Sudden problems in a company

They are very rare the cases when a company gets suddenly in a whole lot of trouble. Usually the sudden crash of some companies is not made by a problem, it is made by lots of smaller problems that managers should see, and take care, like:


- Staff fluctuation – employees work for your company only short periods of time
- Work related expenses rises but your cash-flow doesn`t
- Credit lines are always taken to a maximum and paying them is always done in the last moment
- Similar products appear on the market
- Your business only depends by one or two clients
- You argue with your partners more often than usual, regarding the direction of the company
- You don`t bring anything new



- Your clients pay you late

So, you should expect pretty hard times if some of the elements above are translated into your business. Good luck!!

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10 ways to save your business from bankruptcy - Part 1

A friend of mine, that wants to start his first business, asked me the other day what are the most important things to watch out in order to avoid bankruptcy within the first year. So I came out with 10 factors you should watch out when you start your own business.


1. Watch out about the small loses you have in your company - Over 50% of the companies discover that their balance sheet is not so good as they hoped because of loses that relate with their activity, like: employees that you don`t need or unused space and equipment.

2. Lack of interest for human resources - American scientists discover that the management is so busy to maintain the profitability of the company and they neglect the human resource department. A manager should always take care of his employees, if they are unhappy they wont work as well and the team relations will disappear.

3. Building your business with your family - Don`t get me wrong, it is good to have a family business, but watch out if you hire a family member that is no so good trained as an other candidate for the position, it will drag down your business. You should forget about feelings when you discuss business.

4. Keep your files in order - If you don`t keep them in order you can have problems with the IRS, and you may scare your future clients when they see you have lost their order.

5. Costs - Don`t forget about costs. For a successful business you should always keep your costs as lower as possible. You may find out that by reducing costs, your business may become more profitable.

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A restaurant that allows dogs | Business Ideas

Just think of how easy it would be for you, to go out in the evening and get your dog with you. Clients are encouraged to come with their dogs. In the restaurant the dog will have his own special menu, with a variety of dog foods. The dog will be served in an elegant bowl.



Or if you don’t want to make a restaurant only for dog owners, you can just arrange a part of the restaurant, so you can accept clients that come with their dogs.


I think that this could be a good niche business idea, that targets dog owners. In this way the dog can socialize and the owner as well.

source of photo : www.superdog.com

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What does your staff want?

To have a successful business is not just to develop services and products. Many entrepreneurs concentrate on increasing sales and revenues an forget about the human factor. This factor is very important because without out it the business could not run. In this post I would like to show you some suggestions regarding the relationship the owner has with his employees.



1. It is wrong for you to think that your employee cares only about money. He looks for recognition of his efforts, to be appreciated for his work, also he wants to know exactly what he has to do in the company. Statistics have shown that 60 % on the staff complains the lack of communication they have with their boss regarding what they have to do for the company.


Some entrepreneurs think that they could obtain the best results if they adopt a cold and distant attitude with his employees. They want their staff to see them like a rough officer that gives orders to his soldiers. This technique is not good in a company because unlike soldiers that can`t leave, employees can. That is why you should congratulate your staff with every good work .


2. Signs that people from your staff want to quit Do you think that when your employee gives you the 2 weeks` notice before he quits is a sign that he is looking for a new job? WRONG. The search for a new job started perhaps months ago, and now he found what he was looking for.


Some of the real signs are: a newspaper on his desk opened at the small publicity section, the increase of days he spends in medical leave (he has to go to interviews, doesn`t he?), he is not as active in the meetings as he was before (could mean that he doesn`t care anymore about the company)

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Get money from "angels"

If you don`t have money to finance your business, you should consider all your possibilities. It doesn`t matter if you need 5000 or 100.000 euro (7200 or 145.000 $), a business angel may help you to start your business.

The business angel concept it`s similar with the capital – venture financing. In both cases, investors and entrepreneurs put their money together in order to get the business started.


Some people may have brilliant business ideas, but if they don`t have any money to start them with, it is no use, like Thomas Edison once said: “An idea is worthless unless you use it”. A business angel can help you to start the business. An “angel” is just like you, an entrepreneur, but one with a little more experience, and a little more successful businesses.

In order to get the “angel” on your side and become partners you will have to know your business very well, because if you don`t, he won`t invest in a person who is not sure what he is doing. Another thing in attracting the investor is that you will have to be completely honest with the numbers and the profits, because before he invests he will make a market research and eventually he will find out the truth. It has both good and bad sides of having an angel as your partner.


The good side is that he has a lot of experience and can help you with different things, and you will learn a lot from him. The bad thing is that he usually expects high profits, and doesn`t struggle as much as you to make the business work.

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How do you make a business plan?

Making a business plan can be very difficult especially for someone who has little or no experience at all. You will find on the internet and a lot of books with a lot of models for business plans. You could make your own business plan, but it has to contain some part that is obligatory.


The structure

It is not a standard structure for all models, you should structure it according to the purpose of making it: for share holders, for the management, for getting finance. But all business plan should have the following parts:

The product / services, and what market it`s addressed to.

The competition - What technologies are they using, what is their market share, who are their clients

Clients and suppliers - Who are your suppliers (remember, you should always have more than one supplier because you should not depend on just one.), who are your clients.

Marketing - Market size, the segmentation of the market, who is your product address to.

Risks - You always take in consideration the risks and you should minimize them

Management - Who is the management of the company, what experience do they have

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How do you choose betwen a niche and a general business?

Niche businesses can be successful if you chose the right strategy, but also business where there is a high competition can be very profitable and can bring you lots of satisfactions. I will try to present you the pro and cons of each type.

If you are a business man that has already a couple of businesses in his resume, that could invest in any opportunity that the market gives you, because you have fleer, resources and experience.

If you are a young business man that is a beginner, you could have more chances to success if you choose a niche business that needs a smaller investment and fewer resources.
Choosing niche business or a general one?

A niche market is always interesting because it challenges your abilities to find new opportunities and new market demands. If you decide to start this kind of business you should know your clients very well and build long term relations. In order to run a successful niche business you will have to specialize: on a service or product, on quality or price. A niche business can bring you high profits if you run it right, and a general business gets high revenues.

If you decide to choose a general business you have to provide services and products that have something unique, special, that none of your competitors have. You have to stand up with something so the clients chose you over your competitors, like: smaller prices, less time to get the product, post sale assistance.

Usually niche businesses are formed in the shadow of big business, to help customers with a service or a product, that the big companies don`t care because they think that the market is too small.

Either types of business you will decide to start with remember that you should be very informed about that domain, and put passion in it.

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A picture is worth more than 1000 words

Today I decided to talk about the importance of images in the daily commercials. Images not only bring a design contribution to commercials, but it also brings a much important thing, credibility.


You should be very careful when you choose the picture, don’t put a random picture, and put one that your future customer will identify with.

A could recommend you some options that you have:


1. Put a picture with the product you are trying to sell. In the customer mind will form the idea that the product really exists.


2. Put a picture with the qualities of the product - You should publish a picture in witch your product shoes some qualities, qualities that your competition doesn’t have.

And as a last advice, I will suggest you should leave it on the hands of professionals to make the design of the commercial, you did your part in choosing the picture.

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Rent a limousine | Business Ideas

Everyone wants to go to a limo, but few do. Renting a limousine can be a pretty profitable business. You can rent limos to newlyweds, to parties, to hotels for their important guests or high school kids that go to proms. You can buy a used limo with about 30.000 -35.000 euro (45.000 – 50.000 $).



The clients are regularly VIPs and business people that want to travel in style. You can start with one limo and you as the driver, and then can buy more when the business rises. The only inconvenience that you will have is the gas price that is rising. You can advertise in hotels, and luxury clubs / restaurants.

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Make a mark with your business card

At a first look a business card doesn’t seem like a powerful marketing tool, but it is one of the most an important and cheap parts of the marketing plan. Just think about the production cost of a business card, very cheap, and now think of what an impact it can have. Of course, do not expect to say everything about your company, just to make a very good first impression that will remain in the customer’s head.


Choose a business card with a design that matches your company’s profile. Just think if you are a financial consultant, or a Forex market broker, a business card with pink flowers will end up in the first garbage can. That is why when you choose your design try to choose the image that your company wants to promote. Usually that means you would have to choose from around 5 styles.


1. Simple style - The card in this category is usually printed black on white. You choose this type when your potential clients are serious people that don’t like anything else except fact and figures.

2. Picture style - When you put your picture on the card you will make the client to remember you better. Also you can choose to put on the card a picture with your product, remember, a picture makes more than a1000 words.


3. Multi - functional style - A business card makes more than you show the address and the phone number of the company. You could print on the back a map of the location of the company, or a calendar. In this way you could make it useful for the people who have it and maybe they won’t throw it away.

4. Touch style - The shape of the card could be unconventional or if it is not made out of cardboard, it could be kept because it is special. You also could give it the shape of your product, lets say a car, and the business card would be easier remembered.


5. Crazy style - this style allows you to make anything you want with the card, anything to draw attention on it.

With all that said, I wish you good luck, and remember to verify 10 times the address and telephone number to be printed correctly.

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