6 Steps to Work Smart and Increase Your Free Time in the Restaurant Industry

WIN YOUR LIFE BACK -



Too many restaurant operators needlessly end up hating the career they once enjoyed. I too often hear comments like these:

"I'm working more and more hours and seem to be accomplishing less."

"I'm so bogged down with managing that I can never get anything done."

"I'm not doing what I enjoy anymore. This has turned into a job I don't like."

Not a pretty picture, for sure. And still, there's good news! They can turn it all around, today.

And if the quotes above sound familiar - you can too!

As your business grows, you need more and more people to get the job done. Once upon a time it was your job to get your own work done. It still is, only now it's also your job to see that everybody gets their work done. You're interrupted almost constantly. It's damn tough to concentrate most of the time. You spend more and more time solving all those little problems that somebody else should take care of.

How do you feel about all this? You're beyond frustrated. You're so tired of spending your "dream job" doing things you don't like to do - things that don't even matter - that your own productivity suffers. You've even thought the unthinkable: forget the whole thing and move on.

You're not alone, but here's what you have to realize - IT'S YOUR OWN FAULT! This was your choice. It's a tough pill to swallow, but it's time to suck it up and take ownership.

You are, by choice, stuck atop a pyramid you created. Every decision goes through you. People at the bottom of the pyramid need approval from the next row up; and those mid-ranking people need your approval, which you reluctantly provide and then watch it descend back down through the layers of the pyramid. No matter the question, large or small, it takes forever! You watch the process grind away at its glacial pace and your business suffers. You do too. It does not have to be this way.

I've created a process that will BREAK THE CYCLE. It's not going to be easy; it's going to make you uncomfortable at first. But remember: Your current system doesn't work. It's broken. At best, it's not getting you where you want to be. At worst, it will keep turning your dream job into a slowly worsening nightmare.

Trust this process and you will:

Get more done, faster
Hit your goals sooner
Make the most of your staff's talents
Be happier.
Get your life back (remember the family, friends and hobbies you used to enjoy? )

You can do this. Let's get started.

1. Identify What You Do Best

When you opened your restaurant, you were probably really good at a few things - perhaps the ones that got you into this business in the first place. But today, you do those things far less. Instead, you manage the books, hire and fire, watch inventory... and answer all those questions we talked about earlier.

So here's your first assignment: Reconnect with what you're great doing. Get out a pen and paper and write down what you do best. List about five items.

Now, this might be difficult at first. You've been doing a lot of less important things - perhaps for a long time. So take a few hours or days - the amount of time you devote to this is your choice - and "log your tasks." Every time you take on a new task, large or small, briefly it write down. That's it! Later, go back to the list and circle the tasks that you do better than anyone in your organization.

2. Do Only What You Do Best

From now on, do only what's written on your "What I do best" list. You heard me - you shouldn't be doing anything that isn't on that list. Make the commitment. I'm not a psychologist, but nonetheless, I can feel many of you tensing up as you read this. Do any of these quotes speak to your concerns?

"My business will fail if I don't do everything."

"It's my responsibility to do everything - that's the nature of the business."

"We're a small company with a limited budget, and my time is free."

I've been through this, so I get it. But here's the reality: If you keep trying to do everything, your business will fail. It's not physically possible to do everything. Even if you're pulling it off now, it's unsustainable.

You obviously decided at some point that you had to do it all. But that's just in your head. If the nature of your business forces you to do it all, your business model is broken. You'll burn out.

Finally, it won't cost you money to shift over to doing what you do best. Your time is invaluable: Consider how much money you lose while you're pounding away at unimportant tasks. That's time you could be reinvesting. BREAK THE CYCLE.

3. Train, Hire Or Outsource Every Task That You Don't Do Best

Identify tasks that "you don't do best" and train, hire or outsource to get them done.

There may be people around you who can be trained for these tasks. Often those people are quite capable - and want to be more involved. You've never trained them because training takes more of your time - time you don't have. BREAK THE CYCLE.

Set aside a certain amount of time daily to train a staff member to take a task off your plate. Most importantly: Document the training! Write down, record or dictate the steps you trained. This way, you won't have to be involved with training again.

For example: Have someone else record the training materials in a Microsoft Word file, in an online Wiki, in or in a series of YouTube videos made with free computer screen capture tools like Jing.

If you can't train someone who works for you now, consider hiring someone. Either way, give capable associates authority to handle questions and make decisions.

For example: Let these people handle any decision that won't cost the restaurant more than $25. If it's under that amount, they handle it. If it's over $25, they ask you. If someone makes a wrong decision, discuss why it was wrong and add it to the training you documented so it doesn't happen again. The goal isn't to have an infallible staff, it's to enable your staff to make decisions you don't need to make.
If you can't hire someone, consider outsourcing - for appropriate tasks. Again, record how to do these tasks so you won't have to train vendors more than once.

Note of caution: Get as much off your plate as you can, but as you go forward, hold people accountable. An hour or two of follow-up beats countless hours of doing the work yourself!

And be more than a watchdog. Work just as hard to catch people doing something right - and to briefly, sincerely say thanks - as you work to find and criticize mistakes.

Give people the benefit of the doubt at first, and for a while. If they still won't come through for you, you'll find out quickly through continued follow-up.

4. Eliminate Ineffective Tasks
Don't fool yourself into labeling tasks that keep you busy as "important tasks." Begin busy doesn't mean you're being effective.

For instance, maybe it takes you two hours to write your email newsletter. You're the best writer in your organization and you feel these two hours are important. Unfortunately, your newsletter has an open rate under 10% - very few people read it.

You're busy doing this, but you're ineffective! Kiss these tasks goodbye and never look back. Most likely, they add very little to your bottom line.

5. Reinvest Your Free Time

Your load should feel a little lighter now. What do you do with your new-found free time? REINVEST IT. Steer your time toward tasks on your "what I do best" list.

Every morning, rank the tasks on your daily list. Identify two important tasks that will make a meaningful, lasting contribution to your success. Getting them done will make tomorrow better than today. Give them top priority. Don't do anything else until these two items are completed.

Writing this daily, two-bullet list takes no more than five minutes. Do it every day for the rest of your life. You'll see your goals achieved faster than ever before.

6. Enjoy Life

Reinvest time into your business, but reinvest in your life as well. Too often, work gets the majority of our time and life gets whatever is left. BREAK THE CYCLE. With the system outlined above, you regain control.

Build a business and a job that allow you to enjoy life more. Spend more time with your family and friends. I've never heard of anyone saying on their deathbed "I was a great restaurant operator - I wish I'd spent more time at the restaurant."

Take the chance. Break the cycle. Decide for yourself, right now, what's really important to you, and use this system to get it. And then, enjoy it.




 

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How to Start a Restaurant Business

If you are thinking of starting your own restaurant business then to help you we've listed the main areas to focus on for this business opportunity as well as writing a restaurant business plan and start up costs.

So whatever food you are thinking of serving whether a pizza, italian, seafood, chinese or even a coffee shop or sandwich shop then use these guides to help you.
 

Your Restaurant Business Plan

Before you start you'll need a business plan for your venture. This essential document shows yourself and any investor your overall business objectives and financial summaries. No bank will lend without one so you should think about planning at the outset. We recommend using this restaurant business plan for eat in/ sit down service or if you are planning a simple coffee shop/ sandwich bar then check out this coffee shop business plan to help guide your planning with easy to use software.

Once you have your business plan ready you'll see just how many people you need to get eating in your restaurant each day to reach your profit numbers. To most, this initial projection may be a shock as although the margins can be high (especially on alcohol) you will have to get numbers through the doors and that's where marketing comes in - which we look at later.
 

Planning - Location

The old saying of "location, location, location" for retail stores also applies to restaurants. The reason for this is it much be accessible and have the ability to shout out for business from passing trade. This is especially true if you are planning to open in a tourist resort where people do not know the area and are looking locally for somewhere to eat.

Making it easy for people to access your premises by being close to parking is also something to consider or close to a tube or railway station or simply just in walking distance from a large residential area.
Local Market Place - Type of Food

It's all too easy to simply open up yet another indian takeaway or pizza restaurant but if the market is already saturated and has these already you may find no one wants to come to yours unless the current offerings are of poor quality. Therefore you should study the local competitors closely.

Go and eat at all of them and see what happens in terms of food quality, pricing and service. See how busy they are at peak times and, if you can, speak to other diners to canvas their opinion. Perhaps you can undertake a survey via your local internet site or in the local convenience store to see what local people actually want.

If you are in a tourist hot spot go and speak to local hotels and bed and breakfast owners to see what their customers are asking for when they want to eat during the evenings. This type of research is critical to come up with the right offering to satisfy your customer needs.
 

Menu and Pricing

opening a busy restaurant businessOnce you have your research and know what type of restaurant you are opening it's time to decide the menu and pricing. This should be closely aligned with the types of customers you want dining. Pricing high will get different demographics than pricing low and the profit margins will vary.

You'll want to get your sales per diner as high as possible so make sure you offer a good range of options including starters, main courses and desserts as well as wine, beers and soft drinks. Having fixed priced menus works well as people like offers.

Try not to have too much as your kitchen will need to stock every item and also have to make up many options each night. The trick is to make the kitchen staff's life as easy as possible whilst serving a great menu.
Start up Costs

With any premises the costs can be huge. Here are the most common start up costs associated with developing a new restaurant:

    * Obtaining a lease and professional fees
    * Health and safety certificates
    * Public liability insurance
    * Premises refit
    * Kitchen fit, ovens etc
    * Staff recruitment and uniforms
    * Furniture, crockery, table cloths, flowers, pictures etc
    * Initial stock of food
    * Launch marketing fund

Associated with start up costs is finding reliable suppliers. Try and negotiate credit terms so you are not always paying for your products up front.
 

Restaurant Marketing

You'll need a launch marketing plan as well as ongoing marketing promotions to keep people coming back. A launch is almost a loss leader as you want influential people to come and dine and then talk about how great the evening was to others and to get free PR in the local papers.

So have a launch night where you invite all local dignitries, journalists and local hoteliers (or anyone else who you think may help you long term) for a free evening. Get a good relationship going with your local press people so you can feed them information as your restaurant develops and grows so you can promote any special offers.

Customers love free stuff, so after launch why not offer free wine or dessert with every meal or buy one get one free? With every customer who dines with you make sure you get their address and/ or email details so you can keep in touch and send them promotional items every so often.

You should also offer seasonal offers for occassions like Christmas and valentines day. These will be especially busy for you but will get people through your door.

Just keep promoting wherever your customers are. Provide promotional material for local shops and businesses with exclusive offers just for them.

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Starting a Courier Business

If you are thinking of starting your own self employed courier business then this article shows you what's required to start a courier business and be successful.

There are many opportunities to be successful in the delivery business in the UK as either a self employed owner driver or working for one of the major carriers delivery parcels as a same day courier or picking up packages from companies.

The Courier Industry Background
The courier industry is still thriving with most of the market being dominated by the big international companies such as DHL, Federal Express (Fedex), United Parcel Service (UPS) and TNT. There are also consolidators such as parcel2go and others that offer discounts on these companies services because they are taking thousands of bookings per day so can pass discounts onto customers.

Some of the larger players are now moving into the home delivery market. This has traditionally been a tough area because consumers are not at home when the delivery is made. More timed delivery options are being offered for evening deliveries when people are in their homes and this is seen as a growth market due to the boom in internet shopping.

The options for Start-ups

Most people start their business from home offering local services with a personalised approach that the larger companies sometimes can not provide. Most start up companies are employees of companies that look to go it alone because they already have the knowledge of the industry and how it works.

A van can be leased easily and customers quickly built up as they have been couriers themselves and they know what's required. Starting from scratch with no previous knowledge or how to market correctly can be a mountain to climb and as with most businesses not many survive after the first year.

The main forms of transport are couriers with vans (which require the most investment), motorcycle couriers (where of course you need a motorcycle license) or cycle couriers (where in cities and large towns is environmentally friendly but the scope of work is limited to perhaps a few miles within the city itself).
How to get started as a courier

courier businessThe pitfalls are many and as mentioned above perhaps the hardest part is trying to get your first customer. As it's probably suited to those who have been couriers in the past the marketing side is something to spend time researching.

Almost all businesses use couriers to some extent and it's searching for businesses that have urgent requirements to send small packages, parcels and documents a short distance or a same day service. When building your business plan think about how many jobs you can handle and how you are going to keep your customer informed of the progress of the job. Once the job is completed you'll need to invoice the customer and collect payment so excellent customer service is key as well as having some form of courier software that can not only keep tabs on the bookings received but also invoice and keep your accounts up to date.

Word of mouth marketing is especially beneficial in this industry so once you have your first few customers offer a "member get member" type of marketing promotion to win new business.
Start-up Costs and Requirements

The main expense to get started is your main form of transportation and work clothes. If you are a van courier you'll need a van together with the appropriate business insurance to insure not only your van but the contents you are carrying as well as yourself (as you'll likely be self employed you'll need some insurance to cover you if you are ill and can't make collections and deliveries yourself.) You should have excellent breakdown cover and also build into your business plan maintenance costs and loan vehicles as appropriate.

If you are a motorcycle courier or bike courier you'll need some protection from other road users and the weather - the cold and the rain.

For all businesses you should look at public liability insurance to guard against third party unforeseen events and if you should mislay a package or deliver it late. Additionally you'll need van insurance which can be expensive so we've provided a section so you can get courier van insurance quotes online from Direct Line who offer excellent discounts and incentives for you.
Seasonal Variations

Like most businesses you won't be busy all of the time but other times you will be stretched. Generally the weekends are quietest with probably Thursdays the busiest at the end of the week where business deadlines are being met. The end of the month is also like this. Summer times can be quiet as well as school holidays when people are not working and the run up the Christmas is probably the busiest time of the year.

You'll need to take some time off yourself so once your business has developed it may be the time to take on staff and sub contracted couriers to build your business and cover any sickness, holidays and peak seasons.

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Starting a Nursery School Business

If you are thinking of starting your own nursery school business then this article shows you what's required to start a nursery school or day care business and be successful.

Many parents will get tax credits or additional child care allowance help to be able to send their children to nursery each day and with no reduction in the amount of babies being born each year, starting your own nursery school could be a way to start your own successful business.
 

What is a Nursery School ?

The government encourages parents to send their children to nursery school from aged 4 onwards to prepare them for primary school but there are early years day care available from as early as one year old. This not only prepares them academically but gets them used to being with other children their own age and being at school during the day as they could get very tired at first school.

Previously nursery schools were named play schools, pre-school or play group and just about anyone could run them to earn additional income but of course in these modern times all schools need to be run and managed by qualified adults and teach children more than just "play".

These days both parents need to work to pay the bills so more and more children need care and attention during the working day whilst the parents are at work.
 

Types of Child Care Provisions

nursery school businessChild care is big business in the UK and there are various types of child care businesses. Full child care is for children under 8 where they are at your premises for more than fours hours per day - normally called a nursery where as for day care under four hours per day this is termed sessional day care or part time nursery. A creche is normally for children for parents at work for more than five days a year and out of school operates on non-domestic premises like breakfast clubs and after school clubs. Childminders is for two hours per day for children under eight based in domestic premises
UK Government Help and Guidelines

In the UK the government fully fund part of the pre-school learning in that each child is entitled to 12.5 hours of free pre-school learning each week when they are three and four which increases to 15 hours per week from 2010 (over 3 days) and these places are available at all types of day nurseries, nursery classes in primary schools, accredited child minders and sure start childrens centres.

After the pre-school years the child moves into mainstream education at primary school and starts reception class (now called the foundation stage).
 

What do I need to Teach ?

All reception, nursery classes, day nurseries, childminders, playgroups and afterschool/ pre-school clubs that are teaching children from birth to five years old have to follow the early years foundation stage (EYFS) development structure.

The EYFS ensures your child learns through play and you are kept up to date with the progress of the child's education. It came into force in September 2008 and there is a Early Years Foundation Stage Profile handbook that should be used by all practitioners. It has been developed so when children enter primary school the teachers have accurate information about the child's development and there are 13 assessment scales that the child is judged against. Full information about ETFS can be found here and more information on the every child matters website here
 

What Qualifications are Required ?

So what qualifications do you need? IF you are just the proprietor of a nursery or day care/ child care provision you do not need any formal qualifications but if you are the manager of the nursery you need the appropriate NVQ level 3 and at least two years day care experience whereas at least half the staff need NVQ level 2 in childcare education or playwork

Ofsted now inspect all child care provisions in the UK. Child minders also have to register with Ofsted and the Early Years Education and like all businesses need to register with HMRC.
Your Premises

There are regulations on what size premises should be and of course they need to meet various hygiene and cleanliness standards. The premises should be at least 3.5m square per child under the age of two, at least 2.5m square per child aged two or at least 2.3m square per child aged three to seven.

Parents need to drop their children off so will there be enough car parking - you may need to liaise with your local council to see if you need any permissions. You obviously need toys and educational aids and places for toddlers and babies to go and you may also need a moses basket if you have very young babies and children in your care.
 

What can I Charge ?

Like all businesses you can charge what people are prepared to pay. Research other local child care businesses to see what they charge and what services they offer. More expensive childcare businesses will offer more and the quality of their staff and teaching may be higher. If you charge too much you might not get any customers and it will also depend on the area of the country you are in and whether you are in the middle of the city and what your costs are.
 

Health and Safety Requirements

To meet health and safety requirements for your child care business you have a legal obligation to undertake a health and safety risk assessment set out in the Early Years Foundation Stage under the welfare requirement. The welfare requirement sets out provisions for safeguarding and promoting child welfare, finding and recruiting suitable people and finding and managing suitable premises and equipment and providing the right environment.

To meet environmental health requirements you will need to have a current employers liability insurance and have the certificate clearly displayed and have a written health and safety policy statement. If you prepare food you are required to complete a food premises registration form by law and an environmental health check by Ofsted is to assess the fitness of the premises and the fitness of the people.
Grants and Start-up Cost Help

There may be funding help with your start up costs and this varies by council. So it's best if you contact your local child care business support team to see what is on offer in your location. It will depend on where your business is going to be sited and the ages of the children you are looking after.

There is a childminder start up grant to help with equipment and other start-up costs so long as you can show you have contributed £100 into your business. All childminders are eligible and it is not means tested and you should claim the grant as soon as you are registered with Ofsted. Additionally you need to be registered with the Early Years Childcare and Extended Schools Service (EYCESS)
Planning Your Child Care Business

Even if you are at the early stages of planning your business you should develop a business plan to help you understand how much profits you are going to make and how many children you need in your nursery school to achieve those profits.

Other important considerations are the location of the premises in relation to how many families are local and can easily get to your school. Undertake some basic research by driving around your area or see any adverts in the local papers to see what your competition are doing. You can telephone them or get them to send you the prospectus to give you an idea of what they offer and what they charge. If some of them have waiting lists then you know there is sufficient demand in the area for another business.
 

Developing Your Nursery

Remember that this is a business and in that sense you need to make a profit. If you are not good with numbers and finances then find someone who is because you'll need to manage invoicing, cash flow, recruitment and payment to staff (wages), maintenance of your premises, purchasing of toys and educational matters and conforming to ofsted regulations.

Managing how many children come to your nursery and making a profit are perhaps the most important. See what your competitors charge and put together a simple spreadsheet to see how many children and what price cover all your overheads and contribute the profits you want.

The management of receiving child care fees from parents is paramount and it's best to either set up standing orders or say you need the cash on a weekly basis. It's easy for fees to mount up and before you know it you've run out of cash.

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How to select a CAT prep institute?

With this year’s MBA entrance season done and the new season about to begin in full flow in the next couple of months, freshers as well as those enthusiastic about joining a coaching institute to help them out with their CAT prep would be confused with the plethora of options available. With each coaching institute claiming to be better than the rest, there are a few factors one needs to consider before one goes about joining an institute.

Faculty

Ask them about the credentials of their faculty and if possible, ask them for a demo lecture before you enroll for their programme. The big coaching classes have various branches and it is difficult for them to have the same set of teachers at all the centers. There might be a few lectures here and there from the biggies but the rest of the faculty consists of those who are affiliated to your center. Get to know about the faculty who are regular and if possible try getting reviews about them from the current year students. Also, enquire about their availability online and offline in case you have some doubts.

Number of tests

The number of simulated tests which are to be taken in a proctored environment is an important factor. Ask the institute about their tie-ups with the various colleges/web worlds/cyber cafes and if there would be any hindrances while taking the test. Make sure that you would be able to take the test in a proctored environment without getting distracted.

Also, the number of tests is an important factor. Ask the institute specifically about the number of proctored all-India tests and the other unproctored tests which wouldn’t be taken by many aspirants. Ask them if the cut-offs and percentiles would be available for the same and what kind of feedback would be given to the candidate.

Coaching institutes also offer mock tests for other management entrance tests except CAT (XAT, FMS, SNAP, IIFT, MAT, ATMA, IRMA, TISS, JMET, CET, etc.). Ask them if they provide papers for these tests too and whether they will be take-home or would be meant to be solved in a proctored environment.

Quality of tests and number of test-takers

Quality of tests can be known by asking previous year takers about it and the number of test takers is also readily available on the various threads running on PaGaLGuY. Do not blindly believe the tall claims made by the institutes regarding the number of test takers. The number of test takers is important because it gives you an idea as to where you stand amidst the serious test takers. The quality of tests is important as it makes you aware of your progress and your strong/weak areas.

Batch size/Batch quality

Enquire thoroughly about the size of the batch. Many coaching institutes have huge batches (sometimes running into a few hundred students at a time) and so, individual attention, personal doubt solving and approachability could be a problem. In case you require individual attention, try getting into a smaller batch.

Also ask if you are eligible for any of the special batches based on your performance in previous year tests or the scholarship tests which are conducted by a few institutes. The teaching quality and the student quality would definitely be better in these batches.

Material

Every coaching institute will provide you with its material. You can ask to have a look at the material and see whether it’s extensive or not. There is little to differentiate between institute materials as all of them cover almost the same things. Even if some institute gives you a lot of stuff, it is not necessary that you would end up solving the entire thing. Material is only to be used to build concepts and to get used to various topics. One need not get addicted to solving the entire set.

Also, many institutes provide the students with monthly magazines to keep them updated about the current happenings around the world. Do not forget to take these magazines regularly and if they don’t get delivered to you, do not hesitate to ask them for a copy.

Infrastructure/ Library

Many institutes allow their students to take the various books/novels home or read them in the classrooms. Get to know what kind of facility is available at your place. Also, have a look at the classrooms if possible and see if there are enough classrooms which have enough space to accommodate the various batches.

Also, if they conduct the online mocks at their center, ask them if they are technically equipped to carry out the test.

Online support

Most of the institutes have their own website and forums. Enquire about what kind of an online support will they be providing. Go through their website if possible and see their forums as to how active they are. Ask them if there would be any newsletters/tests on the site.

Accessibility

One of the more important factors that gets neglected. However good the faculty be, at the end of the day, you are the one who has to put in effort. Traveling for hours to reach the class would not be very helpful if you aren’t putting the effort. Also, you might lose motivation in a few days if the place is far off. For working junta, it becomes a pain to travel after a while. Consider all these aspects and think hard on why you want to join a particular center.

So, however sweetly the person at the counter speaks to you, it is important to get a few queries answered beforehand. At the end of the day, coaching institutes are a business and you are a consumer and so, have the right to ask things which concern you.

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Starting a new organization

Lot of discussion has happened already. You may not start your company as of now. However, let me tell you that 85% businessmen fail in their business because they don't do any market research. Nothing stops you from doing market research while in the job. It can be off-job activity.

First you do some course on how to do market research. You do the research on the following points:

a) Who will be my customers? What is their profile? Where are they located?

b) What I need to do to attract my customers to my product or service? How can I take my product or services to them?

c) What is my product differentiation? What will be the brand pull?

d) Who are my competitors? Who is strongest? Why are they strong? You are going to benchmark against whom? Is there geographical variation among the competitors?

e) Did anyone earlier enter in this business and has anyone failed? Why did they fail?

f) Are there verdicts of supreme court or high course or any other court available related to the delivery of products or services?

g) Will there be any distributors? What is the psychology of the distributors? What will be their education background?

h) Do you know the product/service very well? Do you have passion to produce that product or deliver that service?

i) Have you decided about the quality of the product or service? Is there differentiation among "good', "very good" and "excellent" product or service?

j) What will be measures of performance of the employees that you will employ? When their performance will be "good', "very good" and "excellent"?

k) What will be your recruitment strategy to recruit the "right" staff? What research have you done of job market to get the "right" staffs?

l) Will you take help of your near and dear ones to run your business? What will be their involvement? What "immunity" will they enjoy because they are "near and dear" to you?

m) Are you aware completely the statutory requirements to run this business? Have you actually met Govt officials and obtained information from them or just relied on your company secretary or chartered accountant?

You can obtain the information on the above points while in the job. Remember information is the key in today's world. Businessmen or businesswomen fail because of lack of awareness.

All the best!

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How do bookies make money

Being bookies is the biggest sports business these days, and makes a lot of money in what they do. Bookies are the people who you deposit your money with while betting, they bet on your behalf.

Betting is similar to gambling where you put your money at stake and bet on a particular individual or a team. It is similar to gambling in a casino, where you play with numbers, the only difference being that this is sports related. However, the money element is involved in both.

Betting or gambling has never been easy and is not definitely everyone’s cup of tea. It is advised that bad gamblers or people without a gambling sense should stay away from betting.

Bookies are intelligent, knowledgeable people who have been following different sports from a long time. Bookies have studied each game in detail and know the entire history around it, so they can never go wrong. This they can use to their advantage by tricking the common person who has no knowledge about that particular game. Ninety percent of people who get bookies their business are bad gamblers and can be fooled easily.

What most people do is bet an equal amount of money on both sides; in such a scenario irrespective of the team, which wins or looses it, is a clear-cut profit for the bookie.

Certain people have absolutely no sense on money management,  they do not know how to manage their money, and at times when the game is at its peak, they even forget to keep a track on their money, which again proves to be an advantage to the bookie.

Certain bookies lend money on credit and thus charge a heavy interest on it. Getting the money on credit some people forget to keep a track and end up taking a huge amount, which again is a profit for the bookie because of the interest rate charged on the amount.

To predict the precise reasons for a bookie to make money have not been very clear to anyone as of date. As mentioned above a bookie with a sports background is always more successful. For any bookie to be successful, it is very important that you have a strong sports base and follow games carefully. A history of a game is all that counts on the final day in the field.

Bookies have ruled and would continue to rule the sports business in the years to come.

It has been correctly said, “Bookies win, always have and always will.”

So, next time you play with your money and that too with a bookie, make sure that you keep this thing in mind; whether you win or lose, bookie involved with you will always win and never loose. It is his smart business and he knows every smart technique. This is one the most vital reasons involved in how the bookie makes money.

It all about the intelligence these bookies play when it come to minting money in this business.

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How to Start a Business without Investment

Want to start business, but do not have capital to start? In today's world of computers and internet you can easily start your own business with little or no investment. Blow find some nice tips and profitable ideas to start business without capital in India.

All great businessmen started their careers with acute shortage of funds. They succeeded because their approach was positive and needless to say different from others. In today's world of computers and internet you can get started with your business with absolute ease. You need to follow certain strategies.

How to Start a Business without Investment

    * Every business needs activities like enlisting, renting office or retail space, hiring, etc. Delay all such activities until your business starts breaking even. This can best be done if you start working from home.
    * Strive to do everything yourself. Do not hire an expert.
    * Don't hire lawyers, technical people or assistants for your work. You can get plenty of advice from the internet. There are many free websites which give you good advice.
    * Try to do all your financial statements for your business yourself. Do it in your excel. This will spare you the cost of a CPA or bookkeeper .
    * Do not splurge on advertisements. Instead build your own website and try to popularize it.
    * Do go for a top end domain name; aim for the ones on the cheaper side; you can find plenty of them.
    * Take print out of your website with a few attractive words and paste it at important junctions of the city.
    * Simultaneously start your own blog and write about the problems you face or the business ideas you have. People will respond to your queries or views. It can be a good measure of the impact of your moves.
    * Get a free business website at www.wordpress.com. Create pages like experience, rates, testimonials, availability, etc.
    * Rent a small both in a local fair or festival. If you cannot, print a leaflet and spread your views or advertise your products and services. Talk to interested people and get their feedback.
    * Post an offer on craigslist and videos on youtube with links to your website
    * Write a good article and send it to popular websites. Do not forget to include your byline. Get some knowledge on how to use Google Adwords. Do little investment and see whether its working or not.

These ways will help you popularize your business and get quite a few clients. Invest your profits into renting a proper office space and hiring employees.

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House Cleaning Business Plan

House cleaning business promises high success and great profit margin. There has been constant surge in the demand for house cleaning business in the USA. An independent estimate says that demand for domestic cleaning in the country has gone up to over 500% during the past 5 years. These reasons have contributed much to the phenomenal growth of domestic cleaning business.

There are various steps to be followed when it comes to start a house cleaning business. Some of the feasible house cleaning business tips and ideas include:

irst of all, you have to determine what type of cleaning service you are doing to offer. You have various options in your hand. You might direct your services towards cleaning and sanitizing entire house except doing laundry, junky closets and garages.

    * Contact the office of your city clerk or get in touch with your local library for obtaining a copy of zoning laws that govern your community. It is recommended as there are several zoning regulations that do not allow home business in a community.
    * Resource your required cleaning supplies and get them in a portable kit. There are homes which have their own brooms and vacuums but it does not happen an all cases. So, it is recommended that you carry the complete set of your own equipments. Your cleaning kit should contain supplies like all-purpose cleaners, sanitizing wipes, gloves, carpet deodorizer, baking soda, bleaching powder, wood polish, floor polish, mop bucket, dusting spray, disposable toilet brushes, abrasive bathroom cleaner and dish brushes.
    * Determine your means of transportation. You may require to invest in your own transporting facility. It would allow you to do your job in an organized way.
    * Undertake comprehensive advertising and marketing strategies. Apart from traditional advertising drives, you might also think of advertising your business through online methods. The best way to do online advertisement is to post your ad on Craiglist.org.

House Cleaning Business Plan

Getting a business plan is one of the mandatory requirements of your proposed house cleaning business. Try to get your business plan written by an industry professional. Make sure that the business plan contains necessary specifications like your business aim, feasibility of the business in your locality, competition level, financial requirements and your marketing strategies.
 
How to Get House Cleaning Business License?

Getting your business licensed is one of the top legal requirements of your projected house cleaning business. The first step towards applying for the license of your business is to select a catchy name. In order to know what type of business license you would require in your state, make sure to visit the official website of SBA (Small Business Association). Thereafter, you need to get in touch with your local or township office.

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Start A Real Estate Business in India

Plan and Ideas to Start A Real Estate Business in India

Real estate is one of the most sought after business options today. People generally enter into this business to make fast bucks. However, one should have meticulous planning before venturing into the real estate business.

Before you enter the wide world of real estate business, make sure that you follow the following step by step guidelines:

If you are weighing the option of stepping into real estate business, determine how do you want start the business. You can work as a real estate broker yourself or you can also hire a broker for your proposed business. In either of the circumstances, it is the broker who is responsible for most of the affairs of the business.

Next, you have to take decision how do you want to get along - by purchasing a franchise or starting a real estate company of your own. Then, you require to identify a location for establishing your business. Make sure that you set up your business in an area that is accessible conveniently. It would boost up your business prospects.

Getting a business or trade license is highly recommended. So, get your business registered with concerned government department after you name your company or organization. You can also discover other requirements that may help your business run smoothly.

Establishing contacts with the local body of realtors and becoming a member should be your next move. The membership would enable you to be informed of most up-to-date laws and regulations of the real estate industry.

How To Start A Real Estate Investment Company

Starting a real estate investment company can be a smart move. However, necessary requirements for starting a real estate investment company include strong financial condition, excellent network in society and sound knowledge of real estate market.

While starting a real estate investment company, you require to determine how do you want to work in this field - as a commercial real estate investment company owner or as a residential real estate investment company owner. There are several tips to follow before you start a real estate investment company. Some of these include:

    * Get proper education and relevant work experience
    * Get the right kind of person who can act as your mentor
    * Get interaction with like-minded people

These tips are and guidelines are best answer to your question, "How to start a real estate investment business."

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How to Start a Hotel Business?

Launching a hotel is one of the most sought after entrepreneurial ventures. Setting up hotels tends to be the most lucrative business among other hospitality sector businesses.

Since it involves huge investment and wide range of resources, only a few people muster the courage to enter into hotel business. Launching a hotel business generally requires strategic location, cutting edge business plan and reliable financial resources.

part from these key constituents, there are large numbers of things that are to be considered before you step into hotel business. Take a glimpse of some of the other necessary constituents required for setting up hotel business.

How to Start a Hotel Business?

    * Hotel business requires different kinds of licenses and permits to be obtained. Business license for hotel is generally granted after a review done by the city planning commission.
    * The review personnel ask various queries about the project. All the queries should be answered logically and honestly. License for the business would be issued by the local licensing bureau on the basis of the report submitted by the review team.
    * Your next step should be identification of location for your proposed hotel business. The search for location should match the monetary specifications you have mentioned in your business plan.
    * Several points should be taken into consideration while determining a location for hotel business. You should make it sure that the location that you have identified is strategic from the business point of view.
    * As a matter of fact, hotels are generally availed by two types of people - tourists and business executives. Therefore, it is ideal to locate your hotel in close proximity of the tourist hub or the business hub of your locality.

How Much does it Cost to Start a Hotel?

There are various types of hotels. These include luxurious hotels, five-star hotels, three-star hotels and budget hotels. The starting expenditure of each of them varies sharply. The expenditure of a newly set up hotel depends on the location, size, category and its infrastructure. The construction charge of a luxurious five-star hotel may require to invest in millions. But it is not a necessity that anyone who plans to start a hotel has to cough up such a huge amount.

Hotel Business Plan

    * Get a business plan developed by an expert.
    * Include every detail regarding your proposed business in it.
    * The business plan should reflect your entire project including the extent of your investment.
    * You should also mention in it about the financial institution or the investor that you plan to approach for getting the business loan.
    * Remember that without an effective and feasible business plan, you would not be able to rope in any investor or lender for your business.

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How to start a BPO in India?

Get a Complete Business Plan

First of all, you require to determine the area of your operation. While doing so, you may choose a specific BPO field in which you have got mastery. After determining the specific field of operation, you require to determine the number of companies you want to work with. Next, you should submit the profile of your business along with resume to the concerned companies. It would be a smart idea to start your business with little money.
Choose A Demanding Business Process

Always opt for a business process that is demanded or challenging. In order to bag a right process, you require to fill up an online form and wait for a reply. Apart from submitting online application, you can also get in touch with companies to explain the profile of your company, your background and work experience.

In case your applications do not get response from companies and you plan to send reminders, include the following points for hopeful result.

    * Weekly details of your marketing statistics
    * A few of the promotional items with the logo of your company

It is recommended that all the banks and lenders operating in your area should know you as a good PBO agent. This image would help you avail bank credit schemes for your business in future.
 
How to start a BPO in India?

India owns a much expanded BPO industry with hundreds of business processes running simultaneously. BPO industry in India includes businesses like data entry, telemarketing, call center, customer service, payroll processing, insurance claim settlement, medical transcription, bookkeeping services and supply chain management.

However, commonly practiced outsourced business process in India is call center. This process has mushroomed in almost all the cities and towns of the country. Be guided by the following tips before you venture into a call center business.

    * Determine the type of call center which you are going to start. It can be any of these – outbound, inbound and outsource call center
    * Make a business plan. In this regard, you can highlight your business goal, financial requirements, staffing plan and logistics
    * Take the help of popular search engines for searching your prospective clients

BPO industry in India has high business prospects. If you follow the above-mentioned tips, you can take your projected BPO business to great height.

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business ideas

A person who owns a business would know the seriousness of being an entrepreneur and a successful business leader. The best ways to do is research on the new business ideas and decide on which home business ideas give you the best return on investment. For those venturing into home business need to have a clear focus.

    * Here are certain scenarios an entrepreneur face:
          o No one purchased my product inspite of doing day and night efforts, on making this business successful.
          o The business plan has stopped in the initial stage and was never put together.
          o I never had the time to focus on my goal of starting a website.
          o
          o I don't like marketing and sales and I hate to promote the product this way.
          o Not able to make sales calls to customers because of no time.

To make the ideas for business fruitful and working focus on those activities that help you generate a good amount of financials and also a good ROI. You don't have to do a huge business but just the right plan and a good execution will make way for it. An idea of a business plan works if you measure the time and save by establishing rules in your business and thus spend a lot of time on your business.

ROI can be measured by the prestige of the company and the industry as such and how much the opportunities the company has.

    * Will your business idea lead to a bigger business and success?
          o To determine this, you have to analyze your vision and mission of the company. If you spend a focused time and move closer to your goal then will you reach your desired outcome?

    * How would you determine the returns from your business?
          o Determine the cash outflow. The outflow cash need to be determined in advance.

    * Will the ROI help in reduction of the errors?
          o Determine how the ROI will impact your business

    * How will it increase the time and the prestige of my company?
          o This is to position your company as a business leader and also entice all your business prospects. There are numerous things that you can do with a good business idea in India. The investment wouldn't be high but with a minimal amount of capital you can start being your own master.

Here are a few ideas that you can take up as a startup business idea:

   1. You can apply for a marketing/sales representative job.
   2. You can write blog and articles.
   3. You can start websites on the areas of interests that you like.
   4. You can start a day care or a pet care.
   5. You can freelance.
   6. You can become a small time designer and make a home studio.
   7. You can paint and exhibit your art.
   8. You can tutor.
   9. You can do share trading and selling in eBay.
  10. You can render secretarial help like typing, printing and copying.

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October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

I know I haven't posted for a while, but with good reason. This time, I'm actually spending time writing - a lot of time. I'm going to commit myself to writing a post at least once a month. This month's post is for a great cause - breast cancer awareness.

Early breast cancer detection can be a matter of life or death. October aims to increase awareness of how important early detection is for everyone. So how can you increase your awareness?

Learn the Facts: Understand what breast cancer means, how and when to do a self-exam, what factors are considered high-risk, what to do if you are at high-risk: you can find this information here.

How to Help: There are many ways to help, like starting your own fundraiser. If you don't have the time for this, then how about you donate to one, like this one. For those who work outside of the home, you can get your company involved by asking them to sponsor a "jean-Friday".

Something to think about: aside from skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in the United States. Please spread the word.

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How to Start EMU Business:

Emu Model Project

Investments:
Buying 10 pairs of 3 months old Emu birds
Cost Rs. 2,00,000(INR)
Cost  of Fencing Rs. 70,000/- (one time)
Feed cost per year for 10 pairs of emu birds  -Rs.90,000/-
Income:
Emu birds start laying eggs after 18 months
First time 10 pairs of emu will give 100 egss
Second time  10 pairs of emu brids will give 200 eggs
third time  10 pairs of emu brids will give 300 eggs + plus
       Emu bird lays eggs only between October to march every year
•    As per this model project the Total Investment is Rs.3,60,000/- INR (One time Investment)
•    Income from this model project will be Rs 3.00,000 INR for every year (Todays market value per egg is Rs.1000/- so (300 eggs X Rs.1000/- = Rs.3,00,000/- INR )
•    This income will continue for 30 years as emu will lay eggs for more than 30 years.
•    Why Emu Farm India?
•    At a time when Emu Farming is blooming in the country and there are a good many Emu farms competing against one another, one must be absolutely sure about the company one chooses.
•    Besides choosing an american DNA model for Emu birds which gives you a 30% increase in profits as compared to normal birds, we also have created myriad business models and packages which will suit you irrespective of your requirements.

setting up ostrich farm
________________________________________
Ostrich farming is an opportunity in India. At present the ostrich meat ranks highest among health foods in Europe. Ostrich a large flightless hardy bird of African origin can survive in temperatures ranging from two degrees to fifty degrees Celsius. It can be reared on barren land and mainly consumes Alfa-alfa, Lucerne and water.

Male ostriches are black, with white wings and tail. The white feathers of the male, which are large and soft, are the ostrich plumes of commercial value. The female is dull greyish brown. The males are polygamous, and move with three or four females or in groups of four or five males accompanied by mates and young ones. The females lay their yellowish white eggs together in a single large depression in the sand. The eggs weigh about 1.48 kg. each and have a volume of about 1.4 liters. The male sits on them at night and the female incubates them by day. The life expectancy is about 60-70 years.

The first organised ostrich farm was established for feathers in about 1863 in Karoo and Eastern Cape region of South Africa.

Advantages of Ostrich farming
The bird can be reared in paddock alongwith sheep, goat and cattle.

ii. The birds need no dipping, drenching, milking and shearing.

iii. The adaptability of the bird is equally high on annual and perennial pastures or scrub.

iv. The bird can be reared both in hot and freezing temperatures.

v. The bird has shown high sustainability in irrigated as well as rainfed farming environments.

vi. There is virtually no waste products in the bird.

vii. The size of the farm is not a limiting factor.

viii. The added value segments all along the products is very high.

The limiting factors that can be prudently managed are :

i. High capital investments for setting up of the farms.

ii. The markets for meat and its byproducts are not easily accessible.

iii. The high penalties for slaughtering older birds (20 months and above) in the European countries.

iv. The birds are potential and vulnerable for avian disorders particularly for Newcastle disease.


A beginning has been made to promote ostrich farms in India through Indo-French Seminar on “Advanced Food Technology and Ostrich Farming” organised on 25 February 1997 at Bangalore by Greater Mysore, Chamber of Industry (GMCI) in association with Karnataka Agro Industries Corporation (KAIC), and was co-sponsored by Indian Overseas Bank.

Breeding specifications


Social Life ------------- 1 male for 2 females

Duration of life ------------- 70 years

Breeding years ------------- 30 years

Laying -------------- 60 eggs average per breeding

Fattening birds --------------30 (12 months)

Egg weight --------------- 1.6 kg (24 hen eggs weight)

Mortality ------------------ Nil (upto 3 months age)

Food ---------------- secial diet and fresh food

Particular nature ------------ growth of 1 cm/day during the 1st 6 months

Slaughtering age ------------------ 12 months

Meat Output ---------------------- 30-35 kg fillet and steak

Skin output ---------------------- 1.40 m2


PRODUCTION SYSTEM :

i) Is based on the symbosis of 2 different rearing technics : poultry and cow farming.

ii) Production is a semi-intensive farming : indoors and outdoors (building and free space)


Technical specifications for an ostrich farm

Age ---------------- Indoor------------------------ Outdoor

1-21 days----------- building 0.5 sq.m./bird--------according to climate
3-5 sq.m/bird

22-90 days-------- building 1.00 sq.m/bird-----------required 10sq.m./bird

90 days - 300 days------ open shelter-----------------minimum 50 sq.m
1 sq.m./bird 100 sq.m./bird
slaughtering)
l minimum space 1000
sq.m
Breeders/Selection-


12 months and older------open shelter----------------500-800 sq.m./bird

5 sq.m./bird minimum space 1000sq.m.


Note : (i) The open shelter should offer protection on 3 sides with a door on the 4th side.

The opening will be minimum 1.50 wide. The shelter will be minimum 2.50 m high.

(ii) The fence will be minimum 1.50 m high for the birds and breeders (accordingto the farm and objectives) with a post for every 4 meters.

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New agriculture plan ignores small farmers

The Tanzania’s green revolution grand plan (Kilimo Kwanza) is doomed to have little impact on the improvement of agriculture because the process of its preparation neglected the needs and priorities of small-scale producers, stakeholders have said.

Speaking at an agricultural forum recently in Dar es Salaam stakeholders said sidelining small farmers, livestock keepers, fishermen, and beekeepers, who form the bulk of the agricultural community in the country was a mistake that could make the green revolution less meaningful for the majority of Tanzanians.

About 80 per cent of Tanzanians depend on agriculture for their livelihoods, according to official estimates. The sector also employs more than 50 per cent of the country’s workforce in small-scale production ventures. Furthermore agriculture contributes 26.7 per cent of the country’s GDP; 30 per cent of total exports; and 65 per cent of raw materials for Tanzanian industries.

Mr Richard Mbunda from the Political Science department of the University of Dar es Salaam has done a research entitled “Kilimo Kwanza and Small Scale Producers: An Opportunity or a Curse?” He said during the forum organised by Land Rights Research & Resource Institute (HakiArdhi) that despite the fact that commonsense dictated that small farmers should be key to agriculture transformation because of their majority share in the sector; they were, nevertheless, sidelined.

“The preparation of Kilimo Kwanza (KK) was an affair of the business community under the Tanzania Business Council and no deliberate efforts were done to consult small scale producers,” Mr Mbunda said in a draft report of the research.He said even credit conditions from the agriculture window of the Tanzania Investment bank that has been entrusted with financing KK leaves out small producers.“TIB only lends between Sh100 and Sh1 billion for agriculture-related projects. Poor farmers, who form the majority, cannot afford to borrow that much,” Mr Mbunda said.

He added that even the instance that farmers form groups does not hold water because most of these groups and cooperatives are poorly managed, and usually, uncreditworthy. KK was adopted in 2009 by the government as a national resolve to accelerate agricultural transformation. Its main focus is to modernise and commercialise agriculture in Tanzania. The KK plan was meant to be a break from past initiatives which, according to brains behind KK, failed to “attain the anticipated modernised and highly productive agriculture.”

“Past initiatives were centrally planned, and largely implemented by the government or its institutions. To the contrary KK is an initiative that originated from the private sector and became a PPP [Public Private Partnership]. Thus the private sector is expected to be the lead implementing agent of KK,” reads a KK document.
The implication of the KK, according to experts, is that in order to be successful Tanzania’s agricultural must employ a heavy usage of mechanisation and huge financial capital.

However experts have warned that if that kind of agricultural revolution is done blindly and fails to recognise the place of petty producers, as indications have already shown, KK will be creating a labour/land crisis that would not easily be contained in the country.

A renowned Indian Economics professor, Utsa Patnaik, and former secretary general of the UN Kofi Annan say agricultural transformation in poor countries should be centred around small-scale producers, because neglecting them is most likely to lead into high unemployment, deepening poverty and, ultimately, political instability.“...

strategies which generate livelihoods and genuine development for the majority must necessarily mean not the destruction, but on the contrary, the preservation of petty production,” Prof Patnaik, the author of “The Republic of Hunger” said at the second Julius Nyerere Intellectual Festival week in Dar es Salaam last year.

“Small-holder farmers are the mainstay of African agriculture. They have to be right at the heart of Africa’s green revolution.  We need to ensure they are given the knowledge and support to play their full part in the transformation of food production through access to seeds, fertilizers and other resources,” Mr Annan who is also the chairperson of the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (Agra), said in Rome this year.

Prof Patnaik argued that mechanisation and technical advancement in European agriculture and industry in 19th and 20th centuries was partly responsible for colonialism as the unemployed masses had to moved away in large-scale migrations in search of better conditions. This in a way defused economic crisis and political tensions in Europe.
“... millions of peasants today in the third world have nowhere to migrate to and little possibility of absorption into the secondary sector,” Prof Patnaik said.

Mr Annan noted that developing Africa’s agriculture was not the matter of big farms versus small, but rather of making the two working together through creating linkages.“ Responsible, large scale farming systems can play an important role in directly supporting small farmers through technical advice, transfer of new technologies and support and access to markets,” he said at an International Fund for Agricultural Development’s Governing Council meeting in Rome.

The research conducted by Mr Mbunda already found out further that the start of the implementation of KK has now left small scale producers in farming, livestock, fisheries and beekeeping at the crossroads partly because they do not understand the project or are unaware of their role.

The immediate feeling that they get when they hear about KK is power tillers and tractors that are either very difficult for them to buy or not useful to them given their topography and nature of the soil, according to the findings of the research.“Kilimo Kwanza presents to them a dreadful feeing of losing their land to large-scale investors through land grabbing and a fear of being displaced from agriculture itself, which is their lifeline,” Mr Mbunda said when presenting a draft report at the forum. 

The notion that Tanzania has ample idle land, as implied in the KK documents, also serves to justify the fears of the peasants.“The notion that Tanzania has idle land is misleading taking into consideration the high population density and the high birth rate of this country. And, in fact, most of the arable land is already occupied by peasants, livestock keepers and beekeepers,” said Mwanahamisi Singano, a Programme officer at ActionAid Tanzania.

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Business Art Prints

Business Overview
Whether you're the artist or someone else has created the original art, there is big money in art prints. Art prints are relatively inexpensive to have produced and can retail for as much as $1,000 for a popular piece. Once you have chosen the works that will be reproduced, you can begin to sell the art prints. Set up a sales kiosk in a mall on a busy weekend or rent a booth in a high-traffic flea market. You can also market the art prints to business professionals for office decorations or to interior designers for home decorations. I talked to one gentleman who operated an art print shop in an airport location. He told me that he was selling between 75 and 100 prints per week to business travelers who were taking the prints home as gifts. Assuming he only cleared $15 on each print after all expenses and taxes, he would still be earning more than $60,000 annually.

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Business Idea Center in Computer Training

Business Overview:

Computers and computer programs are among the most wonderful tools available--as long as you know how to use them. If you don't, you quickly learn the true meaning of frustration. And let's face it: Most programs--despite what the blurb on the back of the box may say--are not cuddly. Which leaves lots of would-be computer users, especially businesspeople, floundering instead of working successfully. But if you're intimately familiar with one or more software packages, then you can transform the virtually flummoxed into virtual wizards (or at least computer-savvy souls) with a computer-training business. This is a hot field--according to the International Data Corporation, the worldwide market for technical computer training is nearing the $28 billion mark, with an annual average of $8,200 spent for information systems staff training and $3,000 per person spent on general staff training. You can specialize in the software program or programs you know best; in a field you're familiar with like law or medicine; or, if you've got a broad base of software smarts, you can be a computer G.P., training clients in a wide variety of programs and packages. And you can work one-on-one with individual clients--from tots to seniors--or train a roomful of employees at a time for corporations. The advantages to this business are that you're out and about, working with lots of different people; helping folks overcome computer-phobia is always rewarding; and because you have to keep up with ever-changing technology and software updates, you've got the best excuse in the world for buying new computer goodies on a regular basis. You should know inside and out at least one software package, commonly used by the mass computer market or by a particular industry. But it's not enough to be a software egghead--you'll also need the ability to communicate your knowledge to others. Other must-haves are the patience to help clients conquer computer-phobia and the communication skills to transfer your enthusiasm and techniques to your pupils.
The Market
Your clients can be private individuals or corporate types who want to make their employees computer-literate. To get the business from private parties, establish relationships with computer retailers and ask them to refer customers to you. (Be sure to leave a stack of business cards for them to hand out.) Place ads in local newspapers and the Yellow Pages. Solicit companies and corporations through direct-mail campaigns and network at professional, civic and trade organizations. Place ads in industry journals and other publications. Another excellent technique is to get certified or licensed from software manufacturers or vendors who will then refer customers to you. (Sometimes there's a fee involved for getting certified.)
Needed Equipment:

You'll need your own computer and up-to-date versions of the software you'll teach, along with a good word-processing or desktop-publishing program, and--naturally--an inkjet or laser printer, so you can spin out training materials. To go with this, you'll want a desktop projector and a laser pointer so a classroom of clients can see what you're doing.

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Medical Support Services Sample Business Plans

As long as there are doctors and patients, medical support services will be necessary. But for your laboratory, billing service, or other health-related business to succeed, a good business plan is a must. Here are some sample business plans for medical support services that will get you started.

These, and hundreds more sample business plans, are included in - and can be edited with - Business Plan Pro software. For only $99.95, it's the fastest way to create a business plan for your business. Learn more about business planning software.

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