It Never Hurts To Have A Plan B: 15 Ways to Start a Side Business

In our current economy and job market, it never hurts to have a Plan B. I work with many budding entrepreneurs who currently have a full-time job but are interested in starting a business on the side. These future business owners are either at a point in their lives where they want to work for themselves or, with their current employment situation they’re looking for a fallback plan.

You may be going through the same thing and are looking for ideas to start a home-based business–without giving up your current job. That’s a smart plan! Here are a few suggestions:

1. The most common way to begin a home-based business is by taking a hobby and turning it into a moneymaking business. What is it people say you do so well, you should turn into a business?

2. Become an affiliate marketer. Receiving a percentage of the sale price for selling another person’s product on the Internet is affiliate marketing. Probably the best-known and easiest way to begin as an affiliate marketer is with Amazon.com. They can even help you set up your own virtual shop.

Read more: http://blogs.forbes.com/womensmedia/2011/06/24/it-never-hurts-to-have-a-plan-b-15-ways-to-start-a-side-business/

Are You Willing To Be An Entrepreneur?

Nowadays, many people want to get involve in business in way to survive.  In the competition for jobs or business opportunities, ideas involved in entrepreneurship are very important.  Many of us want to be an entrepreneur because we believe that it is the way to wealth and prosperity of life.  But, what it takes to be a success entrepreneur?  Are we ready to face the challenge?  In the Chinese culture, parents began to involve their children in businesses activities.  They give the entrepreneurial spirit and soul to their children start from the early stage. 

The spirit of entrepreneurship should be cultivated since the beginning of the children who are excellent in attitude and thinking in primary school again.  With this excellent children can decide on his way to be an entrepreneur or a creator of jobs to other people.  Should be remembered that the Prophet Muhammad's first trade since the age of 12 years.

So, are you willing to train your children to be an entrepreneur?  Most of us rather let our children to be a professional such as doctor, lawyer, dentist, engineer, musician… What?! Musician?! (Hahahaha… Part of P.Ramlee’s movie).

We know that no magic words to make a business become a success venture.  It will take a very long time for a new company to reach the break even. We must put aside some amount of money for our family to survive.

According to Dun & Bradstreet’s statistics, 88.7% of all business failures are due to management mistakes. The following lists summarize the 12 leading management mistakes that lead to business failures.

1) Going into business for the wrong reasons

2) Advice from family and friends

3) Being in the wrong place that the wrong time

4) Entrepreneur gets worn-out and/or underestimated the time requirements

5) Family pressure on time and money commitments

6) Pride

7) Lack of market awareness

8) The entrepreneur falls in love with the product/business

9) Lack of financial responsibility and awareness

10) Lack of a clear focus

11) Too much money

12) Optimistic/Realistic/Pessimistic

However, the following items should assist in the improvement of chances for success.

1) Development of a business plan

2) Obtaining accurate financial information about the business in a timely manner

3) Profile of target customer

4) Profile of competition

5) Go into business for the right reasons

6) Don’t borrow family money and don’t ask the family for advice

7) Network with other business owners in similar industries

8) Don’t forget, someone will always have a lower price than you

9) Realize that consumer tastes and preference change

10) Become better informed of the resources that are available

I just share what I know from my experience and from some article that I read, all of us has our own opinion about this matter.

Good luck folks!!!

What is the secret of success?

Hi folks,

This morning I had my breakfast with my classmate.  He bring along his son who will sit for SPM this year. The boy ask me about the secret of success. This remind me to a story that I read years ago (during my first degree in university).

The story about a boy who wanted to seek the secret of success. He approached a wise man living up in the mountain. Instead of answer the boy's question, the wise man led the boy to a nearby river.  They kept walking int the river until the boy's head was fully submerged in the water. The boy strggled to keep up his head above the water but the wise man keep pushing the boy's head into the water.

After a few minutes the wise man pulled the boy out of the water and asked the boy what he desired the most when his head in the water. The boy told the wise man that of course he want to breathe.

Then the wise man said to the boy that if he desire success as much as he wanted to breathe, then he would have found the true secret of success.

So, I told my friend's son this story and I hope he will get the idea...

Show me the money!!!

Hello guys,

I just came back from a bookshop, got to fax some document to my dad, I'm so shocked when they charge RM2.00 per sheet for the fax service from Ipoh to Taiping!!!

Nowadays the economy is very critical all around the world. The money that we earn now have a very small value to spend. Yes, it is very tough life these days.

Then, what can we do? Want to save our money? I think some of us even do two or three jobs to survive. So, forget about saving money. Let's talk about how to generate more income. But I will not talk about it now. Maybe some other time, so please visit my blog from time to time for more information. Till then, bye...

How To Make A Business Proposal?

Good Day Folks,

Last night, when I was having my favourite cappucino at Starbucks Coffee with my friend, he ask me about how to make a business proposal. Well, maybe most of us know how to start a business, where to get the supplier, area that we want to do our business. But when it come to paperwork there are lots of problems.

Well, I am not an expert but I can give some advice or guideline here. First of all don't directly go to company consultant, they might charge you a very high price especially when you told them that you don't have any idea at all. You can ask your friends, family members, and you can surf on the internet first, in this case you can always visit my blog http://www.businessbywmh.blogspot.com/ or email to me wanmohdhafis@gmail.com.

Now lets start our business proposal. There are a few format of business proposal. Here, I just give a basic idea. Basically a business proposal might start with Introduction or Background. In this section you can describe the basic idea of your business, what make you think it is a good business idea.

Next, you must do an Executive Summary. In this section you will describe more detail about your idea, the strategy, your target, the industry statistics that you get and other main ideas of the business.

Now you must set what is your vision and mission of your business. Vision in basically a long term goal that you want to archieve and missions are the task that you will do to archieve the vision.

Afterthat, you must make a market analysis including SWOT Analysis, market target and market segmentation. Then we come to a more technical stage, the Financial Analysis. This is very important part that you must study it properly. You must calculate all your capital, loan and other sources.

Finally, you can make a summary about all that you have plan in the business proposal.

That's all for now, take care and good luck.

See you soon folks!!!

Welcome

Hi folks,

Welcome to my blog. I will post everything about business matters in this blog. I hope this blog can give you some information.  I appreciate all your comments and suggestions.

Enjoy reading...