Working 5 to 9 has become a popular term for people who run their small businesses out of hours or after they have finished their day job.

It assumes the business is part-time and is a good way to test the credentials of a business idea you may have had. As you don’t have a full day to dedicate to running your business, it makes sense to run it from home to give you the vital extra time you need. If your home isn’t adequate for running your business idea, consider time-sharing a property to help bootstrap your business.

Find out more @ winweb.com

Starting a small business from an office or home is a great way to earn some extra money or make into your full-time occupation.

As we all know there are many things to consider and the take into consideration. WinWeb has compiled a great list of 100 tips to help you to check out your business idea. Have a read and find out how well you are prepared.

100 Small Business Start-Up Tips @ WinWeb Business Blog.

Now you’ve decided on your business idea, recorded your business goals and started planning your cash-flow you need to set up some essential areas of your business. The 6 steps below WinWEb will give you a brief insight into what you will need to set up to get on track for running a successful business.

Find out more @ http://www.winweb.com/bootstrapping/small-business-set-up

The thought of starting a business can be a daunting prospect for anyone, regardless of experience and financial situation.

Breaking down the early stages into manageable steps will help you see it’s not as complicated as you might think. This brief overview will cover a few things you should consider if you are looking to become your own boss and how to go about it.

Read on @ winweb.com

So far we have provided tools, like our OnlineOffice, to help our clients to solve their small business problems, now we actually solve these problems for our clients in an integrated way, leaving them to explore their entrepreneurial vision and look after their business, not their admin and IT.

I am very happy to announce that WinWeb is releasing ‘BusinessServices’ – a new business services offering for the freelancer, home business and small office market. This is another world-wide first for WinWeb and every business service includes free access to WinWeb’s OnlineOffice as a bonus.

These services include bookkeeping, call & fax management, business address, mail hold & forwarding, web site design and maintenance, SEO – search engine optimization, payroll, graphic design, export services, online marketing and PR services, online presenters, online shop setup and maintenance and as before many Pay-As-You-Go services like parcel service, translation service and many more.

We have been training a large number of virtual assistants in all aspects of our service offerings for months and we are very confident we can provide a professional and extremely cost-effective service to all our clients. These services will be available in the following regions, the UK, Ireland, United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, but may vary from region to region.

As an example, Bookkeeping will start at £9.85 per month plus VAT – at these kind of prices even the smallest of businesses can afford to outsource their bookkeeping. In addition to the low price, our OnlineOffice will be free for the duration of the service allowing you to keep your cost even lower, by using the invoicing software and online shop to further reduce your bookkeeping cost, since any of these transactions will automatically be processed in the system.  

Any receipts can be uploaded by fax, scanned via email or sent to our processing centre and will be processed within 72 hours of receipt.

This is just one service aimed at making you focus on your business and not on your admin. I will talk about the other services in due cause on this blog, but you can always go and have a look at them on the WinWeb website now.

Especially during these times it is essential for freelancers, home business and small business owners to focus on revenue, sales and marketing their services and products and free up as much time a possible by outsourcing non-essential admin services.

All of our services come with a best price guarantee, we will match any comparable price in the relevant regions. Almost 100% of services are provided in local markets by local personnel and not outsourced to far eastern countries – showing our commitment to the regions in which we work.

Using OnlineOffice you can save over 75% on IT cost, now with BusinessServices you can save over 90% of admin hassle and additional cost savings, making it the ideal combination for your business success – have a look today! –ST.

Roger Trapp of The Independent wrote about how effective use of technology (IT) can be more useful to small businesses than any tax break or incentive by government.

In his piece he writes about WinWeb’s OnlineOffice – software and business services to start and run a small business form home or an office – as a perfect tool for small business start-ups. Roger understands exactly which problems these entrepreneur face, it is not only about technology, but also about sending parcels, receiving calls when out of the office, or doing bookkeeping. Eliminating these distractions is what keeps these businesses from folding too soon.

He also talks about ShellLiveWire and The Princes Trust, who have helped hundreds of thousands of people into business and providing invaluable help and advice to business start-ups. I have been working with The Princes Trust for a few years now, and I’m always amazed by their passion for small business, especially from under-privileged backgrounds and that makes them into the perfect partner for starting your business.

I feel that SMEs are currently more on the agenda, and that is good. Many in government and larger organisations are still struggling with how to help small business and home business. This article by Roger Trapp is a welcomed deviation from that theme.

It’s more than IT that makes small business tick. — ST.

If you have decided to start your own business recently then this question has probably not even crossed your mind yet, but from a legal standpoint it is quite an important issue. The legal form that your business takes will affect how much tax you have to pay, determine who can invest in your business and also could have consequences for your personal financial security. 

There are three main aspects to choosing a legal form. The first of these aspects (and arguably the most important one) relates to your level of liability should anything go wrong. Corporations are viewed as legal entities which are separate from the people who own them. This means that only the assets of the corporation can be taken to pay company debts and not personal assets such as your house. 

The second aspect is whether or not the legal form you have chosen will mean that you end up paying taxes twice – firstly on the profits of the business and then again on the personal income you receive from the business. 

Finally, you must consider whether you plan on receiving investment into your business because some corporate structures are quite restrictive and would be unsuitable if you are expecting a large number of investors or some foreign investment. 

Here is a brief rundown on the main legal forms that small businesses usually take, but it is always sensible to check with a professional before you make any final decision. Your choice may also be limited depending on which industry you plan to enter. 

Sole Trader: This is the easiest type of business to set up and that is probably the greatest benefit of operating as a sole trader. The downside to this is that the business is not considered a separate legal entity from you so any lawsuit against the company would leave you at risk to lose everything. You are also taxed on all profit irrespective of whether you have drawn it from the business or not. 

Partnership: This consists of two or more individuals joining together to run a business. Although the business is a separate legal entity, you are liable for all debts in a similar way to a sole trader (except they will be shared with your fellow partners). Any member of the partnership can sign contracts or obtain credit on behalf of the other partners. It is important to have a written partnership agreement when you first go into business together that will detail the minutiae of the role and authority of each partner, along with how profits will be shared and what happens if things go wrong. All individuals are taxed on their share of the partnership profits in a similar way to the sole trader. 

Limited Liability Partnership (LLP):  This requires a more formal approach to business and therefore generates a lot more red tape than the previous two legal forms. LLPs are a separate legal entity registered at Companies House which also means that your accounts have to be filed with them and are viewable by anyone. However, you benefit from having limited liability and are taxed the same as a normal partnership. 

Limited Company:  This is a separate legal entity with most of the legal rights of an individual, meaning lawsuits will generally be against the company and not you. A limited company needs permission from Companies House to use their proposed name and must adopt and file the Memorandum and Articles of Association – these govern its rights and obligations to shareholders and directors. It must also file annual tax returns with the Inland Revenue like an individual, but limited companies benefit from a low starting rate of tax. 

Although many people decide to try and realise their dream of starting their own business, unfortunately it often turns into a nightmare for them. It is estimated that around a third of new small businesses fail within two years and that figure rises to more than 50% over five years. The problem that many face is making simple mistakes due to their inexperience and unfortunately these turn out to be extremely costly, resulting in the business failing before it ever really had a chance to grow. This article examines five of the worst rookie errors that a business owner can make. 

The most common mistake is to underestimate the level of capital that will be needed in order to safeguard against miscalculations or economic slowdown. It takes time for a business to build and for the first few months you may only achieve a small number of sales. In order to keep the business afloat during this difficult period it is advisable to have around three times the amount of capital that you expect will be needed. 

Another problem that small businesses have is mainly due to the attitude of the business owner. If he or she is stuck in the mindset that the business is too small to aggressively compete with and win customers from larger competitors then it will always suffer from a lack of drive and self-belief. 

It is also generally a big mistake to think that you can save money by under-investing in technology. This applies to all aspects of your business – for example you could save around a thousand dollars by purchasing a very cheap computer for the office. However, this hardware would be far more likely to break down often and cost you money in terms of hours wasted. One of the greatest advantages of being a small business is the ease in which you can quickly implement new technology into the way you work, whereas any change for a large company is a lengthy and expensive process. 

Also, it is important not to lose focus of your main priority as a small business: making money. Being creative is wonderful but you must be able to monetise your ideas or sadly they are useless to you. Every business needs someone dedicated to sales (even if it is just you) to make sure that customers keep coming through the door. 

Finally, do not lose focus of the direction in which you are headed. It is easy to become distracted or head off on an unprofitable tangent. Make sure that you have a clear vision of where your business is ultimately going and make specific plans with achievable goals to steer you in the right direction. 

You may have a new years resolution to start your own business, but as you know some of the forthcoming new years resolutions are easy to keep, some others are more challenging and most of them will be broken within the first month. So if you are thinking about starting a small business in the new year here is how I would go about it in five easy steps:

1. Define Your Goals:

When you get in your car you usually know where you want to go. It may be surprising to you to find out, that most businesses do not have a ‘formal’ goal. The problem with that is that you never arrive, because you don’t know where you want to go. What are typical goals to have?

• Make a certain amount of money a month!
• Have more time for your family and friends!
• Be at home when the children come home from school!
• Avoid travelling for hours each day!
• Have a better work/life balance!
• Be the biggest and best in you chosen field!

What ever it is, write it down and go back to it now and then, especially if your are not sure how to make a decision about a problem. Focusing on this goal is absolutely essential to your business success.

2. Get A Business Idea:

You may already have a business idea or you may be looking at something a little vague still. What ever your situation, make sure your business idea aligns well with your business goals.

It is no good to run a busy office if your aim is to be at home for your kids. If you have your heart set on a business idea but it does not align well with your goal, try thinking of variations, working with others by forming a virtual company or subcontract to someone else as a freelancer to achieve your goals. Stay focused on your goal.

3. Test Your Business Idea:

Once you have decided what to do you need to test the viability of your business idea. The way you do that is by doing a cash-flow plan. This is not an exact science, but it will show you what you have to do to achieve your business goal.

If for example you want to produce artificial flowers, working from home and your business goal is to make say £ 5,000.00 a month. You can work out how many artificial flower arrangements you will have to produce to make this money. It will give you an idea if that is possible, because you will know how long it is going to take you to make these flower arrangements and what their average sales price will be and what your raw-material cost and other business costs per month are.

If you have never done cash-flow planning then find an accountant or a bookkeeper who will show you how to do it. It’s easy and you can learn it in 30 minutes. Our OnlineOffice has a cash-flow tool you can use for free for 30 days. That is enough to test your idea. Our 24 hour live support staff can also help you to get started with cash-flow planning, it’s free.

One final word on cash-flow planning here. It is not about being right, it is about doing it and then analyzing why you were not right. I’ve been doing it for 30 years and I was never right, but I’m fairly good at it. It will allow you to see many problems arising before they are a big problem. In my opinion this is the most important business tool ever.

4. Bootstrap All The Way:

One simple rule to stay in business is not to spend any money you do not have. Bootstrapping is all about that, making money first then use it to establish a solid small business.

Given the current economic climate, borrowing money from a bank is very difficult and that may just be very good for anyone to start a business. It will teach you financial control and self-reliance. Here are some of the rules I have:

• Do Not borrow money from banks, they will want it back when you can least afford to pay them back. They do not care how your business is doing, good or bad, they just want their money back.
• Do Not put your house or any other valuables you have on the line until your business has proven itself. A good bootstrapped business will make money from day one, that will ensure the business idea is good too.
• Do Not fear failure or making mistakes. Because you will be making mistakes, I make them every day and you may very well fail with your business, I have in the past. The important part with bootstrapping is it will not hurt you, it will just be part of your learning process to be come successful. After a failure you can show your true ‘colors’, by getting up and starting your next business.
• Sell to your friends, family and your current employer first to get the first order and money into your business. You could even let them get involved into your business. as partners or investors.
• Every problem somehow hides an opportunity, you just need to think about the problem out of the box. Every time you overcome a problem you confidence will grow and it will make you a better and stronger business person.
• Outsource every non-essential business process, bookkeeping, call answering, credit control, website design and keep your business IT online, the most important resource is not money, but your time – do not waste it on non-essential tasks.

There are many more rules I have established over the years, many of which I have broken, but these are the ones I strictly stick too.

5. Stay Focused, Always!

If you want to do flower arrangements your business is flower arrangements and NOT:

• Installing an IT system or an SQL server;
• Setup your data security and internet security;
• do your accounting;
• do your web-site;

Remember it is easy to waste your most precious commodity ‘TIME’ and have nothing to show for it. You may say ‘I have no money to have someone else doing all these things’. Please remember there are always opportunities in every problem. Here are some:

• Barter for services with your flower arrangement, i.e. for one month bookkeeping, you may find a new customer this way, get mouth to mouth advertising and most of all you do what you do best – flower arrangements..
• Keep your IT online, it is very cheap, more secure, easy to use and more reliable, you can often get some time for free, maybe even a whole year.
• Depending on the services or products you supply you may be able to receive many other services and products in exchange for your services or products.

Whatever you do, don’t get side tracked from your business goal, ultimately this is the main reason for small business failure. Your business will look more professional if you outsource your non-core business needs to small businesses focused on those services.

As you may know I have set us a challenge to be ‘instrumental’ in helping to set up 1000 new businesses until October 31st, 2009 – so, if you are going to do it, please register with us and help me to win my challenge.

It has never been easier to start a business to supplement your income – 2009 is the year for you to do it. — ST.

I’m thinking more and more about opportunities for people to start a small business, home business or a self-employed business during this recession/depression or once they lose their jobs.

This afternoon I had this idea as another company was in the news with over 2000 job losses. I thought about what happens when companies go under and it occurred to me that there is still business to be had, when a business fails.

Let us assume you work in one of those businesses, you will know part of the business very well, you may know some customers or how something is manufactured, or something else that was part of what your employer did. Now you and your colleagues are unemployed and you lost your income.

BUT think about it – are you the only party that is suffering here? No you are not – the former customers or clients have lost a supplier too.

So here is my idea, what about if you and some of your colleagues set up small home businesses and formed a little Co-operative and started providing services, like maintenance or upgrades or products to these former clients of your employer? Why not use your knowledge to your advantage?

There are so many opportunities here, if you think about it a little, that you and some of your colleagues could make a good living out of this disaster. You never know – you may be able take more and more of your colleagues into your self-employed co-op. Always remember the bootstrapping principals and you should be fine.

Every cloud has a silver-lining – you just have to look for it. — ST.