Oasis – Business Planning for Serious Entrepreneurs

Naming a business can be thrilling and spooky. It's exciting because naming a business always gives a feeling of getting closer to bringing your fledgling business into the world. But it can also be stressful because the wrong name can cost you.

Today's environment is such that, even when you do everything right according to the local authorities, you can still be blindsided by a business owner from a far off jurisdiction.

As a customer, I just might be your worst nightmare.

Don’t get me wrong, I'm not malicious and I am fairly easy to please. When I encounter poor customer service, I'm unlikely to stage a hissy fit. I go away quietly, never to return, and never to refer future customers.

Customer complaints are gifts. Smart business owners will always prefer an unhappy customer's feedback over their silence. Customers that go away to tell others about a negative experience can be a business owner's worst nightmare.

Recently we used a marketing technique called the "eblast" to launch my new book, RiskBuster. Within a few hours the book made #1 in the Home Based Business category and the best seller list in three categories both on Amazon.com and on Amazon.ca. What most authors might find interesting about this fact is that it wasn't an accident; it was a planned effort and it wasn't expensive to do.

You'll never build goodwill by under-charging your customers. Those new to business are prone to undervaluing their products and services. This is one of the great pitfalls when starting a new business.

Whether from insecurity or just not knowing the costs, new business owners tend to want to shower their customers in great value by charging less than the other guys. Aside from the fact that undercutting is a sure recipe for going broke, it invariably leads to problems down the road when you want to increase your prices.

New businesses don't happen by accident. They start and grow when passionate souls burn the midnight oil to solve problems, and then find ways to sell the solution to others.

Emerging businesses, quite deservedly, occupy a special place in the mind of onlookers. Entrepreneurs somehow manage to get ahead of the curve and create profit where previously there was none. Great enterprises begin as mere ideas.

Here are five inexpensive and easy ways to find hot new business ideas. Remarkably, all you need is a dash of curiosity a computer with an Internet connection.

It takes guts to defy chaos and predict the future of your business, and yet that's precisely what an entrepreneur does when writing a business plan. Considering it's a written roadmap that can be used at any point in the future to measure whether the business succeeded or failed, most people will put it off as long as they can. Of course, most people don't own businesses either. But those who develop business plans quickly come to realize an abundance of benefits.

Recently, while visiting a bustling business, I noticed that there were too many employees onsite for the amount of work being done. Overstaffing is just one of many pitfalls an owner will encounter when positioning for growth. Left unchecked, having too many workers will quickly drain your bank account and put you out of business.

There is much to learn when shifting from working solo to hiring others. This phase is a minefield for owners who have not previously managed employees. Here are a few things to consider when building your team.

What do you do when a loan or grant fund gatekeeper doesn't share your enthusiasm for your business idea? After agonizing your way through an application process, it never feels good to be turned down.

Applicants hate to hear that dreaded "no" and the feeling of rejection that follows can be disturbing. Although a refusal almost always creates anxiety, it need not be a negative experience. A bit of thought and well-planned action can turn a doubtful situation into a win.

Here are a few suggestions for anyone whose application hits the denied pile.

While Dragons' Den is educational and entertaining, I hope the theatrics don't scare off too many wannabe small business owners.

After being in business for 30 years, I've almost forgotten what it's like to have to report daily to a job or punch a time clock. I'd like to see more people enjoy the thrill of owning a small business.

While Twitter paused to grapple with hacker issues last week, we experienced a rare interruption to our daily influx of new followers. They're back up this morning, but the incident was a gentle reminder of how integral Twitter has become to our marketing strategy in a very short time.