So many people dream of owning their own business and just take the plunge. The first hint that they may have done something wrong is when they sit down and do their first business tax return. This course was written to help those new entrepreneurs get their businesses started the right way and avoid mistakes that would cost them hundreds of dollars that first year when they can afford it the least.
Basic Business Concepts
The purpose of this course is not to provide you with some special system that will make you rich. If you believe there is such a thing, you will probably be very disappointed. What we do hope to accomplish is to provide you with the framework of how you can determine your own best path. To help you learn how to access your current skills and use those to create a cash flow large enough to build whatever your dreams may be.
Choosing a Legal Format
This course is intended to give you the basic knowledge you need to legally run your business in the format that is most advantageous for current and future situations. New entrepreneurs are often so excited to get started with their new business, that they do not research how to best set up their business to control costs.
The biggest cost that can be controlled by the proper legal format is the amount of money that becomes taxable income under federal, state, province, local and - in some cases - foreign laws. Therefore, it is essential that the businessperson understand tax treatment before deciding on you legal form.
Basic Business Accounting
Accounting is a broad subject which is covered by several courses here at the Institute. The aim in this basic course is different than what you will see in most accounting or bookkeeping manuals. We are going to look at accounting from the tax man's point of view. A lot of people lose money the first few years because they do not have a good understanding of the Internal Revenue Tax Code. This causes them to not keep the proper records that can be used to mitigate their tax liability. While you may bring someone onto your team like a tax advisor or payroll company to handle that part of the bookkeeping, but remember that it is still the business owner's fault if a mistake is made and you need to know the law to tell if they are doing it right.
Basic Marketing Strategies
If you have got a million dollar budget and have time to create an 'image', then you are probably not a reader of this website. For the rest of us, starting a small business means that we have small budgets and not much time to start making a profit. We don't have time to go out and beat people over the head with our product or service. We are going to discuss How to design a marketing campaign that will have people calling you and asking to do business with you. We are going to discuss the principles that you should judge any marketing you are thinking of running against.
Off-Line Marketing Concepts
Whether you have a brick-and-mortar or Internet business, you need to have a broad knowledge of both off-line marketing and on-line marketing concepts. Successful businesses are finding that in today's information-overload world, it takes elements of both to not only obtain new customers, but also to keep them. In this course, we will be covering the general ideas for different types of conventional advertising that businesses have been using for years to promote their enterprises. We are going to tie in what we have learned in the Basic Marketing Concepts course to provide a cohesive message to your prospects and current customers.
On-Line Marketing Concepts
There is a ton of information on how to use the Internet to network and create relationships with prospects and customers, but most of it is based on Internet-only or other national/international businesses. Since this series of courses has been created for the new small entrepreneur, we shall limit our discussion to the basic Internet tools that all businesses can use. These include owning your own domain name, using email servers, newsletters, autoresponders, and basic websites. We shall go into how all of these interconnect with your off-line media to create a well-balanced marketing plan.
Time Management Concepts
Managing your time successfully implies accomplishing what is most important to you. When you don't accomplish what you truly want, you may feel confused, compromised, and frustrated. Many people try to use time management techniques that work for others, only to be disappointed. Therefore, your study of the subject needs to begin with an objective look at the personality traits that affect and prevent good time management skills.
We then will move on to the basic building blocks need for you to learn how to create your own time management system. There are many people out there that will sell you a beautifully detailed program for micro-managing every aspect of your life. While we will be offering advanced courses that address more complex systems, I believe that you have to learn to walk before you run and our objective here is to give you the foundation to build your future on.
Money Management Concepts - Part One
Regardless of the legal format you decide on for your business, the one thing you have to remember as a small business person is that your business finances will only be as good as your own personal finances. Even through your keep use different account to keep the money separate, your personal life and your business life are intertwined. An economic downturn in your business will affect how much food you can put on the table and an unexpected personal emergency is going to affect how you run your business to compensate for it.
Therefore, if you want all that hard work of building a business to truly bring you the security, happiness and future that you desire; then you must penetrate the lies that have had drilled into our brains for years and address your money habits in both your personal and business
Money Management Concepts - Part Two
In part one, we discussed the lies and misconceptions that the financial establishment has been feeding us for decades so that we don't think twice about paying them billions of dollars for instant gratification. In part two, we are going to offer you a way to stop the vicious cycle of debt if you are one of the millions in that situation or prevent you from getting there if you trapped yet.
As we alluded to in part one, for a small businessperson, your personal financial strength will affect your business financial strength and vice versa. For you to be able to weather any economic storm, the principles we are about to go through need to be applied to both at the same time. If you are still in the exploratory phase and have not yet started your business, get your personal financial house in order first, unless you need to create some money to live on, quick.