many universities are now offering courses in interpersonal relationships and emotional intelligence in an attempt to prepare students to be leaders. Leaders cannot lead in isolation, and an educational delivery system that features team building and collaboration is growing by the numbers. (p. 48)

Emotional intelligence skills are a crucial component for a successful career in business. We live in a time of rapid change and in a world of diversity. The modern business environment requires managers to have highly functioning intrapersonal, interpersonal, and group skills. Emotional Intelligence is important today and will be even more important in the future. As more employees master emotional intelligence skills, a higher functioning group emotional intelligence should emerge. In response to this higher group EI, individual employees will need to keep refining their EI skills (Tucker, 2000).

admin answers:

what’s your point?

Jenny asks…

Christmas downsizing?

Today’s global challenges require the North Pole to continue to look for better, more competitive steps. Effective immediately, the following economy measures are to take place in the “Twelve Days of Christmas” subsidiary:
The partridge will be retained, but the pear tree never turned out to be the cash crop forecasted. It will be replaced by a plastic hanging plant, providing considerable savings in maintenance.
The two turtle doves represent a redundancy that is simply not cost effective. In addition, their romance during working hours could not be condoned. The positions are therefore eliminated.
The three French hens will remain intact. After all, everyone loves the French.
The four calling birds were replaced by an automated voice mail system, with a call waiting option. An analysis is underway to determine who the birds have been calling, how often and how long they talked.
The five golden rings have been put on hold by the Board of Directors. Maintaining a portfolio based on one commodity could have negative implications for institutional investors. Diversification into other precious metals as well as a mix of T-Bills and high technology stocks appear to be in order.
The six geese-a-laying constitutes a luxury which can no longer be afforded. It has long been felt that the production rate of one egg per goose per day is an example of the decline in productivity. Three geese will be let go, and an upgrading in the selection procedure by personnel will assure management that from now on every goose it gets will be a good one.
The seven swans-a-swimming is obviously a number chosen in better times. Their function is primarily decorative. Mechanical swans are on order. The current swans will be retrained to learn some new strokes and therefore enhance their outplacement.
As you know, the eight maids-a-milking concept has been under heavy scrutiny by the EEOC. A male/female balance in the workforce is being sought. The more militant maids consider this a dead-end job with no upward mobility. Automation of the process may permit the maids to try a-mending, a-mentoring or a-mulching.
Nine ladies dancing has always been an odd number. This function will be phased out as these individuals grow older and can no longer do the steps.
Ten Lords-a-leaping is overkill. The high cost of Lords plus the expense of international air travel prompted the Compensation Committee to suggest replacing this group with ten out-of-work congressmen. While leaping ability may be somewhat sacrificed, the savings are significant because we expect an oversupply of unemployed congressmen this year.
Eleven pipers piping and twelve drummers drumming is a simple case of the band getting too big. A substitution with a string quartet, a cut back on new music and no uniforms will produce savings which will drop right down to the bottom line.
We can expect a substantial reduction in assorted people, fowl, animals and other expenses. Though incomplete, studies indicate that stretching deliveries over twelve days is inefficient. If we can drop ship in one day, service levels will be improved.
Regarding the lawsuit filed by the attorney’s association seeking expansion to include the legal profession (“thirteen lawyers-a-suing”), action is pending.
Lastly, it is not beyond consideration that deeper cuts may be necessary in the future to stay competitive. Should that happen, the Board will request management to scrutinize the Snow White Division to see if seven dwarfs is the right number.

admin answers:

Modern living!!

Loved the extra one (13) fits in well with todays trends!!

LOL *

Linda asks…

Why Wont So Called Christian’s Release Repentant Criminals from Prison?

Matthew18:25-35 says you’re a hypocrite if you do and will burn in hell. Also Jesus is father and son this is his direct quote. Remember also that Proverbs says the merciful man will find honor in both god and man that the smart man learn from his own mistakes and the rod is only for the backs of fools. Think of history In such instances as the pardon of Tortuga and the book Dune or movie the God Father Mercy equates Love and Loyalty

Also Please read and pay attention to whole detail of outline so you won’t give a stupid response. Now for logos statistics show increased cost of funding in criminal justice and punishment has in no way reduced crime in fact just the opposite we are seeing a trend of increase 5 times the average we are also seeing a dramatic increase in cost and prison over crowding while sociology experiments are showing that merciful acts in state show a dramatic reduction in crime such examples were taken during the Vietnam war and drug rehab center legislation prior to mandatory minimum sentence concluding it just feels good and costs a lot in fact white color crimes are said to be more expensive to jail then a hospital bill and drug offenders on average are more expensive to jail then rehab programs Yes put away violent offenders but their are alternative punishments to non violent offenders or at least reduced sentencing The real question we should be asking ourselves is what is the correlation between incarceration and crime rates experts say their is none that incarceration does not equal change in behavior so for all our incarceration are we really safer experts say no Can we draw out a public safety plan that is fiscally sane remember your flipping the bill for these people The answer is yes many bills offering programs without sentence or reduced sentence are offered part of religious rehabilitation program even with violent offenders in church services and anger management but because of republicans and conservative Christians this bill has been shot down Also we must come to the moral realization that prison is in no way fair punishment I mean that the punishment is not equal to all inmates and that constitutes a moral ethic of un equal punishment as well as for a select minority cruel and unusual I think corporal punishment if agreed upon should be administered by government not by underground seedy organizations like prison gangs that are obviously cruel and unusual in addition safety regulation has occurred for prison inmates increasing Co Officers and was effective in Texas but the law was later removed by you guessed it conservator Christian republicans
Note:
The Separation of church and state is just a clause How Is Church and State Divided?

Ok I know The U.S Constitution right; the first Amendment Congress shall pass no law that is in favor of any religion. but isn’t American economics founded on the protestant ethos and don’t we have to swear oaths in courts Don’t we say god in the pledge of allegiance does it not say in god we trust on our printed money Don’t we pass state laws favorable to monotheism like abortion and bans on gay marriage like prop 8 politically hiding it’s involvement as to make lies successful like saying it’s about the definition of marriage which it was not It was about civil liberty in making a amendment to the state Constitution because a law regarding same sex marriage was over tuned in four case precedents from judges in Northern California What about state and Federal grants and tax subsidy to Jewish and Christen churches what happened to Islam or pagan covens what happened to Buddhist and Hindu temples why are they not funded or given relief what happened to catholic parishes Why have republicans become political candidates of conservative Christian’s Why do we always attribute morality and god to our wars or political projects Why cant we remain in logos of political movements why did feminism take so long why was prohibition passed why do we have a fiscally insane war policy on drugs and terrorism

admin answers:

Because Christians also believe in punishment, and in restitution as part of the repentance process. A prison term is part of the process. If every criminal could get released from prison by repenting there would be no prisoners, just criminals on the loose.

I recommend that you apply for citizenship in some other country which extols your ideals better. There is no need for you to stay here and hate the country you live in.

Mark asks…

Could any English native speaker check this out?

I wrote a cover letter in English since I am about to apply for a position abroad. Since English is not my mother tongue, I would be glad if some English native speaker could give a look at it.
Does it flow enough?

Any tips are welcome!!

Dear Sir/Dear Madame,

Herewith I would like to express my interest in taking part to the XXX programme.

My name is XXX and I graduated in Education Sciences two years ago.
Before and after my degree, I spent quite a long time in India working with NGO’s mainly involved in educational development projects.
In the future, I would like to work within socio-educational sector, related to learning disabilities, children at risk and social marginalization.
As part of my plan, I am taking two on-line short scheme modules with the XXX, member of the University of XXX. Even if the University has a strong focus on African and Oriental regions, the courses I am attending – XXX -have a rather wide focus. I decided to attend them in order to give more technical and management skills to my pedagogical studies.
I believe, indeed, that such skills can play a crucial role in order to reach effective outputs within the social sector.

Ideally, I would like to take a Master Degree related to socio-educational area, possibly in the USA where there is a very strong and flourishing educational and social practice research.
Notwithstanding, at the moment I would rather have this experience with XXX in order to explore more in depth the socio-educational context in order to understand which particular sector/s I could better suit in the future.
Doing so, it would be easier to me to make up my mind and eventually select the Master Degree or even PhD more appropriate/respondent to my interests.

Moreover, to be part of this programme would give me not only the chance to have an authentic job experience within the context I studied for, but also to share my daily experiences, feelings and doubts with the American coworkers probably more experienced than me in this field.
Indeed, I believe that a good team work, particularly in such contexts, can positively affect the outputs of the job.
I have never been to the XXX so far but I am very excited about living there for 12-18 months or even longer. Moreover, through my stays abroad I developed a very good ability at adapt and communicate in multicultural environments and I am therefore looking forward to be part of it.

I would like to thank you in advance for considering my application and I am looking forward to your response.

I look forward your help!!
Thanks a lot!

admin answers:

Dear Sir

(more acceptable)

I would like to express my interest in taking part to the XXX programme.

(Herewith not really neccesary)

My name is XXX and I graduated in Education Sciences two years ago.
I spent quite a long time in India before and after my degree, working with NGO’s mainly involved in educational development projects.
In the future, I would like to work within socio-educational sector, related to learning disabilities, children at risk and social marginalization.

(changed the word order in the second paragraph in order for it to flow a bit better)

As part of my plan, I am taking two on-line short scheme modules with the XXX, member of the University of XXX. The University has a strong focus on African and Oriental regions, however, the courses I am attending – XXX -have a rather wide focus. I decided to attend them in order to give more technical and management skills to my pedagogical studies.

(small gramattical changes about the University)

I believe, indeed, that such skills play a crucial role in order to reach effective outputs within the social sector.

(removed “can”, unnecesary)

Ideally, I would like to take a Master Degree related to socio-educational area, possibly in the USA where there is a very strong and flourishing educational and social practice research.
Notwithstanding, at the moment I would rather have this experience with XXX in order to explore more in depth the socio-educational context in order to understand which particular sectors I could better suit in the future.
Doing so, it would be easier to me to make up my mind and eventually select the Master Degree or even PhD more appropriate and respondent to my interests.

(removed /’s, not really used in formal English)

Moreover, to be part of this programme would give me not only the chance to have an authentic job experience within the context I studied for, but also to share my daily experiences, feelings and doubts with the American coworkers probably more experienced than me in this field.
Indeed, I believe that a good team work, particularly in such contexts, can positively affect the outputs of the job.
I have never been to the XXX so far but I am very excited about living there for 12-18 months or even longer. Moreover, through my stays abroad I developed a very good ability at adapt and communicate in multicultural environments and I am therefore looking forward to be part of it.

I would like to thank you in advance for considering my application and I am looking forward to your response.

(No edits to the last part.)

Pretty good! I would never guess that English wasn’t your first language!

Richard asks…

Résumé help much appreciated?

Would appreciate comments/criticism on my résumé.
The format is amazing on Word, and I’m not interested in changing it – only the content. Thanks!

Wesley D. N******
(423) 525-**** cell ? (706) 259-**** home ? ***********@gmail.com

___________________________________Education___________________________________

Overview

B.S., Business Management, Liberty University, Lynchburg, Virginia 3.23 GPA December 2009

Major Course Experience (selected)

Microcomputer Applications
?Skills Learned: Working knowledge of the intricacies of MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint, and MS Access. Perfected the ability to effectively use MS Word, Excel, and Access in a business setting in order to maintain simplicity while escalating the business; through effective PowerPoint presentations, integration of Excel into accounting projects and webpage design.
?Applied Projects: Developed and maintained worksheets throughout the semester detailing various business calculations used in our text. Regularly integrated data from one application to another.
Small Business Entrepreneurship
?Skills Learned: Learned to analyze the steps involved in formulating and managing a small business within a dynamic environment.
?Applied Projects: Wrote a full business plan focusing on areas such as idea conception, feasibility, planning, financing, legalities, marketing, operations, and management.

__________________________________Experience___________________________________

Orders and Inventory Manager, Value Carpets, ********, Georgia 2008 – 2009
Controlled inventory, and managed order compilation
?Worked and oversaw order logistics, personally assessing and analyzing to ensure product and inventory efficiency for buyers such as Bass Pro Shops, Inc.
?Gained valuable analytical experience and problem solving skills under the direct supervision of the companies vice president/owner

Teleservices Representative, Publishers Circulation Fulfillment, *********, Florida 2007 – 2008
Assigned responsibilities with the nation’s #1 circulated newspaper—The New York Times
?Provided excellent customer service by meeting current customer needs
?Generated new contacts and qualified leads
?Consistently produced sales above the national average

Teleservices Representative, Choicepoint Precision Marketing, *********, Florida 2006 – 2007
Assigned responsibilities with the nation’s largest insurance leads force—Choicepoint
?Generated new contacts and qualified leads for Auto, Home, and Life insurance
?Consistently produced sales above the national average

_________________________________Extra curricular________________________________

Professional
Owned and operated a family business for three years.
?Applied a variety of managerial skills including personnel, financial, inventory, and customer service oversight

Personal
President/Treasurer of College Beta Kappa Delta Collegian (a student group of 80+ people)
?1 year
Active in community outreach programs
?Master Clubs(similar to Awana), Relay for Life, Adopt-a-Highway

admin answers:

I’m sorry, but I can’t get really excited about your skills, though I suspect that they are considerable. You have hit-the-mark on a few entries (e.g., “consistently produced sales above the national average) but mostly you put in “motherhood and apple-pie” type comments and don’t provide enough objective data for a would-be employer to evaluate the experience. You need more “meat” – details on what the job demands were (e.g., in the VAlue Carpets position, you should tell how many people you supervised or the approximate value of the inventory managed and then describe some specific accomplishment(s) or some event/activity you are particularly proud of. In the telesales positions, tell what the “national average” figure was and what YOUR result was; mention any recognition you received (e.g., Sales Associate of the Quarter, $Million Dollar Pin, whatever).
Unless you’re looking for an Admin position, your description of your computer learning is way over-emphasized.
Describe some dimensions of the fraternit treasurer position; mention some particular accomplishment(s).
Don’t assume the reader knows what your references mean (e.g., Awana) and mention specific things you did in thoese community outreach programs.

Your degree is contained in a section called Education – not overview

It might not hurt for you to state some sort of Objective at the front of the resume.

I am assuming you are relatively young, but there may be some real paydirt in that “family business.” Tell them what that business really was; give it some dimension; tout some special accomplishment(s), all done while you were still in School. And if you’re not as young as I suspect, the details of that period of your life (e.g., between high school and college, maybe) is even more important.

Resumes need to tell someone WHY they should consider you for their position, not just be a Promissory Note claiming “I’m a quick learner / hard worker / people person” with solid basic skills, ready to work hard for you. Blowing one’s own horn is a very hard thing to do, but it is essential in somehting like this.

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Start-up Fever? Actually, We’re in a New-Business Drought

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Surprise: New figures out of the Census Bureau show that the rate at which Americans are starting new businesses is at a record low.

With Facebook’s billion-dollar acquisition of Instagram and impending IPO things sure seem fizzy in Silicon Valley, leading to a whole lot of speculation about whether we’re in a tech bubble. There are compelling arguments on both sides of the debate, but there’s one thing no one can argue with—cold, hard data. And the Census Bureau just released a bunch on start-ups in America.

What’s the headline takeaway? The formation of new businesses has actually fallen to record lows. Start-up mania and the stated ambitions of many to escape their cubicles and found their own ventures aside, Americans overall are starting far few new businesses. New firms made up 13% of all businesses in the 1980s, then fell to just less than 11% in 2006. Now the percentage has dipped sharply with young firms representing just 8% of businesses in 2010, the most recent available data.

That’s bad news for job seekers as well as entrepreneurs, with entrepreneurs creating 40% of all new jobs in the 80s but only 30% recently. “New firm formation has waned since the 1980s. If we are to achieve and sustain a hearty recovery, policymakers, educators and organizations that help entrepreneurs commercialize their technologies must be willing to address every obstacle that stands in the way of new business formation,” said Robert E. Litan, vice president of research and policy at the Kauffman Foundation.

The decline in the formation of new businesses may be bad for the economy, but the economy is also clearly bad for the formation of new businesses. States in the West, Southwest and West that were hardest hit by the collapse in the housing market and subsequent recession has seen the steepest declines in the number of new business being formed.

These figures highlight the fact that despite the high-profile rises of the likes of Mark Zuckerberg and the increasingly loud buzz surrounding flashy, fast-growing tech start-ups, meat-and-potatoes small businesses spread throughout the country aren’t being created nearly as often as they once were. Policy wonks and business leaders need to argue out what should be done about that, but for entrepreneurs the takeaway is more immediate—get out there and start more businesses!

Is this decrease in firm formation just due to the terrible economy? What’s your diagnosis?






Source: Start-up

Your questions about ask men

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Lizzie asks…

Is it true at all that when you ask men how many women they have slept with you should half the reply?

And when you ask women the same question you should double the reply?

Do men still pretend they’ve done it more than they have and women pretend they’ve done it less than they have?

admin answers:

haha i dont know about women cuz im a dude, i dont know bout half…but if you ask us how many chicks wev slammed wer guna tell you more than whats true, like if its 5,,maybe we say 8, or 12, or 50… myself iv probably slept with at least 8 thousand different girls…..this week

Daniel asks…

Why do men hate it when women ask what they are thinking?

When I ask men I know about this they say it’s honestly because they are not thinking anything. I always have things going through my mind. Men tell me that this is one of the biggest differences between men and women.

admin answers:

Okay, I’m abandoning gender lines, but I actually hate that question, too.

If I had something that I wanted to say, I’d be saying it. It feels like intrusion.

It’s perfectly fine to say, “What’s on your mind?” or “Penny for your thoughts?” to let me know you want to communicate with me and understand me. But if I dodge with “nothing”, or if I say “you had to be there”, for goodness sake do not keep pushing me!

People who demand that I explain myself, and give me pouty lines such as “well, if you thought it was funny, I’m sure I’ll think it was funny” immediately go on my “to avoid” list. No one can be forced into communication. The “what are you thinking about…no really, tell me what you’re thinking…how ’bout now?” line feels like forced intimacy–let it be natural.

The second reason your man doesn’t answer is because of this thing women do–and don’t deny it– where we ask a question that has a right answer. “Do I look fat in this?” would be the classic example. If you’re cuddling with Mr. Right on the couch, and say, “What are you thinking about, honey buns?”, and he says, “For the love of Zeus, I hope the Cleveland Indians don’t trade Blake”… well, he’s in trouble isn’t he? Because the right answer was “I’m thinking about us, cupcake. Let’s name our first son Edward.”.

So here’s my advice, in relationships, and in Life: don’t force communication, and don’t ever ask a question that has a correct answer. Instead of asking a general question, start a conversation by bringing up whatever topic is on *your* mind.

Relax and have fun! :-)

Sandy asks…

If women get annoyed when men ask to sleep with her, why would she ever ask men the same?

You always hear of men asking to sleep with women and the women usually counters with a resounding “NO” so what makes people say she would have a double standard and ever ask to sleep with a man? This would be something I should remind any woman that ever wants to sleep with me. What other ways are there for a person to decline the sexual offer?

admin answers:

Most women would understand if you told them that your beliefs do not permit it.

Maria asks…

What makes these questions women ask men so bad?

There are five things that women should never, ever ask a guy, according to an article in an issue of Sassy magazine.

The five questions are:

1 – “What are you thinking?”
2 – “Do you love me?”
3 – “Do I look fat?”
4 – “Do you think she is prettier than me?”
5 – “What would you do if I died?”

What makes these questions so bad is that every one is guaranteed to explode into a major argument and/or divorce if the man does not answered properly, which is to say dishonestly.
i didnt read the magazine but was told of it.

admin answers:

Because when we ask those kinds of questions we have pre-determined “right answers” in our heads that we are expecting to hear.

1. “about you, of course, silly”
2. “More than anything”
3. “No, i think you may be too thin”
4. “No one is prettier than you”
5. “I’d shrivel into depression and never look at another woman again”

SO if the guy answers anything but the above, we are disappointed, and even if he does answer that way, most would consider it lying, and will continue questioning.

it’s a damned if you do damned if you don’t kind of situation.

I agree with the article, avoid asking these questions at all costs, very dangerous.

just my opinion

Robert asks…

Why do men always ask for people to pull their finger?

Me and my mate were discussing this over lunchtime yesterday, so we wanted to know. Why do men ask people to pull their finger, what happens when you pull it and why should we pull it?
BTW, we go to a girls’ school, so we wouldn’t ask any boys

admin answers:

“Pull my finger is a joke or prank regarding flatulence in which a mark is asked to pull the finger of the illusionist (or person playing the joke), who simultaneously flatulates so as to suggest a causal relationship between the pulling of the finger and the subsequent expulsion of gas. References in popular culture tend to treat “pull my finger” as a meme, saying the line but not showing the result, apparently on the assumption that the result is well known.”

It’s an old joke. An ancient joke. Only 10 year olds truly find it funny.

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Don’t Even Think About Buying a Desk

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After their first taste of success, most founders immediately want to upgrade their offices. Rookie move.

Not long after some entrepreneurs achieve their first business successes, they improve their workspace. They recruit a big customer, and so they outfit their offices with tech toys. They sign a big deal, and they figure they’re entitled to a new chair or a desk.

They’ve earned it, they tell themselves. But if they were really smart, those entrepreneurs might do the exact opposite. Having a stripped-down, utilitarian workspace—a crappy office, if you will—can be the sign of a promising entrepreneur. In fact, here’s a simple, crazy idea: If you don’t want to be chained to your desk as an entrepreneur, maybe you shouldn’t have a desk to begin with.

Sound a bit extreme? Of course there are any number of virtual companies now, but we were struck in interviewing Boston Beer Co. founder Jim Koch for our new book Breakthrough Entrepreneurship that he worked almost entirely out of his car. When he needed to sit down and write something, he did so at the bars where his customers worked and drank.

“I literally did not have a desk for years,” Koch told us. “I couldn’t make beer in an office. I couldn’t sell beer in an office, so I didn’t need a desk. If I had to go sit somewhere it would be in a bar. It would be with the customers.”

Boston Beer Co. is now the largest American-owned brewery, so apparently working 100 percent remotely didn’t hurt Koch very much. And, we think there’s a key lesson in there. There are at least four ways that stripping your workspace to the barest essentials can help your business stay focused and improve your odds of success.

1. It gets you out to see your product in action.

If you’re going to run a beer company, the best place for you to spend your time is likely around bar owners and beer drinkers. Imagine the opportunity for feedback Koch had about how well Samuel Adams beer was selling, what people liked and didn’t like about it, and how popular his competitors’ brews were. As long as he didn’t consume too much of his own product before heading back to his car, he was in good shape!

2. You’ll meet your customers.

By literally working in bars, Koch was always out among his customers. He was there in person to listen to what they wanted. Over time, he could adjust his sales pitch to meet their preferences. Plus, he had the chance to network and meet more customers. You might not meet the CEO of a great new company you’d like to recruit as a customer in a bar or a coffee house—but we guarantee you won’t meet him or her when you’re squirreled away in an office somewhere.

3. You don’t waste money on unnecessary overhead.

Office expenses can pile up. In any startup, funds are at a premium. Even if it’s impractical for you to literally not have an office like Koch did, maintaining a minimalist aesthetic usually costs less.

4. You’re forced to stay focused.

You can’t accumulate as many things if you don’t have an office to keep them in. Less paper, fewer gadgets—anything you can do to eliminate distractions and stay focused on your product and your customers is a good thing.

Granted, a 100% office-free start-up doesn’t work for everyone. And remember the lesson from Koch—he didn’t work from home. He worked where he found his customers. If you have to be in an office to lead employees or work on product development, there might not be a way around it. But still, the office-free start-up is a great model to keep in mind. At the very least, it keeps you focused on the fact that you’re an entrepreneur to build a business, not an office.






Source: Start-up

Your questions about time management software

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Mandy asks…

What is the best PDA OS/software for organization needs?

New to PDAs. What is the VERY BEST software/OS/specs that you could get for organization/time management needs?

Also, feel free to name actual PDAs which you think are top-notch in any price range.

admin answers:

Cingular 8525 with the Windows Mobile 6.0 ROM

Carol asks…

Freelance project managers – do you know which project management software allows you to track your hours?

Can anyone tell me, from personal experience, which project management software they use that also tracks time, and how user friendly it is?
Thanks!
I’m hearing a lot about Clarizen – does anyone have any opinions or anything to tell me?

admin answers:

I know Clarizen! It’s great project management software, although it’s not free. It has tons of features, (I have no idea what you need) and you can use it to track time and add up hours. Their support system and training is great even if you are not really “techie”.
Go online and do the tour.

Linda asks…

Project Management Software and Free?

Can anyone tell me, from personal experience, which project management software they use for planning, time tracking, etc and it’s free? All i found are to expensive.

Thanks

admin answers:

Trying to find a free option out there is a tough challenge. What you have to do is pay attention to promising project management start-ups. If you are looking for SaaS solution, try www.teamlab.com/ If opensource is more preferable, I would recommend www.dotproject.net/. Both of them are free by the way.

Susan asks…

Movie library/management software?

I have roughly about 750 gb collection of movies in my hard drive,
a) I need a software to scan for movies in my HDD
b) It can sort the list by duration of the movies (**** very important so that when I have more time I can watch those 150 mins movies)
c) It must use details from the file itself and not download additional info from the net

Movie Label 2013 does the job except it doesn’t satisfy condition c hence no details, info etc are added to the movie

So I would be very grateful if you can recommend me any good software that you use or know that satisfy all the 3 conditions that I have mentioned. Thanks :)

admin answers:

All My Movies can scan drive for movies (menu item “Tools-Scan drive for movies”) and get technical details for them. As for the sorting by duration – it was hard to find this feature, but it seems I found it – you have to add an additional column “Duration” in the Preferences, then click on Duration column header to sort the list by Duration.
The link is http://www.bolidesoft.com/allmymovies.html

Thomas asks…

What is a good Task Management Software?

Any thoughts? I need something that can handle multiple subtasks. I work in real estate and there are a lot of steps to putting a listing on the market, or proceeding to closing. (And I want to make sure I don’t miss any of them!!)

-It would be great if it had alerts/reminders
It would be great if you could prioritize your tasks
(Some issues with to do list software is that you end up having hundreds of tasks with no real order, and it then takes unnecessary time to sift through which ones you are going to complete ‘today’)
-It would be great if it had reporting capabilities, so you could do a nightly report of what you accomplished each day.

I need a free one at the moment, as my employer is on a budget and not spending any money.

admin answers:

Try a program called “Efficient To-Do List”, this software is a professional and handy task management software. With this tool you can specifying the priorities, displaying task list in card view, repeating recurring tasks in multiple modes and so on.
More info at following link: http://www.appcraft.org/shop.php?pid=45&kid=53&detail=1560

You may download a trial version to see how it works.

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Can Bonnaroo’s Creators Build an Epic Foodie Festival?

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It’s the first year the Great Googamooga festival in Brooklyn puts the spotlight will be on the dozens of local chefs and craft food-and-drink makers. If “food is the new rock,” it’s also really big business.

Brooklyn has been gaining a national reputation as a foodie Valhalla, depicted on magazine covers and in travel magazines as a hot destination for those with a hunger for everything from locally sourced barbecue to pickled smoked okra to single-origin fair-trade coffee. But never before has that scene been on display in one quite so big place all at the same time. On May 19 and 20, Superfly, the organizing group behind the Bonnaroo and Outside Lands festivals, present the first Great Googamooga festival in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park.

Not only are several superstar chefs “headlining” the event, but musical acts such as Hall & Oates and The Roots were announced well after the lineup of participating restaurants. In essence, what Bonnaroo did for jam bands, The Great Googamooga is hoping to do for the likes of artisanal, locally made…jams. The event will feature 75 food vendors, 100 wines, and 30 beers in several different food-themed pavilions. Free tickets “sold out” almost immediately in late April; everyone else must pay $250 for admission. We spoke with Superfly co-founder Jonathan Mayers about he’s helping festivals move into the artisanal food age.

Where did the idea to do a food-centric festival come from?
We do some other major events, such as Bonnaroo and Outside Lands, which is held in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. It is primarily a music festival, but we really integrated a strong food-and-wine component, featuring some of the best restaurants from the Bay Area. We created a whole wine experience; we went on to create a whole chocolate experience. We do things that we love. That’s why we pursued music. In a same way we love food, we love great wine and learning about it, and craft beer. It was a total hit. From there we got really inspired. Like music, food is something that brings us together. And like the musicians that we feature, the chefs, the purveyors, the wine makers, the beer makers—they themselves are artists. What if we kind of change the proportions and made food and drink at the forefront of the programming? We’d have music, have design, have comedy to support it, and so that’s what we did.

So is that the basis for the “food is the new rock” idea you’ve been using to promote it?
Music, that’s a creative platform. Being a chef, that’s a creative platform. It’s using a different vehicle, but these are all creative people. People are going to restaurants like they’d go to rock shows. And they’re following chefs like they’re following musicians. And so we wanted to celebrate that.

Brooklyn has gotten a lot of attention lately for this super-twee, artisanal-food movement that’s encompassing everything from foie gras donuts to small-batch gourmet mayonnaise. How important was it to tap into that scene?
I think it goes beyond Brooklyn, but in Brooklyn there’s such a concentration of it. It’s people getting involved, and people are passionate about it. Hopefully, we’re going to create a platform to help celebrate that and raise awareness for it and create a place where people can discover all these great artisanal food makers. We’re going to have a whole marketplace on site, feature some of the best artisanal food makers out there in the community.

How did restaurant owners and chefs react when you came to them with this grand idea?
They were excited that we were coming from a fresh perspective. Our background is in doing these major events, but we’re applying it now to the food and drink space. The reaction I got was really great buy in and excitement. I think people are ready to see the crossing of the worlds of music and the culinary space and the comic and the design worlds. Most of the folks that we wanted to be part of it this year said yes.

Your corporate partners include Whole Foods, Seamless, Lexus, and Yelp. What’s their role in the business side of things?
To put on an event like this, sponsorship is a part of the revenue model and making it feasible. We have an in-house sales team; we do it for all of our events because we really take a creative approach to integrating brands where it adds value for the festivalgoers. We go out there and we select partners that we think are aligned with our brand and we can integrate it. We don’t just slap banners out there.

Are you worried some people will come to this thing and just want a hot dog and soda while they listen to Hall and Oates, not an $8 sampler plate?
We introduced the brand with the focus really being about the chefs and the wine and the beer, that being at the forefront. We just recently announced the music. We had an on-sale before we announced the music and went through a lot of tickets with that. People are buying into the concept. People that love music love food and hopefully if you bring someone in because of a specific artist, maybe they get turned on to a great restaurant.

Bonnaroo is entering its 11th year this summer. How have you seen the business of music festivals change in that time?
There are more and more of them. You have to have a strong offering, and if it’s a music festival, a strong line-up. But what is creating the personality? What makes it unique? I really believe the festivals are greater than any of the individual parts. It’s about aggregating all of these things; it’s about the experience.

The free tickets all were snatched up in a matter of minutes. Yet you’ve got tons of advertising still out there on subway platforms and in online campaigns. What’s the thinking behind the campaign?
This is more than just creating just the event. It’s about establishing the brand and the point of view and the personality of the brand. That’s why we got great participation from the chefs and restaurants: This is more than just about the event as a marketing resource for those participants. We want to have an ongoing relationship

How much guidance are you giving the restaurants in terms of how to present their food?
It’s like how we work with the artists and the bands: We have a different representative work with each restaurants and talk about restaurant options, price points, really being hands-on because we’re taking a lot of restaurants that have never done this type of thing, and not on this scale. The creative decision of what they’re going to serve we leave up to that particular restaurant.

So is this the future of music festivals? Will we see Bonnaroo offering up more artisanal food experiences?
Yeah, I think so because when I think about these events, whether it’s Bonnaroo or Outside Lands or Googamooga, it’s the attention to detail, its what you eat, it’s the music, its how you’re treated. So every year at Bonnaroo, we’re looking at “how can we make this better?” We definitely plan to continue to integrate those elements into our other events.

What’s on your must-see list for the festival?
I’m definitely going to sample a lot of different things. Listening to Hall & Oates, eating a lobster roll, drinking some good wine. For me its just about seeing it all come together and seeing people enjoy the work that we’ve been planning for over a couple years now, seeing it come to life and hopefully take on a life of its own.

Source: Start-up