Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.
Robert Collier

Failures do what is tension relieving, while winners do what is goal achieving.
Dennis Waitley

If you don’t know where you are going,
you’ll end up someplace else.
Yogi Berra

How do work? By this I mean, do you have set hours and a routine so to speak? Are you an early bird or does the crack of ten in the morning ring true? Really, what best describes your work ethic or style, day in and day out? Everyone in my organization has a bit of different style and then there’s me. I have a style that no one can duplicate or would want to for that matter. I usually get to office before anyone else and turn on the music in my office. Always loud and it’s anybody’s guess what I will be listening to on any given day. I might listen to George Strait or it could be Nickleback. It just depends on my mood that morning. Then I check the computer for emails and then move on to the news and sports. At this point I am beginning to get into high gear for the day. I have returned emails and have dealt with the things that need addressing first thing.

        You see I need total chaos in order to function in the business world. I like music and things coming at me fast. My beautiful wife Denise says I like working with my hair “on fire” and to be honest, she’s right. My desk is always a wreck and I am always working two or three business deals at a time with the different businesses we own. The one thing that is consistent though is the routine and the business plan we have in place. Make NO MISTAKE I get things done systematically and effectively. It just doesn’t look like it. My wife Denise and the rest of the staff get just as much, if not more accomplished and they work entirely different than I do. You could literally perform surgery on some of their desks. (You can only have one crazy person in your company and of course, I’m it. Someone has to clean up my messes.) All kidding aside, have a consistent style that you can use every day all day. I know for example that part of the staff at Now What and the Miller Team are going to arrive a bit later than I do every day and still get everything that needs to be done completed. If I need them I let them know and they never fail to “get it done” for me. We are results oriented and as long as our deadlines are meet and the customer is happy I’m happy. A great by product of this type of business plan is that someone is usually in our office from early till late. Customers seem to love that aspect of our business. We work the same way every day and our customers know we are always available when they need us. We don’t have any posted hours. If you want to do business with us we are available. We set goals and objectives and we achieve them by any means necessary. No excuses, just results. If someone cannot or will not produce, they don’t last. We know that the going will get tough from time to time, but that’s when a real superstar will shine. Be realistic about your goals and business plans and then achieve and accomplish them. Yes there will be times you get knocked off course and have to regroup. The great thing is you have a map to get back on course. That’s right, it’s your business plans and those goals you have written down. We all take detours from time to time, some are voluntary and some not. The trick is to get back on course as soon as possible. It really is simple, no plan or goal equals no business. You simply have to be systematic and consistent to achieve long term results. If you do the simple, basic and mundane all day everyday you will be amazed what will happen to your business. Starting is as simple as these few baby steps.

*Write a business plan and set some goals today! (Make your business plan one page and look at it every Monday to make sure your on course).

*Always answer your phone. (We get customers everyday because someone else wouldn’t answer the phone).

*Check and return emails “SUPERFAST”!! (Blackberry’s are great).

*Return phone calls even faster.

*If you say it then DO IT. (If you commit to a customer then keep the commitment).

*Work weekends. (I’m not a Doctor so I work weekends and it pays well, very well).

*Put yourself on a schedule. (Have a specific time you are at the office every day. We get                       business just by being in the office).

*Quit making excuses or “reasons” why you can’t. (Instead make some excuses or “reasons” why you “CAN”).

*Find a Mentor and show them your business plan and goals. (By this I mean, someone who will be brutally honest with you when you are not accomplishing what you should and will give you praise when you need it).

Yes there are many more things that can be done but if you do all of the above with consistency and effort you will succeed far more than you ever thought possible.

Terry Miller

My readers familiar with my profile know that I am a retired Public Health Administrator with over 40 years experience in directing and managing complex health agencies. One of the most important aspects of my job was planning the health services we provided for the population we served. The planning function was the one area I excelled in. I enjoyed planning. It enabled me to see both the forest and the trees as I developed our service products.

In the same way, we who are now developing our home based business opportunities must engage in the planning process. In Public Health we developed both long range and short range plans. The strategic or long range plan covered three to five years and laid out the steps for accomplishing our vision, mission, and values of our agency. The annual implementation plan selected priorities from the strategic plan and outlined the immediate short term goals and objectives for the next year. In developing your home based business opportunity you must develop both long range and short range plans.

First before even beginning the planning process, you must consider the five reasons you are developing a home based business. These may be addressed by considering the who, what, why, when and where questions. The answers to these questions essentially constitute your needs assessment outlining the reasons for establishing a home based business.

(1) Who are you trying to impact by establishing your home based business – yourself, immediate family, friends, etc.?
(2) Why are you establishing a home based business – to pay for education of a child, to get out of debt, to establish a retirement income?
(3) What are you going to offer through your home based business – a service, a product, information items, etc.? What system are you going to use to do this? Are you going to develop your own website or are you going to opt in to an existing opportunity?
(4) Where and how are you going to market your business (note: extremely important!)
(5) Where are you going to concentrate your efforts – in your community, State, the U.S. or world wide.

Once you answer these questions and essentially define why you need to develop a home based business, you need to start work on your Plans.

I caution you that you are undertaking a long range process. You will not make a ton of money overnight. The legitimate professionals in this business will tell you that. It takes work and it takes time. Fortunately enough people have been through the process that you won’t have to reinvent the wheel. In fact, several of these experts now market courses, seminars, continuing education programs on line, to assist you in mastering the learning curve. Take advantage of these experts now. Several of the courses are free. Others you only have to pay a minimum of money to obtain. Start mastering your learning curve now. You will still make mistakes and spend unnecessary money – we all do that because we are human and have to learn from our own experiences. However the theory and practice is out there if you will take advantage of it.

Now you are ready to develop your plan.

(1) Long Range Strategic Plan – Set up your mission, vision, and values statements for your business for the next three to five years . This is the time to dream. You will be revising your long range plan every year to reach out the next three to five years – so be liberal in your goals. Then develop your long range strategic plan – goals, objectives and methodology to meet your dreams.

(2) Annual Business Plan – For the next year, develop your annual implementation plan. You might want to do this in increments of three months (quarterly), revising as you go based on accomplishment of your short range goals and objectives. Read free articles sent to you by the sponsors and mentors of the home based business opportunities you are pursuing. The budget and marketing sections are the most important parts of your annual business plan. Again, there are several excellent references by the leaders in the field on the web. You are encouraged to read all you can in these areas. The primary objective of your marketing plan component is to drive eager buyers to your business – not just curious lookers who may or may not be true prospects.

One of the most important aspects of planning is to be able to evaluate your results. In order to do this, you must set up quantitative indicators for both your long term strategic plan and your annual implementation plan. Set up your objectives for both your marketing and budgeting in quantitative terms and constantly evaluate them for results obtained, revising them periodically. Also, set up a traffic count system by which you can evaluate the number of hits, visitors, pages and referrers being made to your websites. Evaluation is a key component of planning and you will have to become proficient in it to produce the results you want.

I invite any comments and will be glad to provide any assistance readers might desire if you leave your name and e-mail addresses. Thank you for reading this submittal.

Robert Carson

If you are looking to get started in the small business world, chances are you will need some outside start up capital. Few, if any, small business owners got their start up money out of their own pocket. Fortunately, there are a plethora of available avenues for you to secure some funds to get your small business off the ground. Of course, to get these loans you will have to show a business plan indicating you know what you are doing and have a good chance of turning a profit within a recognizable time frame.

Neither banks nor the small business association nor outside investors are looking to simply give their money away. They will want to see a verifiable return on their investment. Of course, no business is a sure thing but you will want to make it seem like yours is. If you have a smart business plan, some collateral to put up and a business degree, getting a loan should be possible. Here are some of the available outlets for procuring that all important capital.

First of all, if you are looking to buy into a franchise, you will want to look in a different area than you would if you were starting your business from scratch. There are franchise financing plans and these are often times provided by the franchise company itself. For instance, if you want to open up a McDonalds, you will want to research the company to see if they offer plans for paying off your franchise loan.

These plans are often cheaper, better and easier to procure than loans from an outside source. If the franchise company you are buying into has no such program, see if your local lending institutions offer special loan programs for those looking to start a
franchise. If franchising is not your thing, you will want to look at the available loans to start up small businesses. One of the first places you will want to look is the small business association or SBA.

This government program is specifically set up to help young entrepreneurs such as yourself. They offer several different categories of loan programs and you will want to look at each of them and see what meets your requirements. These programs do require a certain amount of collateral, though sometimes the small business itself can be counted toward this. The small business association does not actually provide the money itself but will rather recommend you to good lending institutions through which you can secure
financing.

Another good place to start for a small business loan is your local bank, meaning the one you do business with. Banks are more apt to offer loans to qualified customers with whom they already have an account in good standing. They will not have to do a lot of credit checking, as they already have most of your financial information at their fingertips. Often, the financing and interest rates through your own bank will be better than you can find at other institutions.

Finally, avail yourself of venture capitalists and angel investors. These people or foundations are in the business of investing. More than any of the other options, however they will be keenly interested in how your business can make them money. If you have a good business plan, seek out these investors for some capital to start your company.

Obinna Heche
http://www.articlesbase.com/finance-articles/getting-a-loan-for-your-business-285047.html

If you own a small business in Dallas, Houston or anywhere else in Texas and are looking for a health insurance provider for your employees, here’s a standard list of business data you’ll need to provide:

Employer name. The legal name of your company.

Address of your business. Insurers need the street address, not a P.O. Box, to determine your region or service area.

A list of employees you plan to cover. Not all ployees will be eligible.

Tax identification or employer identification number. This is the EIN (sometimes called FEIN) you obtained from the IRS when you started your business.

Business background. Depending on the size of your business, you may have to provide:

Date your business started

Payroll records

Standard Industry Code (SIC or NAIC), informing the insurer what industry you’re in.

Quarterly salary and wages for the past two quarters.

Employee census information. Insurers use this to estimate the health care costs your group is likely to incur. A census does not include health status, race, religion, sexual orientation (even if applying for domestic partner benefits), Social Security number, or U.S. citizenship/immigration status. In order to quote you a rate, insurers will ask you to complete a census form for each of your employees with this information:

o Name

o Age or date of birth

o Number of dependents

o Zip code.

Creating a Schedule

Next, you’ll need to finalize these scheduling details early in the process of shopping for an insurance plan:

Effective date of coverage. This should be at least six weeks ahead, so you’ll have time to complete the administrative steps, but no more than three months ahead, so the quotes don’t expire. Most employers choose the first of the month to begin coverage.

Plan cycle. Many plans operate on a calendar-year basis (January – December). Some plans operate on a different 12-month cycle, or your company may have specific busy seasons when you don’t want to deal with insurance issues.

Establishing a Budget

Once you finish creating a schedule, you’ll need to determine how much money you can afford to spend for coverage, and then calculate the cost:

By percentage of payroll. Calculate an amount as a percentage of your total monthly and annual payroll.

Per employee per month. Calculate how much you could spend per employee per month. Determine a bottom-line maximum figure, without worrying about such variables as employee contributions or dependent coverage. Based on your budget, you can figure those variables later.

Consider cash-flow issues.

Monthly premium commitment. Most insurers require payment on the first day of the month covered. You would pay for April coverage on April 1, May coverage on May 1, and so on. If you’re buying coverage for the first time or replacing existing coverage, the insurer will likely ask for a month’s premium in advance.

Grace period. Most insurers offer a 30-day grace period on paying premiums. If you’re a few days late, your policy isn’t likely to be cancelled. Ask about your insurer’s grace period and notification policy regarding cancellation.

Cancellation/reinstatement. If you’re habitually late with payments, your insurer has the right to cancel your group insurance. Most insurers have their own procedures for reinstating canceled polices, so be sure to ask.

Premium increases. Most premiums are renewed annually, which means the insurer can adjust the price once a year. Some plans allow insurers to increase premiums every six months. By law, you must be given at least 30 days’ notice of a proposed increase.

How to Find Your Health Insurance Plan.

Now that you’ve gathered your information and put together your schedule and budget, it’s time to start looking for a plan.

Brokers Versus Agents

These licensed professionals can help you find and choose the best plan for your business. They know:

The best products available, and

State and federal regulations to protect your business from liabilities.

They’ve also satisfied licensing requirements that require them to keep up-to-date on Texas’ insurance market.

A broker can direct you to products offered by a range of providers. An agent works with only one company and promotes that company’s products. Both may be referred to as “agents” and are licensed professionals in the state of Texas.

The broker or agent will help you:

Shop for the right plan for your company and provide one or more premium quotes

Discuss alternatives to help you understand your plan options

Implement the plan you select

Service the account, including solving problems with billing, eligibility, and claims

Do the legwork so you don’t have to spend the time

Get the most from the coverage you purchase

Expedite the renewal process

Online Options

The online world is changing rapidly and the number of consumers and employers using the Internet to research or purchase health insurance is dramatically increasing. The Internet makes it easier to shop for health insurance, you can learn about your options from the comfort of your home or office and on your own schedules – without pressure to buy.

Implementing the Plan

Review the various plans you’ve chosen for your business:

Weigh the benefits against the plan costs.
Research the insurers for:
Financial stability
Ease of administration
Overall quality of service.
Consider cost-saving strategies.
Review at least two to three health insurance carriers and plan options.

Action Plan Checklist:

Sign the contract before the quote expires, usually within 30 days.

Communicate plan choices to employees.

Distribute and collect enrollment materials for those people covered.

Copy and return all original materials for enrollment before the requested date.

Melih Oztalay
http://www.articlesbase.com/non-fiction-articles/how-to-apply-for-health-insurance-for-your-business-in-texas-123547.html

Working from home is a great way to gain personal time freedom. It also presents lucrative tax savings, earning potential and if you build it right, passive income for life.

Here’s a question for you:
Are you really running a business or are your playing at a business and treating it more like a hobby.

To decide which is which, ask yourself a few questions:

1. Do I have a plan?

Yes I mean a real business plan, one that includes marketing, promotion, sales, competition, business goals, financial projections etc. It should be detailed and include financial projections as well as the expenditures that you will be making to build your business. Take some time when creating this plan, and review it often. You need to know where you are going if you have any hope of getting there so put it down in writing. It’s the best way to start making the plans you have real.

2. Do I have a schedule?

By this, I mean do you work at your business on a consistent schedule. Do you set aside time in your day to work the business. Are you implementing the plan you created above. Set times in your agenda when you will work the business. Remember that working the business doesn’t include reading emails. It could include prospecting, sales calls, advertising and other activities that reach your bottom line sales results.

3. Have I set budgets for my business and am I spending within those budgets effectively?

This is a really important factor. Many people start a business with visions of the money they are going to make and get quickly discouraged when they have to make investments to grow the business. If you decide what to spend, how much and where, you are working off a solid plan for growth. Include in the budget things like sampling, business cards, web hosting, leads, promotion, advertising etc. Make sure you include every possible expense that is appropriate in your business. If you know what your business will cost, and plan for it, you are less likely to give up when the going gets tough.

4. Speaking of the “going getting tough” – Do I have a contingency plan if my sales objectives aren’t being met?

Think about how to address it, what will I do, who will I call for advice etc.

Lets face it. Sometimes the best laid plans don’t turn out the way you expect. Don’t give up. Have contingency plans for the business. Have action plans to implement if growth is not happening the way you’d like. Call someone. You may be in business for yourself but you’re not in business alone. Brainstorm ideas and then get them moving. It’s easy to give up when the first obstacle hits. Don’t. Your future success is worth more than that and you owe it to yourself to keep going.

5. Am I investing in my education?

If you read books by business gurus like Trump, Kiyosaki, Bach and others, they are talk about the importance of learning. Learn something new every day. Invest in your education through seminars, courses and magazines or books. You are investing in yourself, your business success and your future when you take the time to continuous learn. It is the best money you can spend. (If you don’t have time to take course, there are numerous great online programs that give you short online courses that you can do on your computer in less than 1/2 hour. This is a great investment in your greatest asset … YOU.).

I hate to say it but if you aren’t doing all of the above … and more you are not working at a business, you are playing. I hate to add that when you are playing at something, you won’t realize the success you are hoping to achieve. By taking a few small steps, you can convert that hobby into a real business … and guess what, you will start to see the dollars roll in, bringing you that much closer to your goals of financial freedom.

Take some time and answer each of these questions. Where there are gaps, start filling them in. This is another great step in your business development.

When you are starting a home business, it is tempting to play and enjoy your new-found freedom but you need to set the solid foundation for your business if you want it to succeed. Build the business on a solid footing and retiring free and early is possible.

Make your business real … not a hobby and you are on your way.

anonymous
http://www.articlesbase.com/home-business-articles/are-you-running-a-business-or-playing-at-your-hobby-114107.html