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Internet Resources
Kids & Business: How Kids Can Make Money
July 5, 2011
I remember watching the news a few years back (I don’t really watch the news that often) and I saw a story about this little boy who had started a candy selling company.
He was 9 years old. At first he was just buying candy at a bulk, and selling them by piece… and needless to say he was making a pretty decent profit. Then he decided to make his own candy and sell it… to create his own brand.
The news story went on to say that this little boy had made over $40,000 from his little candy selling business during the previous calendar year.
That figure blew my mind. Here is this little boy who is making more money selling candy, than 90% of adults make in their professions that they studied so hard in school for.
Then I read about another kid who was making money from a blog he started about skateboards because he loved to skateboard so much and just wanted to talk about it with other people online.
The blog originally started as a way for him to connect with his friends but it developed into a cash machine. From the adsense ads that he had on his website, and a few affiliate links that were scattered through the blog he was making a full time income talking about his hobby.
A 6 year old girl was making over $20,000 per year selling hand made bracelelets through her website. Another little boy started his lemonade stand not in the middle of their neighborhood, but next to a track field by their local college… He sold TONS of lemonade to the thirsty athletes.
There are countless examples of kids starting businesses, succeeding at their small business and then building on their small accomplishments to launch companies like Zappos.com which has sales in the tens of millions per year.
Why am I mentioning all of this?
One simple reason, actually. Parents tend to think that their kids will always be “babies”… and although a son will always be her mother’s baby no matter how old he gets, at about 7 or 8 years old, that little boy can very profitably run a business.
How?
That answer is also very simple. Business is NOT difficult to understand… and it’s really NOT difficult to implement either.
The reason why so many adults have trouble succeeding in business is because they “mind-fuck” themselves to death… and make up all these different excuses for why they won’t succeed in business.
Where-as a little boy or a little girl doesn’t understand all that stuff… they aren’t worried about rejection or risk… they don’t care whether or not someone doesn’t like their product or service.
They only worry about the people who ARE interested… and they put all of their focus on finding those people and those people only. They literally don’t SEE the non-buyers.
Now, here’s the key. Once a “Little League Entrepreneur” has figured out a way to make a sale… all they focus on is how to duplicate that same sale over and over again.
They get a kick out of completing a transaction and making money from it. To them, the process is much more fun and interesting than the end result which is the money.
So what can you and I learn from all this?
Have fun! Business is honestly fun when you get past all the “I’ve gotta make money” stuff. A real successful business does more than just make a profit. It serves the community. It fulfills the business owner because they are doing something worthwhile with their life.
And if it’s a really good business… it creates a community within the infrastructure of the business and all its employees, and within the client base itself. All of the customers feel like they’re a part of a BIG family… that they own a part of something.
Apple customers are more than just customers… they are evangelists believing that their product is the best. If you’ve ever talked to someone who owns an IPhone, you’ll agree with this.
IPhone owners go to extreme lengths to protect the integrity of their phones. You’d think that they owned Apple or something.
Same thing goes with Blackberry owners.
These companies did a great job of developing a community within their companies. And although it’s not really in the best interest of the world at large, people feel like they’re complete because of their phones.
This is what you have to focus on when your’e building a business. Don’t focus on the money. Focus on the good you’ll be doing for people by providing them with your services. Focus on how great you feel because of your business.
Hint: If you don’t feel good about your business or your product, then there’s something wrong and you should switch businesses. The most successful business owners made their fortunes because they were passionate about what they were doing.
So, while it’s very important for our kids to learn from us… we can all learn a thing or two from our children, as well.
Talk to your child about his/her interests to see what they are really passionate about. And see if you can come up with an idea for a business.
Post your ideas on this post and our community and myself will give you our feedback and any ways that we feel you might be able to improve your idea.
I’m excited to see your posts! 
Talk soon,
Arman Vakili
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Get Paid $2 Per 30 Seconds… Seriously… No Bull.
January 16, 2011
No, I’m not yanking your chain. You really can get paid $2 per 30 seconds. It’s a new business opportunity that I just ran across online and I thought that it’d be worth sharing.
It’s completely free and fully legit. (They pay through Paypal)
And it’s one of the easiest ways I’ve found to make money, if not THE easiest. And here’s how it works…
The company is called Two Dollar Click and they are in essence, an advertising company. They sell advertising space to business owners. But they also have a way for people to make money through their site, and it works hand in hand with their advertising services.
YOU click on the ads that other people are paying for, and as long as you watch the ad for 30 seconds… you get paid $2.
Listen to me…
All you have to do is click on an ad and watch it for 30 seconds.
That’s it… no fine print, no extra forms to fill out, no surveys to take, etc.
It’s really that easy.
And just when you thought things couldn’t get any better… they did.
Two Dollar Click has weaved the Network Marketing or MLM business model into their services. And what this means for you is that you can actually benefit from referring your friends to this website.
If one of your friends signs up because they want to get paid just for clicking on an ad… every time they get paid, YOU get paid. And they’re going to have the opportunity to refer THEIR friends, too.
And if your friend’s friend wants to starting making money by clicking on ads… every time they get paid, YOU get paid.
See what I mean when I say that this could very well be the EASIEST way to make money online right now?
They’ve already paid out over $30,000 just in the last month to their members and it doesn’t show any sign of slowing down. (They have a section in their back office that shows you how much the other members have made, so you can compete with them to see who’ll make more money)
I personally don’t see any reason why you shouldn’t give this a try. It won’t cost you a single penny and you’ll be making money within the next 5 minutes, guaranteed.
Just click on the link below to create your free account, and start getting paid for clicks.
And you already know that you can make more money by referring your friends so don’t forget to share this opportunity with all the people you know. They deserve to know.
Talk soon,
Arman Vakili
Thanks For Visiting www.How-Do-I-Start-My-Own-Business.com
Top 10 Successful Marketing Stunts – Part 2
January 16, 2011
This is Part 2 of our most successful marketing stunts series, and it’s JUST as good as part 1, if not better.
So I’m not going to waste any time telling you why this is SO crucial for your learning experience… and I’m just going to start the list:
Stunt #6
Company: D.C. Comics
Year of the Stunt: 1993
The Stunt: Whether we’re talking art or not, D.C. Comics is–yes–a business, generating approximately $40 billion in revenue each year. So it’s not surprising that many people felt that releasing a comic book called The Death of Superman was a marketing stunt, given that nobody with half a brain really, truly thought this company was going to stop producing its most popular title, a hit since the Superman character was born in 1938. (According to a recent estimate published in Entertainment Weekly, since that time, Superman has generated some $4 billion in revenue.)
What Happened Next: The news media covered this development extensively, not quite as if a head of state had passed away, but seriously enough, and the comic book featuring his death sold out on the first day. As more issues were published, they kept selling out. In fact, millions of readers purchased not just The Death of Superman issue but numerous others that followed, including Funeral for a Friend and eventually–who would have guessed?–The Return of Superman.
Lesson Learned: If you have a popular product but feel that sales are stagnant or your customers’ excitement toward the brand is weaning, it may not be a bad idea to tinker with it. “Well, not so fast,” you’re probably thinking. “Jump into a time machine and see how people felt about New Coke in 1985.” But that wasn’t a marketing stunt–it was a colossal business mistake that offered numerous marketing challenges, which Coke eventually conquered, by reverting back to its original formula. Businesses revamp their products all the time, whether it’s coming out with a “new and improved” formula that truly is new and improved (unlike Coca-Cola’s 1985 misfire). But more often than not, instead of replacing the product, companies now just add new varieties to their line. What Superman and other beloved brands can teach us is that if you can create some drama around your product–and tug at your consumers’ emotions–you may just find that your potential for bringing in a profit is, well, super.
Stunt #7
Company: Maui Beverages
Year of the Stunt: 2005
The Stunt: Because Maui Beverages isn’t very well known, their PR department suggested something splashy to let people know how fun this company was. First, they changed the founding executive titles–from Chief Executive Officer to Chief Entertainment Officer–and the Chief TechnologyOfficer to Chief Tasting Officer–giving their company a more lighthearted appeal. Then they set out to prove that they really were fun. Maui Beverages’ PR company sent the founders, Mark Mahoney and Al Williams, to be hosts at an annual conference of food and beverage trade writers. They threw a huge party with a Jimmy Buffett-type “Caribbean island” theme and gave out lots of free sunglasses–as well as free samples of their product.
What Happened Next: Sure enough, after the title changes and the party, the company started getting a lot of positive press, which is directly affecting their bottom line: Their annual sales have gone from $6 million in 2004 to a projected $10 million by the end of this year.
Lesson Learned: A marketing stunt doesn’t have to be something that nobody’s ever done before, but you should “keep it fresh and exciting,” says founder Mahoney. Maui Beverages wasn’t the first company to throw a party–or to throw it for a group of people who could help get the word out about them. But what they did was creative and a much better strategy than hoping your company’s silent and under-the-radar personality will somehow get people to notice you anyway.
Stunt #8
Company: Del Monte Foods
Year of the Stunt: 2006
The Stunt: This ongoing stunt is part of a larger trend called advertainment–pure entertainment wrapped around a product with hopes of convincing consumers to purchase said product. Del Monte is currently airing a reality show for cats on Animal Planet. They’ve put up a Meow Mix House withwebcams for people to look in and watch these cats in one room–from 10 shelters around the country–where they hang out and have various visitors (think Big Brother, but for felines). Every Friday, on Animal Planet, Meow Mix announces which cat has been “voted out,” but in this case, that means being put up for adoption and receiving a year’s supply of Meow Mix.
What Happened Next: So far, so good. Meow Mix’s marketing director has been doing tons of interviews, and the brand is being associated with a worthy cause: cat adoption.
The Lesson: If you’re going to look for inspiration for a marketing idea, why not borrow from popular culture?
Stunt #9
Company: Half.com
Year of the Stunt: 1999
The Stunt: Half.com, a retail website known for having sharply discounted items, paid Halfway, Oregon, to adopt the name Half.com for their town for a year. In exchange, Halfway received $100,000, 20 new computers for the local school and other financial subsidies.
What Happened Next: The media picked up on it, Half.com became very well known, and in 2000, five months after the IPO, eBay bought the company for $300 million. Halfway, Oregon, was a little less fortunate. According to Halfway, Oregon’s official website, “Half.com made many promises. Some of which were honored and others not.”
The Lesson: Creativity works, and you can apparently talk anyone into anything, if you show them the money. It also helped that Halfway, Oregon, felt it was a winning situation for them, too, beyond the monetary reward: They were the first dotcom town in the nation–though not the first community to change their name to a brand name. That distinction goes to Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, which changed its name from Hot Springs in 1950, when radio personality Ralph Edwards was hosting a popular radio show called “Truth or Consequences.” He’d said he wished a town loved the show enough to rename itself after the program–and if one would, he’d air a live program from the community. Hot Springs, anxious to shed its name, anyway, since people confused it with the town in Arkansas, jumped at the chance.
Stunt #10
Companies: PokerShare.com and CasinoShare.com
Year of the Stunt: 2006
The Stunt: Another casino, unable to advertise in traditional media; another amazing marketing stunt. Over Memorial Day weekend this year, with gas prices hovering around $3 a gallon, PokerShare.com and its newly launched CasinoShare.com gave away more than 8,000 gallons of gasoline to hundreds of New Yorkers. In a long, snaking line of traffic, New Yorkers lined up to receive $40 of free gas while free food was distributed and music blared.
What Happened Next: Before the morning rush hour had ended, the New York City Police Department shut down the stunt because the lines were wrecking havoc with traffic flow. Many people–including off-duty police officers and government officials–left empty-handed. But PokerShare.com and CasinoShare.com could hardly call their efforts a failure. The free gas stunt, conceived by Popular Culture PR, was popular enough to be held again in Los Angeles several weeks later.
Lesson Learned: Generosity is a selling point in a marketing stunt, but you have to tap into human nature and, if possible, current events. If the same company had given away $40 in PokerShare.com gift certificates, it’s likely the media wouldn’t even have noticed since coupon giveaways aren’t exactly a breaking news item. And if PokerShare had handed out $40 in cash to just anybody on the street, they might have warranted a story from some local media outlet but, save a mugging or mobs, probably not generated a mention on the national evening news. But free gas when the headlines these days are all about the rising price of gas? This marketing gimmick wasn’t just covered by the evening news, but also by Fox News, The New York Times, theWashington Post and other media outlets, reaching more than 9 million people.
So there you go… that’s all folks.
I hope you enjoyed our Top 10 Successful Marketing Stunts. I’m sure that there is at least one idea here that you can learn from and implement into your business.
Share with your peeps… sharing is caring.
Talk soon,
Arman Vakili
Thanks For Visiting: www.How-Do-I-Start-My-Own-Business.com
How To Bulletproof Your Business
January 10, 2011
Unfortunately, we live in a time where desperate people do desperate things… and suing the business that you worked so hard to build is one of them.
I don’t really like to talk about negative things but this is too important not to mention.
We’ve all heard the stories…
- A guy legally changes his name to “Jack Ass” and then sues the guys who made the movie Jackass for plagiarizing his name.
- A lady gets drunk after a work party, crashes her car on the way home, and then sues her employer for letting her drive drunk.
- A man who missed the Nagano Winter Olympics due to the heavy traffic on the way to the stadium, sues the organizers of the event for “mental anguish” damages.
- A woman sues a TV station weatherman for predicting a sunny day when it rained.
- And the list goes on, and on…
So if people are willing to sue for things as crazy as a wrong weather report, then what do you think they’ll do if your package takes 6 days to get to your customer’s house when you advertised that you’ll make the delivery in 5 days?
I know what you’re thinking… “Come on Arman… that can’t possibly happen.”
Go back and read those bullet points again… those are actual happenings! That lady DID sue her employer, that guy DID sue the Olympics people and the other lady DID sue the TV station.
Get real.
Because of the downturn of the economy people are doing whatever they can to get a hold of a few more bucks… and they’re losing their integrities and their minds along the way.
So as an aspiring business owner, you need to make sure that you have all the legal stuff taken care of just in case you run into a lunatic who wants to sue you just because you’re doing something with your life.
And because I love you, I’m going to give you access to a few VERY awesome resources for business law & finding great business lawyers.
Here they are:
- FindLaw (A great resource for all small businesses & small business law)
- Contract Law (For creating & advising you on all of your contractual agreements)
- Indianapolis Lawyers (These guys are experts on Real Estate, Construction, & Personal Injury Law)
Personally I find law to be super boring… but I have to do it. And so do you.
You’ll be so glad you took the time to research and study on this topic now instead of when your business is going global and you got 100 people after your money.
Share this with your peeps… chances are, they find law boring too and they don’t want to hear about it… but being the good friend that you are, you know how important it is for them to know this stuff.
I’m not saying YOU have to become a lawyer, but you DO need one. So get it done.
Arman Vakili
Thanks For Visiting www.How-Do-I-Start-My-Own-Business.com
Building Wealth Is Not About Making Money, But Keeping And Growing Your Money.
January 10, 2011
I know that this is a blog dedicated only to starting a business and making money, but this is too important not to share.
As you may know, the first business that I ever started was in the financial services niche. And as a part of my studying and learning in that niche, I have attended a lot of different seminars, workshops, etc.
What I love about financial services though, it NOT the fact that you can make a lot of money. That part about it is obviously very cool and is a great motivator to start with… but the thing about financial services that gets my blood pumping is the fact that your “job” is to make sure OTHER PEOPLE do well financially.
Your job is to make sure that each one of your clients meets their financial goals.
You see, the reason why the financial services industry is so popular is because if you’re a good salesperson, you can make a LOT of money selling different financial plans.
But the really successful people in that industry are NOT the ones that are the best sales people… they are the ones that care the most about their clients’ financial success.
I’ve had the pleasure of learning and working with a great group of professionals and I’m pleased to say that I met another one very recently at one of these events.
You may have actually already heard of him…
He has thousands of clients that he personally consults and he just released a book that hit the National Best Seller list in just a few short months.
His name is Patrick Kelley and his book is called Tax Free Retirement.
This link above goes directly to Amazon’s product description page, and if you purchase it, I may earn a commission. (My lawyer said I had to put that in)
Anyway… I highly recommend you get that book. Even if you’re not going to buy from the above link, buy it from your local bookstore, go to Amazon directly, or buy from any of the other thousands of links that are available online.
It’s one of those books that you really can’t afford NOT to read. Seriously.
I haven’t met one person that wasn’t raving about it after they read it. Do yourself a favor, and read it.
Just to let you know though… if you don’t read it, chances are you’ll end up paying the government hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions of dollars EXTRA in taxes.
And if that happens, don’t get mad at me and say I didn’t tell you so… because I did. 
Arman Vakili
Thanks For Visiting www.How-D0-I-Start-My-Own-Business.com
The Best Business Plan Is Nothing Without The Right People
January 10, 2011
This is something that I’ve wanted to write about for a really long time, now.
It really doesn’t matter what model you go for when you’re trying to start your own business… the people you surround yourself with will play a HUGE part in whether or not your business “makes it”.
Now you may be saying, “No Arman… I am the most important part of my business.”
And I’d hate to be the one to break this to you but… you’re NOT. In fact, neither you nor your product nor your business plan are nearly as important as the people you decide to bring in to your business for help.
Don’t want to take my word for it? Ask Sir Richard Branson.
You see, you are very important for your business. Without you, the business wouldn’t even exist. Your product is also very important to your business. Without a great product, there is no potential for long term growth in business. And your business plan is definitely important. Without a well thought out business plan, your business will most likely crumble and never really gain momentum.
BUT…
Let’s say you have all of that figured out. YOU are focused, your product is groundbreaking and you have one hell of a business plan. Now, here’s the million dollar question.
Can YOU personally handle every single issue that your business faces?
If you answered yes to that question, you are either in denial or very ignorant. Please don’t take this the wrong way. I don’t say this to offend you… I only say it to open your eyes.
You CANNOT personally handle everything in your business. I mean sure, at the beginning while you’re building your foundation, you probably can. But when you start getting a few hundred clients, and customer service is a big deal, you NEED a good person to help you manage that.
Let’s look at it a different way.
Let’s say you’re really good at coming up with the ideas, but not so good at executing them. You need someone who is. Because if you’re really serious about growing your business to a global level, you will need someone that is a master at executing ideas… and doing it quickly and efficiently.
Now, if you don’t want to go global… disregard everything I just said. You can be the sales manager, operations manager, and customer service supervisor. But I guarantee you that your business won’t get very big.
Why?
Because there are only a certain number of hours in a day… and you are only human. It’s impossible to handle everything on a large scale just by yourself.
You NEED good quality people to help you run your company.
Which brings us back to the original point… The best business plan is nothing without the right people.
It’s one of those things that can either make or break a business.
Think about it. Imagine you’ve just hired someone to be your customer service manager. You spent a ton of time training that person in your business model, what makes you unique, how you want them to handle your customers, etc. Now let’s say that the person is a jackass and they decide to take it casually. They don’t respond to customer inquiries on time. They’re rude, unprofessional, and have a really bad sense of hygiene.
Eventually, you will have to let that person go. Which means that all of the money you paid them, has now gone to waste. All of your time has gone to waste, and now you have to find a new person to train, blah blah blah. You see how finding the right person is crucial for your business?
If you’re in Network Marketing, the same exact concept applies to you.
The success of your Network Marketing business depends solely on the quality of people you recruit into your business. If you recruit “losers”, you will have to carry them on your back the entire time. If you recruit “winners’, they will go ahead to build a business FOR you and you will be financially free relatively quickly.
It’s all about QUALITY.
Take some time to really think about the kind of people you want to be in your business. What traits you want them to have and what you want them to be able to do… specifically.
Once you know what you truly want, it’s pretty easy to find that person.
Share this with your people… chances are they can relate on a personal level with this article.
Arman Vakili
Thanks For Visiting www.How-Do-I-Start-My-Own-Business.com
Business Lessons From The Devil?
January 8, 2011
.
No, I haven’t completely lost it. There really IS a business lesson to be learned here, and yes… it IS from the devil. But, before I go deep into the details of the lesson, I want to tell you a little story…
A highly successful Human Resources Manager was tragically knocked down by a bus and killed. Her soul arrived at the Pearly Gates, where St. Peter welcomed her:
“Before you get settled in,” he said, “We have a little problem… you see, we’ve never had a Human Resources Manager make it this far before and we’re not really sure what to do with you.”
“Oh, I see,” said the woman. “Can’t you just let me in?”
“Well, I’d like to,” said St Peter, “But I have higher orders. We’re instructed to let you have a day in hell and a day in heaven, and then you are to choose where you’d like to go for all eternity.”
“Actually, I think I’d prefer heaven”, said the woman.
“Sorry, we have rules…” at which St. Peter put the HR Manager into the downward bound elevator.
As the doors opened in hell she stepped out onto a beautiful golf course. In the distance was a country club; around her were many friends – past fellow executives, all smartly dressed, happy, and cheering for her. They ran up and kissed her on both cheeks and they talked about old times. They played a perfect round of golf and afterwards went to the country club where she enjoyed a superb steak and lobster dinner. She met the Devil, who was actually rather nice, and she had a wonderful night telling jokes and dancing. Before she knew it, it was time to leave; everyone shook her hand and waved goodbye as she stepped into the elevator. The elevator went back up to heaven where St. Peter was waiting for her.
“Now it’s time to spend a day in heaven,” he said.
So she spent the next 24 hours lounging around on clouds and playing the harp and singing, which was almost as enjoyable as her day in hell. At the day’s end St Peter returned.
“So,” he said, “You’ve spent a day in hell and you’ve spent a day in heaven. You must choose between the two.”
The woman thought for a second and replied, “Well, heaven is certainly lovely, but I actually had a better time in hell. I choose hell.”
Accordingly, St. Peter took her to the elevator again and she went back down to hell.
When the doors of the elevator opened she found herself standing in a desolate wasteland covered in garbage and filth. She saw her friends dressed in rags, picking up rubbish and putting it in old sacks. The Devil approached and put his arm around her.
“I don’t understand,” stuttered the HR Manager, “Yesterday I was here, and there was a golf course, and a country club, and we ate lobster, and we danced and had a wonderful happy time. Now all there’s just a dirty wasteland of garbage and all my friends look miserable.”
The Devil looked at her and smiled. “Yesterday we were recruiting you, today you’re staff.”
Okay so as you have probably guessed by now, this story isn’t really factual. But it does deliver a brilliant message…
In business, a lot of times we are tempted to say whatever we have to, to get that sale. And that is literally like swallowing poison… it KILLS your business. Because when people buy from you expecting that they’re going to get everything you promised, and they come to find out that you were lying about 80% of it all… they WILL have buyer’s remorse and they WILL ask for their money back.
And if that happens, not only did you not make any money but you lost a lot of time, energy, and most importantly… credibility.
I actually experienced something like this a few years back. I was looking at a few different Network Marketing opportunities and trying to figure out which one was the best to start.
I looked at a total of 5 different opportunities… and they all were pretty good businesses. They were established, had a lot of people making money using their systems, and they ALL promised riches beyond your wildest dreams. No where in the recruiting process though, was I ever told that there is a HIGH likelihood that I might fail if I don’t work hard.
“All you have to do is join, pay such-and-such per month, and you’ll be making money in no time.”
That sounded amazing to me. I was like is that all there is to building a business? I could do this EASY.
And you already know how it ended… just like our HR manager’s story. I didn’t make a single penny. I got pissed, and left. I will never go back to that company nor will I ever refer anyone to that company… simply because I have negative emotions of loss associated with them.
The company itself could be absolutely amazing, and I’m sure it is for the people who are working it right. But the guy who recruited me, is NOT making much money. Want to know how I know?
Because if he was willing to recruit me the way he did, it means he did it with every other person that he recruited. And that’s not the right way to recruit someone into Network Marketing… you will not retain anyone.
Here’s the moral of the story… DON’T LIE!
I know that it’s one of those “duhhh” things… it’s super obvious right? If that was the case, you wouldn’t have all these articles on the internet saying this guy is a scam artist and that guy is a scam artist.
Whether you’re trying to recruit someone into your business, or trying to sell a product… don’t lie about what your business opportunity or product can do. Tell them the possibilities, sure. But also tell them the flip side of the coin.
Some people DON’T make money… in fact, some people LOSE money.
Just be real. People like people who are straight forward with them… so be straight forward. Tell them how it really is. You’ll actually be surprised that not only will your conversion rates go up, but so will your retention rates. People who do buy from you, will be less likely to ask for a refund because you told them everything up front.
People who get recruited onto your business will be less likely to quit because you told them from the get go that they need to work to make money. And if they do quit, they won’t go tell everyone they know that you’re an asshole who lied to them.
See how telling the truth works?
So when you’re pitching your product or your business, you will have an angel sitting on your right shoulder and a devil sitting on the left one. Think carefully about who you listen to… it could be the difference between a million dollar business, and a class action law suit.
Share this with your peeps.
Talk soon,
Arman Vakili
Thanks For Visiting www.How-Do-I-Start-My-Own-Business.com
How To Start A Business From Zero & Go To Billions
January 7, 2011
His Headmaster at his high school said that he’d either end up in prison, or he’d end up making hundreds of millions in business.
He took the latter route.
He started his first business when he was 8 years old. He planted 100 little Christmas trees in a piece of land that his parents owned in hopes that by the time he was 18, he could sell them all for profit and blow the money… but the rabbits ate all of his trees before they were able to grow.
At 15 years old, he started his second business. A magazine targeted for young people, developed by young people. It was called Student and it had 100,000 readers. His purpose behind the magazine was to help change the world and open it to the young person’s point of view.
A few years later, he started his 3rd business… one of the most well known record labels… Virgin Records.
When interviewed, he mentioned that he never intended to start the record label. An artist came to his magazine asking to get help for a signing. After trying several different record labels and getting rejected, he started Virgin Records simply to help this artist get off the ground… and the rest is history.
He has since then started 350 different brands under the name of Virgin, with his pride and joy being Virgin Atlantic… an airline that he started with buying a single, 2nd hand 747 airplane.
The person that I’m talking about is none other than Sir Richard Branson.
He’s one of my biggest business heroes.
I never get tired of hearing his story and watching his video interviews. He’s probably one of the most radical, non-traditional business minds of our time and he’s made BILLIONS quite literally from nothing.
There is so much to be learned from this guy that I can’t even begin to list all of it.
He DOESN’T know what he’s worth… money is not his thing. When asked what his intention is for his money, he quickly replied, “Money is there to be put to good use. I never put my money into my personal bank accounts… I use it to expand my companies and give people more jobs.”
If there is anyone that you can learn from about starting your own business… it’s Sir Richard Branson. Study him. Learn his philosophies. Learn his passions. Learn what he did to win.
For your convenience, I’ve included a clip of one of my favorite interviews with Branson. You’ll learn a lot about him just from watching this clip. It’s not that long and it’s definitely worth the watch.
If you’re seriously considering starting your own business… watch this video. It’s entertaining and there are TONS of golden nuggets in it.
Without further a due… I give to you… Sir Richard Branson
Share this video! lol
n
Hope you enjoyed it…
Will talk soon,
Arman Vakili
Thank You For Visiting www.How-Do-I-Start-My-Own-Business.com
Business Advice From A Multi-Millionaire (Video)
January 4, 2011
If you’re really serious about starting your own business and making millions from it, you really have to pay attention to the people that have done it before.
Now, I’m not at all trying to motivate you… chances are, if you’re reading this, you’re already pretty motivated. But I want to share something with you that still gets me pumped up every time I see it.
It’s a Youtube clip from an interview that was done with Robert Greenberg… the guy who invented Sketchers. And I really gotta tell ya… he gives it to you straight up.
A lot of people think that there is a certain secret that you need to have to be successful in business… or you need to have access to a LOT of money in order to get your business off the ground… and after watching this clip, you’ll soon realize that it’s not of that.
I hope you come to that realization, anyway.
I don’t want to ruin the video so I’m not going to give you the “golden nugget” myself… you can watch it yourself… just scroll down a little bit and you’ll see it.
But one last thing I want to say before I let you go to this video… LISTEN CAREFULLY TO IT.
It’s pretty short, but there is MILLIONS OF DOLLARS worth of wisdom in it. I really hope that this video will help you and your business move to a new level… if you like it, share it.
n
Small Business Accounting Tools Worth Looking at.
January 3, 2011
So I was browsing around CNN Money and found a pretty cool post under the Small Business section that I thought you might find useful. If you have any friends that are currently running a business, make sure to share this post with them through either your Facebook or Twitter accounts.
You’ll find buttons for both on this page…
Alright so without further a due, here’s the original article from CNN Money…
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Question: I recently purchased a small medical supply business. The business is both a retail store and a business-to-business distributor; we are also planning to add e-commerce.
I am trying to find a new system for inventory control, accounting, purchasing, and point-of-sale tracking. Obviously, being a new business owner, I am on a tight budget — but I want a system that will be able to handle all functions and grow with the company. Any recommendations? – Stephanie, Knoxville, Tenn.
Answer: Midsized businesses like yours are in a tough spot. There are some great small business accounting packages out there, but if you have money coming in and out in multiple streams, that’s not enough. You can’t have the website storing e-ecommerce transactions in one place and point-of-sale data somewhere else.
We’ve identified a few all-in-one business management systems. One of them may be just what the doctor ordered.
Klix
Klix Online is a Web-based application that brings together accounting, inventory control, e-commerce, and point-of-purchase records in an intuitive and easy-to-use interface.
The main screen displays an activity flowchart with all aspects of the company’s operations, divided into two sections: Money In and Money Out. You can view data for a specific company, customer, vendor, or employee.
Along with basic accounting features (accounts receivable, payable, and so on), Klix manages inventory and tracks product assembly. Klix can also support e-commerce sites, with built-in support for PayPal payments and the ability to integrate with an existing Web store. Online sales data is automatically integrated with the accounting data in the system, and for existing sites, users can manually import transaction data in Excel format.
Point-of-sale devices can also execute transfers and upload transaction data into Klix. The POS module works with cash drawers, bar code scanners and credit card readers.
Klix is a Web app, but it stores a copy of the latest data locally in case there’s an Internet outage. As soon as connectivity is restored, the data is synced with Klix again. The software is hosted remotely on Klix’s servers, which means you won’t have to handle upgrades and maintenance — it all happens automatically.
Administrators can allow data to be shared between users and departments, and can assign user access rights to control who sees what data. Each user is assigned a role, such as “accountant” or “sales clerk,” which sets the access level. However, Klix can’t customize access rights within a role: two employees with similar job titles needing different access rights would need to be labeled with different roles in the application.
Klix is priced at $29 per user, per month, for up to 100 users. Add-ons cost extra, like e-commerce functionality ($49 per month regardless of the number of users) or POS support ($19 per concurrent terminal use per month). A 60-day trial period is available for the full version.
Compiere
“Enterprise resource planning” (ERP) is jargon that usually translates to “monolithic software that costs millions,” but Compiere aims to shake up that perception. Its open-source ERP software is targeted at small companies.
Compiere’s feature set includes accounting, distribution, e-commerce, point of sale, and purchasing tools. It also has customer relationship management (CRM) capabilities for tracking customer service records and order histories. Each capability is offered as a module, allowing business owners to install only the modules they need and to add others as their business grows. Reporting tools are also extensive, with each module providing its own set.
Compiere keeps all accounting data, regardless of its source, in one centralized location. While available as either a hosted or on-premise solution, the application is always accessed using a Web browser.
Like Klix, Compiere controls user access using roles. Administrators define required tasks and responsibilities for each role, and each user sees a management dashboard customized to the role, making it easy to drill down and monitor relevant data.
As an open-source product, Compiere might be a little too complicated for a small business unless you have a tech whiz on staff. Compiere has multiple editions, with varying support levels. The community edition is free, but there is no support provided. Compiere Standard, at $400 per user per year, has all the features a small business needs, along with some support services. Compiere Professional, at $750 per user per year, provides expanded reporting capabilities.
At these prices, it may make more sense to look into Compiere On the Cloud (all applications run on Amazon’s EC2) instead of going for an on-premise setup. There are also third-party providers that resell Compiere as a hosted solution.
QuickBooks
If you’re already using Intuit’s (INTU) QuickBooks, consider extending its capabilities through the software’s Marketplace applications.
QuickBooks takes care of all of a company’s financial tasks, including maintaining the general ledger, accounts receivable and payable, and inventory. For an extra monthly fee, business owners have access to payroll processing services and can scan and deposit checks directly to their bank. A “Company Snapshot” page displays a financial overview (income, expense trends, account balances and top customers).
QuickBooks has basic inventory controls; for additional functionality, Intuit’s Workplace App Center is full of add-on applications. 
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And thank you so much CNN Money for doing such a great job with this article. Don’t forget to share this with any business owners that you may know… you never know, it can be really valuable to them. You can also “like” this post by clicking the button at the top of the page.