Securing a reliable funding source for your business is easier if you can demonstrate that you have a realistic grasp of the costs of running your new business, plus a plausible plan for generating revenue.
The research involved in gathering data for your budget is one of the most difficult and time-consuming tasks of starting a business. It is also the most essential.
Before you do anything, resolve to save every single receipt and every single invoice involving your company. Even if your accounting system is just a shoebox to start with, take two of them, label one for receipts and one [...]

Many budding entrepreneurs often fail to realize their dreams due to a single formidable obstacle – funding. Starting a business is likely the largest investment of capital you will make in your lifetime. Unlike stocks or mutual funds, which can be purchased with a comparatively small amount of cash, a new business requires a large investment upfront which won’t be recovered until several years later. Even then, there is no guarantee that you will earn back your principal. However, with a disciplined plan, you can carefully project startup costs so you don’t overspend in your initial investment.
Startup costs are categorized [...]

 
If you’re a small business owner thinking about how many people it takes to do a particular job, consider some of the “background costs” involved an individual hiring. Some leaders who
don’t do the math end up spending much more than they should on inefficient labor strategies, partly because they may not factor in additional costs involved in hiring one additional staffer. Seasoned small business consultant Tim Berry, in a recent blog post on his Planning Startups Stories site, details some of the large expenses that pad an actual salary for a typical employee including:
• Vacation pay
• Health Benefits
• Workstations
• Other [...]

The first thing you need to do when it comes to flipping real estate is to step away from the television and put down the remote control. Good, now you won’t be tempted to follow any of the late night real estate “gurus” who try to sell you on the idea that you don’t need money to flip real estate. Maybe, in a utopian-real-estate-flipping-universe you might be able to buy a house for no-money-down, have contractors volunteer to renovate the place and you could sell it before your first mortgage, insurance or utility bill came due. In addition, in this [...]