Category: Small Business

You may be looking to start a family business but aren’t sure what the right one is. You could open a small store; you could create a product and sell it online, you could even purchase a franchise.  

 

Have you considered opening a laundromat? These are very successful businesses. They are easy to operate, provide a stable income, and not too much hard work is required once opened.

It’s a Needed Business

People need to wash their clothes. Sure many home-owners have washers and dryers in their houses, but what about those who live in apartments? Coin-operated machines have been a staple in apartment block basements for many years. For those buildings without them, residents need to find a local laundromat.

 

During unstable economic times, people would choose to visit a laundry, rather than send their clothes to others to clean. It may even be cheaper to get their washing done at a coin-operated place than to pay high fees to repair their faulty machines at home.

No Experience Required

A laundromat is an easy business for any new entrepreneur. There are no requirements for studying laundering. The washers and dryers do the work for you. The user just chooses the setting, and the machine does the rest.

 

All you need to have are some basic book-keeping skills, so you count the cash that you clear every day and make sure you’re covering your operating expenses. However, Entrepreneur magazine suggests that you talk to existing successful owners. That way, you can learn any tips and tricks they may use to keep their businesses thriving.

Easy to Operate

If work/life balance is the main reason for you to open a small business, then a laundromat is a great choice. Why? Because they don’t require a lot of your time. Mostly self run, you only need to visit the premises to open/close the doors (unless it’s 24 hours), and remove coins from the machines. The only extra time needed on-site would be if there are maintenance issues.

 

Security cameras can monitor the activity in the laundry, which you can view remotely wherever you are.

High Success Rate

According to the people at Laundrylux, over 5 years, laundromats have a staggering 95% success rate. The rate of investment is as much as 20-35% in the very first year.

 

Many small businesses suffer from cash-flow problems at the beginning due to a high initial capital outlay, and then the slow payment by clients. Laundromats don’t have this lead-time issue as customers are paying in cash, immediately for the service. It’s instant income!

New Technology

Since their inception in 1949, coin-operated laundry businesses have pretty much run on the same concept. Put the coins in the slot, input the washing setting you require, and come back when it’s done.  

 

Over the years, advancements in technology have seen washing machines introduce ‘fuzzy logic’ options. This process identifies the load and weight of the clothes and sets the program accordingly. 

 

The latest improvement to hit laundries now is card-operated machines. Shinepay suggests that this new function eliminates the burden of coins, and it does! This technology links a washer to a user’s smartphone and deducts the fee from a nominated bank account, removing the need for coins altogether.

A Good Choice for You?

If you’ve been looking around for a small business opportunity for a while and haven’t quite found the right one, perhaps a laundromat is the answer. It’s a societal need that will never go away; they have extremely high success rates and are easy to operate.

 

New advances in technology will only help these types of businesses get even easier to operate and attract more customers.

Starting a company requires dedication and pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps mentality if you want to get through the initial stages. It asks people to exit their comfort zone and take a leap of faith. 

 

However, it asks for something else, too – intelligent planning.

 

Each year, many startups fail. While not all do so for the same reason, there are common pitfalls that break new companies. Let’s take a look at some of the most common ones and how to avoid them.

Not Consulting the Customers

Founders of companies that provide products and services aim to see their customers happy. The standard rule is to find a problem and then deliver a solution to it.

 

Still, many founders will get stuck to one solution, even if it isn’t the most probable one, and become rigid towards change. Assuming what the customers want is excellent for creating an idea. Consulting the target audience is the only way to finalize it.

 

Talking to future customers is imperative. No fantastic product comes out without proper guidance from the people who will use it in the future. Understand the market and follow what it says. It is, ultimately, what makes or breaks your product. 

Creating a Bad Team

The old saying goes, ‘people are your greatest asset.’ However, it is only accurate if you get the right people.

 

In the beginning, you’ll generally be working in a small team of up to five people with a similar mindset and dedication to your cause. These people work long hours to make it happen. Soon down the road, you need to hire more people, and getting the wrong ones will influence how your company develops.

 

Making sure that you’re hiring the right people for the job asks for a detailed hiring process. Ensure that people are a good fit for your business before you even start checking their technical capabilities. 

 

They can learn the workflow, but they aren’t likely to learn determination that is necessary for a startup to thrive.

Scaling Too Quickly 

The idea that a business can achieve success in a month or a year is the reason why many companies crash and burn. Yes, the entrepreneurship field is competitive, and you need to move fast, but rushing without a solid foundation only leads to failure.

 

It takes time for a business to develop and start making a profit. Launching a business takes strategic movement and not falling into the trap of fast money.

 

Then, entrepreneurs become frustrated with the lack of steep income growth. Moreover, if you scale without a good base, you won’t be able to finance the development. It asks for a lot of patience, but moving slowly and deliberately is what generates success.

Not Detailing Finances 

Everyone knows about the importance of the business plan for your business to flourish. Nobody pays so much attention to the financial section of it in the beginning. Still, it helps to determine whether your idea is viable, and this is what any potential investors will focus on when they consider your company.

 

The financial section of your business plan should contain three parts – the income statement, the balance sheet, and the cash flow projection.

 

You’ll also need to calculate the full price of operating your business each month, including your salary. It shows the ballpark price of starting your business. Putting together an income statement shows whether a company is profitable.

 

There are also many taxes to consider, so you may not want to handle this part by yourself. As the experts at Tax Law Canada say, taxation related to business is much different from that you pay as an individual. You may need a professional, at least at first.

Waiting Too Long to Launch

On the other side of the spectrum, from rushing for fast money, we have perfectionists who wait too long to launch the first version of the product. The sad truth is that not many people will care about the first version. 

 

Still, an early launch helps further development of the business by creating feedback. Furthermore, launching the product before it’s 100% finished leaves room for improvement. 

 

Not only will that help you develop the brand, but it will help people feel like ambassadors, which creates a loyal customer base.

The Bottom Line

Small business owners will need to be committed, dedicated, and willing to make sacrifices to make their business work. They will also need to shift their mindset and be ready to recognize when they’re making a mistake.

 

After all, mistakes are a way to learn. You can’t entirely avoid them. What you can do, though, is your homework – learn about these issues and make each of your decisions well-informed. 

 

Do so and stay resilient even when mistakes cross your path, and success will come.

 

The bottom line is that sales is all about earnings. You don’t want to spend a dime on anything that’s not going to work towards earning you more money quickly. That said, if you could earn the profits that you’re getting now without having to pay any salaries, then you’d run your company without any employees.

The Necessity of Strong Sales Talent

That fact is that running a sales business without a sales team would be impossible. You’re earning power increases dramatically when you find the sales talent that you need to help close deals and bring in profits. A talented new salesperson is worth every penny that you invest.

The Risk of Mediocre Personnel

If you hire a candidate that can’t find their footing, you can’t afford to waste time paying them while you’re operating at a loss. It’s as simple as that – your business runs on its sales talent and you need a guarantee that you’re going to create a successful team. So why hesitate to invest money in something that has been proven to immediately benefit your company?

 

The Power of Sales Recruiters

 

Sales recruiters partner with companies to be able to bring the best sales talent in the job pool to work where they’ll be put to the best use. These seasoned professionals come from a background in sales and know the industry inside and out.

 

Not only do they use thoroughly researched strategies to find you the best sales people available, they’ll also work hand in hand with your company to discern what you need at any given juncture.

 

Hiring for Executive Positions

 

When the job is more demanding, and implies an enormous increase in responsibility, then the stakes increase dramatically. That doesn’t mean that the situation regarding hiring and earning changes at all – in fact, it only becomes all the more vital that you don’t make any mistakes. If you’re looking for help with executive sales recruitment in Toronto or within the GTA, then you need to get in touch with highly experienced sales recruiters who can bring you guaranteed results.

 

Hiring for Large Campaigns

 

Salespeople with talent can result in a big change to your company’s income. When you multiply your hiring, you also multiply your potential to earn more money. If you’re facing specialized recruitment challenges like the need to hire a group of people all at once, the sales recruiters can guide you through the process or simply find the people you need.

 

When you need sales talent fast, the best option available to you is to hire a sales recruiter to get the job done. There’s no reason to hire people with low talent despite having plenty of experience. A recruiter will help you find highly talented sales people for your company, so that you can increase your earnings fast. Get in touch with an agency to learn more about all of the benefits that sales recruiter can offer.

 

The American economy is booming these days, which is ideal not only for Yankees but for their friends in the Great White North as well. Canadians are facing an unprecedented number of business opportunities in the United States, though many of them are refraining from acting on these opportunities because they think they lack the knowhow needed to successfully compete in the American marketplace. The truth of the matter is that Canadians have a greater chance of success when it comes to succeeding in the USA than nearly any other foreigners.

Here’s how Canadians can start a business in the USA, and what you’ll need to look out for.

There are many options at your disposal

There’s a diverse number of ways that Canadians can do business in the United States, but for now we’ll mostly focus on the E-2 treaty investor category, as it’s by far and away the most popular and likely easiest option for most Canadians looking to venture into the Yankee market. E-2 investors do not receive lawful permanent residence, so you won’t become a full American citizen with the right to stay for as long as you want, but you will be capable of conducting business in the country for some time.

E-2 investors are permitted to stay in the USA to manage their burgeoning businesses for up to five years at a time, which is plenty of time to see if the American marketplace is where you want to make your fortune. You’ll want to review the American federal government’s formal webpage on E-2 treaty investors before you proceed, as you’ll need to determine your eligibility before anything else. As long as you come from a country that maintains a treaty of commerce and navigation with the USA (that’s you, Canadians!) you can become an E-2 treaty investor by investing a sizable amount of capital into the American economy in the form of your business.

You need to understand that the E-2 process is only reliable if you’re solely seeking to enter the U.S. to manager your business; if you’re trying to use it for other purposes, it can be revoked from you and your commercial dreams can be shattered, so stick to the rules at all times. Besides the E-2 treaty investor option, you can also become an EB-5 investor who holds a green card. This, however, requires a sizable amount of capital to work with as well as an extensive business plan that will prove your capacity to generate jobs in America.

Rural versus non-rural areas

When trying to come to the U.S. to start a business, you may need to spend more money if you don’t intend to come to a rural area. EB-5 visa investors are encouraged to invest their money in “target employment areas” (TEAs), which are rural areas lacking in investment that have a special need for new jobs. If you focus on a rural TEA, you’ll need to invest only $500,000 and create 10 indirect jobs for U.S. workers, whereas non-rural non-TEA investments will demand $1 million and the creation of 10 new direct jobs for American workers. This is so that the American government can encourage foreign spending in domestic areas that need it the most.

Take some time to read up on the EB-5 visa program if you’re an investor with large sums of capital waiting to be invested in the United States. To start a company in the USA, you may also want to review the various types of American companies and the tax and liability advantages offered by some of them, such as LLCs.

You must oversee and direct day-to-day operations in order to attain a E-2 treaty visa, and EB-5 visas are highly competitive as they’re very sought after all over the world. In time and with perseverance, however, you can quickly turn the American marketplace into your own thriving hub of prosperity. Always ensure your legal documents are up to date, and consider hiring the help of a legal professional if you have specific inquires about certain industries, some of which are regulated more stringently than others. Soon, you’ll be bridging the national divide in North America by bringing the American and Canadian economies ever-closer through you business.

Today, most businesses, regardless of their location or purpose, have integrated the cloud into their master plan.  Inasmuch, the cloud has transitioned how we store information from a localized data pool to a centralized one. It has also changed the way we communicate with each other. It’s as natural to us as brushing our teeth or driving to work.  With the cloud, we are assured of the management, accessibility, and tracking of our digital assets. In fact, utilizing the cloud is a preeminent strategy for most IT organizations; however, it is truly a lifeline for smaller and mid-size organizations.  To those that don’t know it, the cloud is completely flexible, and enables the user to do everything from storing local data and assets to accessing them remotely “on the fly” as needed. It is a tool that has become the backbone of business and will only, as analysts predict, continue to grow.

When used properly, the cloud enables the better use of data on demand.  In fact, if you’re using a Microsoft product, you probably use Office. If so, it’s likely your work is happening in the cloud.   The cloud is also experiential. Each user experiences it differently which is a fantastic compliment to it. Just having access means tapping into the tip of the iceberg but not the whole thing.  To really make a difference in business means using it throughout what you do, accessing it remotely, and organizing your information and data strategically. The cloud can save the life of any size business when organized properly.

Another bonus with the cloud: business risk is significantly reduced.  CIO.com and other publications regularly report that, “20% of cloud storage users recover from a site disaster in four hours or less. For those outside the cloud, a mere 9% of storage users can typically restore their information. For those that don’t use the cloud, this can be disastrous.”

Do you know the origin of the cloud?  The majority of media have reported, over time, that the cloud began with the goal of protecting, centralizing, and managing your data.  Obviously, the cloud has grown up a lot since it was conceived. Before, the cloud was simply a data repository. Today, there is social cloud storage.  The use case is also different today. Nowadays, it is used for both personal and professional reasons, with high level data management and organization.  The greatest impact has come with social cloud storage. Here, information is stored in one fully searchable central area controlled by the user. Organization, access, control, and customization are the four keys to social cloud storage.

Understanding all of this is important, but in reality, the bottom-line questions are always the same: security and cost.  Analysts have reported time and time again that far too many companies fail to realize the true impact of productivity on the bottom-line. The real impact of productivity on the bottom-line, when analyzed, must include everything from time saturation to time loss to time gain to the ability to access and use your data efficiently.  Otherwise, you clearly aren’t seeing the whole picture. Reduced productivity means not finding a critical file or information to close a deal. This is one type of measurable bottom-line impact. While many organizations look at IT spending as a bottom-line expense it is also true that a savvy business person realizes that enhancing your cloud usage is a foolproof way to make your IT dollars go further. In multiple analyst reports, cloud storage has been proven to reduce IT costs by up to 75% on an ongoing basis, while offering additional productivity and security benefits at no additional cost.

Enhancements to the Cloud are here with others in progress.  Arvind Raichur, CEO and Co-Founder of, MrOwl, a platform that utilizes the cloud’s flexibility and scalability in multiple ways, believes “this is because both companies and consumers want real time access to their data in a sharable, personally organized manner. “In response, Raichur and his team literally invented a new category for cloud-based technology applications called Social Cloud Storage™. 

Social Cloud Storage “enables the sharing of content directly out of your cloud storage to a community beyond your contacts.” Here, users can share information, while creating communities of curated information through their own personal cloud storage.  All of the information is secure, flexible, and accessible from anywhere you have an internet connection.

Raichur notes, “it’s all about enhancing communications and building a wider community where individuals feel heard, understood, and above all, connected.  And, it’s never been easier to share knowledge and resources because MrOwl offers unlimited storage for public content as well as 10GB’s of free private storage.”  MrOwl offers the storing of free unlimited files in public branches up to 20MB per file. Once your files increase, it’s time to move to their cost-effective, private storage option.

If you’re thinking about starting your own business, you’re probably an ambitious person.  It’s admirable to want to create something of your own. However, if you’ve never been an entrepreneur before, then you have a lot to learn before getting started. It’s essential to know all the ins and outs of how things work so that you can be prepared as possible ahead of time.

Since most businesses fail within the first two years, you need all the luck you can get.  So take a look at some of the things that you’ll need to do before starting your own business.

Determine Whether It’s a Profitable Industry

Many people have great ideas.  However, great ideas don’t always equal a fantastic profit.  It’s essential to determine whether you anticipate your business idea has real money-making potential.

You can do this by looking at your competitors and studying the market.  How many businesses fail vs. succeed? How much competition do you have in your area?  Can you offer superior distribution and delivery times?  Do you have the resources to ensure your product exceeds the quality of theirs? By measuring the potential money-making success that you’re looking at, you’ll be able to know whether it’s worth your time and energy.

Find Investors

Unless you have a considerable amount of money lying around, chances are you’re going to need to find an investor. You’ll have all sorts of course that you’ll be looking out if you hope to grow a successful business.

herefore, you need to either ask the bank for a loan or find a private investor.   Your investor is going to want to see a detailed business plan about how you plan on using the money wisely to turn a profit. Your chances of being approved for a loan will be much higher the more prepared that you are.  So gather all the possible information you can and then some.

Create a Marketing Plan

Even with the best product or service in the world, customers aren’t going to find you on their own. You’ll need to create a successful marketing strategy which will attract and retain customers.

If you have no experience in marketing, then you may want to outsource this to someone else.   Your marketing should be professional and effective; otherwise, your chances of succeeding are likely very low.

Create a Name

One of the most critical aspects of your business is how you present yourself.  What do you stand for as a company? Your name will play a crucial role in how potential customers perceive you as a company.

If the goal is to become a household name, then be sure to choose one that you think we’ll stick and people will identify with.  Once you choose your name, it’s best not to change it again. You may confuse your customers and lose your following.