Business Service Center

Entrepreneurs and Investors

Posted on April 27, 2011

It is inadvisable for an entrepreneur to wait for the launch of a new business to become knowledgeable in that field. Assure potential investors your business will yield a profit by having realistic financial projections. Business plans can be a tool for management to measure and monitor performance. No matter how ideal an opportunity might be, a business must developed by someone with strong entrepreneurial and management skills. It is extremely important that knowing that your products or services are in demand, who your customers will be, as well as industry trends will help you in becoming successful.

Forward looking financial statements are imperative to showcase to your angel investors. As such, many entrepreneurs turn to angel investors in order to receive the money they needed were to launch their business operations. Angel investors are an excellent source of funding for small businesses if you do not normally qualify for traditional funding.. Generally, these private funding sources want their investment to be no more than 50 miles from their primary residence as they are going to want to check in on their investment form time to time. Read More...

Defining Strengths and Weaknesses in Your Business Plan

Posted on April 22, 2011

To determine the strengths and weaknesses of your business plan, you need to know how to look at the specifics. Here are the things that you need to check with your business plan:

The basic thing that you need to do is identify the strengths and weaknesses of your business and cross-reference them in the business plan that you are trying to create.

First of all, list the possible strengths and weaknesses of your business. For these, you can think about your business budget. Do you have enough to be able to finance all that you might possibly need? Or maybe, do you still need to borrow from a bank? This will greatly sidetrack your plans if your application is not approved or if you do not get the amount that you need.

Another aspect which should be considered is your knowledge of the business. Do you have enough experience in this field to be comfortable enough to withstand the pressure? Or maybe, are you still a beginner with little experience, and with only a few ideas in management?

You also need to become aware of your competitors. You should know how they operate, what their future plans might be, and in what way you might be able to compete. Not knowing the projections of the actions of other businesses that you consider your competition will serve as a weakness, as you might get left behind or go towards an entirely different direction, one that does not provide you many customers. Read More...

Creative Business Opportunity Attracts New Entrepreneurs

Posted on April 19, 2011

Tasty Image, a unique chocolate franchise that prints edible images on chocolate is taking the entrepreneurial scene by storm.  The company is celebrating siginificant growth in license and franchise sales.

Tasty Image prints photos, texts and graphics on chocolate.  Customers can walk into a Tasty Image shop, have their picture taken, and walk out with their image on a chocolate lollipop or other product.  The company, which started out as an entrepreneurial chocolate shop founded by single mom Derri Cerbone in 2003, has recently expanded into a chocolate empire with over 200 operators in 53 countries.

"We're seeing incredible growth this year in the number of interested applicants," says marketing manager Mary Baker.

As the economy slows down and people are becoming worried about job security, increasing numbers of employed and recently unemployed professionals are thinking of starting their own business.  Interest in franchise models has spiked over the last three years, primarily because  franchise opportunities provide a fast, reliable way to transition into business ownership. "One reason for our popularity is that we provide smaller business opportunites, in addition to a full franchise," says Baker.  "Interested entrepreneurs can buy the chocolate printing system alone, and offer chocolate printing from their home or existing business." Read More...