Tag Archives: owning a business

Market Research, Owning a Business, Starting a Business

Tips for Naming Your Business

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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.

When a local business owner started her housecleaning business a couple of years ago, she did her research, registered her name with the provincial corporate registry, and started building her business. A few months later she was advised by her lawyer that she should stop using her business name because someone else had the trademark pending for all of Canada.

Now, many months later, she has successfully changed her business name, but the cost has been considerable. She has redone her business cards, brochures, vehicle signage, media advertising, and rebuilt her website at naturallyneat.ca.

This situation is not unique. With that in mind, here are a few tips for naming a business.

  1. Search your name ideas using any of the search engines, such as www.google.com or www.bing.com. Too many hits might mean the name is overused. Be sure to try using different search engines, because they don’t all pull up the same information.
  2. Use the built-in search functions at domain registry websites to determine if the domains are available for your preferred business name. A couple of domain search websites are www.godaddy.com and www.hover.com. The search results will tell you whether your name is available in the .com, .net, .org, .biz or .info versions. If your name idea is already taken, some of the registry sites will also list a number of suggestions that are close or related to your name.
  3. Keep the name as brief as possible. Throughout the life of your business, you and others will write, type, think or speak your business name many times. If you wish to inspire others to repeat your business name, make it easy for them to do so. The worst names are those that are difficult to pronounce, or they are so long that you need an acronym to shorten them. Brief is better.
  4. Search copyrights and trademarks to determine if someone has already secured the name. You can either hire a trademark lawyer to do this or you can do it yourself by visiting the appropriate government agency or website. Use a search engine to search using keywords “trademark” and your location (example, “trademark Canada”) to locate the website.
  5. Ask others for feedback on your business name. How does the name fit the business? What do others think of when they hear the name? Does the name sound right for the image you wish to portray?
  6. Once you have chosen your name, register it in the jurisdiction where you intend to operate the business. For example, in British Columbia you will need to register your business with the Corporate Registry.

A great business name will help you avoid costly court disputes or name change exercises, at the same time drawing the right customers to your business. A little due diligence before settling on a business name can save you loads of trouble later. While there are no guarantees, the steps above should help you narrow your focus and choose that magic and hopefully – unique business name.

Are you ready to start your business plan? Get a free business plan template and get started today.

Entrepreneurship, Self-Employment, Starting a Business

Are You Ready to Own a Business?

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While most people like the idea of starting a business, many have no idea what’s really involved, and relatively few will actually take the leap of faith or do what it takes to succeed. It’s not easy to champion a business. It’s challenging to plot your way through the maze, especially if you’ve not done it before. Here are a few questions that will help you navigate the hurdles to opening day.

Are you ready to run a business? For the most part, your business’ success will depend on you. Do you have what it takes to succeed as a business owner? Will the business bring in enough money to support your personal financial needs? Is your family ready to support a crazy, fist-clenching entrepreneur? Are you ready to live with the risk a business will bring? A few moments of reflection will let you know whether you’re on track and what you need to do to prepare to run a business.

Is your business idea feasible? Is your idea really a business or is it just a hobby? Do you see examples of similar businesses in the marketplace? The fact that a business exists or occupies an office doesn’t necessarily mean it’s successful. Business success takes many forms—paying the bills, fair treatment of employees, creating satisfied customers, providing a valuable service to the community, not mucking up the environment, and profitability. Will your business pay you enough to survive and earn a profit? If not, perhaps it’s just a hobby.

Will your concept work in the marketplace? To figure this out you’ll need to develop a business plan, a task best done by the one taking the risk–you. The business planning process will guide you to understand the industry you’re getting into, to clarify which products and services you will offer, to be an authority on your customer’s needs and wants, and to determine whether you’ve got the right attitude and experience to run the business. While it may seem like a lot of work, a business plan is a great way to prepare for the rigors of business and it will definitely save you from making a lot of costly mistakes.

Will your business make money? As you learn about your business, you’ll gather the information needed to forecast your sales and expenses. A necessary part of proving your business case is determining whether or not the business will earn a profit. A sound financial plan should include a sales forecast, a cash flow forecast, and a pro forma (future) income statement. The sales projection tells you how much revenue you can expect. A cash flow forecast clarifies what your expenses will be and whether you need a loan, while the income statement tells if the business will be profitable.

While many people dream of owning a business, only a few are really prepared to jump in. One of the biggest benefits of owning a business is the joy of working at something you love to do. At the end of the day, when the dust settles and all the numbers are in, the most important business question we all need to answer is, “Do you enjoy what you’re doing each day?” If you can answer yes to that question, you’re well ahead of the game. It’s necessary to pay the bills and it’s grand to earn profits, but if you don’t enjoy what you do each day, is it really worth it?

Ready to unleash the small business within you?

Business Planning, Self-Employment, Starting a Business

Don’t Waste Another Dollar on Business Planning

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If you’re starting or growing a small business and throwing a lot of money into business planning, you might want to read this before spending another dollar.

Talk to almost anyone in the business development or lending arena, and they will tell you flat out that you need a business plan.

True enough. You need a plan.

What’s less well touted is that almost all of the benefits of business planning accrue from researching and writing the plan yourself.

So, let’s cut to the chase. Individuals setting out to start small or micro-businesses are far better off to take up the mouse and keyboard themselves than to outsource the development of a business plan. Anyone can write you a story, but nobody can read your mind or predict whether or not you’ll succeed in business.

And guess what – you stand to lose everything if the plan doesn’t work out.

Of course, you also stand to gain everything if your business gains traction and succeeds.

So, here’s the rub. If a consultant could create a business plan that is guaranteed to succeed, why would he do it for you for pennies? Why wouldn’t he simply start the business himself? Here’s why – because 99.9% of the work is not in the planning; it is in the implementation of the business plan. And only you can assess whether or not you are able and willing to take on the work and make the business succeed.

Anyone who knows a few words can write a story. Anyone with those skills, a hint of imagination, and a bit of business knowhow can write a fairly convincing business story. But is that person in business? And specifically, unless that person is buried in your business up to the neck, the business plan isn’t going to be worth the pdf it’s written on. And if that person is in the business already, he isn’t going to help you in to the market place just to compete with him.

So, where do great business plans come from? They arise from the mind of the entrepreneur putting assets on the line, tempered with a few hours of research to validate any assumptions. That’s it. The only business plans that are worth a pinch of muskrat muck are those that are brought about through the blood, sweat and tears of the person who’ll be paying the taxes once the business is rolling.

So, suck it up and research and write your own business plan. If you have a roadmap to follow, it’s not such a bad thing – fact is, you might even enjoy the planning process once you get past the initial fear. After all, in planning a business, you are mapping out the next leg of your personal journey. You are laying the groundwork for an optimistic future, possibly improving your financial status and getting into a lifestyle you want.

What could possibly be more enticing than that?

Entrepreneurship, Owning a Business

The Art of Putting Off Procrastination

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I’ve been meaning to write this article for some time, but kept putting it off.

Procrastination is a rat and a killer of dreams and life. As near as I can figure, it’s just a bad habit with its subversive roots somewhere in the realm of fear: fear of failure, fear of success, fear of change, and fear of one’s own shadow.

Although I pride myself in being action oriented, I am also capable of long periods of procrastination for some things. The rat lurks below the surface, rising only to taunt me occasionally when I realize I’ve been putting something off for far too long.

Black belt procrastinators have their bulletproof rationales ever at the ready to justify their inaction. One of the most sinister cornerstones of inaction is that there always seems to be an abundance of reasons to put things off until later. You can wait for the government, the health system, your health, your advisors, till the time is right, or you have enough money or time—if those don’t do it, you can wait until your friends approve or your grandma gives you her blessing. A procrastinator will defend his inaction to the death, and then choose the slowest possible way to die.
Putting off personal issues is troubling enough, but business owners can’t afford the luxury of procrastination. As we all know, what doesn’t get done today… will still be waiting for you when you wake up tomorrow morning. Business owners need to have a bias for action and a way to stay focussed on the most important matters in front of them.

Here are seven steps sure to help you deal with procrastination.
1. Clarify Your Vision. What kind of person or business do you aspire to be? Clarifying your vision will enable you to channel your energy into actions that are right for you.

2. Write Your Mission. How will you fulfill the elements of your vision? Will you be the best, the fastest, or the friendliest?

3. Identify Your Goals. Goals are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time dated.

4. Select Your Most Important Goals. Choose the top three to five goals. Feel free to pick the low-hanging fruit, the ones that will bring the most results for your investment of time and energy.

5. Make a To-Do List. Make a list of tasks for each of your top three goals. If you’re still listing tasks three days later, you’re probably still procrastinating.

6. Choose Your Payoffs. Identify how you will reward yourself once you’ve achieved each of your goals. It’s also helpful to make a list of the benefits for each goal.

7. Take Action. Choose one task and go to work on it immediately—today.

Unless of course, you’d rather take a bit more time to think about it.
At all times we walk a narrow path between under and over thinking our actions. Too lean and quick might open the door to disasters, too long contemplating and we drift into the fuzzy world of procrastination. That’s the deal.