I’m working on a project @ Belmont University right now that is trying to raise money for the Junior Achievement of Nashville. Our goal is to raise $3 from friends, family, and local businesses in order to match the $3 we originally put in the fund.

Click Here to Donate via Paypal

We are trying to raise the money before Thursday the 25th of February. Please help us raise money for this organization by matching our $3. Your gift will be greatly appreciated by the organization here in Nashville. We’ll report how much money we’ve raised on Thursday.

What is the Junior Achievement?

It is the world’s largest and fastest growing non-profit organization dedicated to educating young people about business, economics, and free enterprise. Classroom volunteers teach JA’s programs in both the United States and in nearly 100 countries worldwide.  For more information, visit our national web site at www.ja.org.

Thanks everyone for your support!!

John Price

Is it really worth it to be open only two months a year? Can’t people just get a Batman mask at Wal-Mart?
Halloween has really changed. It’s not just a children’s holiday–adults have parties, nightclubs have costume contests offering things like trips to Bermuda. And the manufacturers have changed too–gone are the days of the disposable plastic costume. We sell Broadway- and theatrical-quality costumes. Adults usually spend three or four times what they spend on their kids! Our goal is for each store to bring in $250,000 in revenue, though we’ve had some bring in upwards of $600,000 in those two months.

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So could you be in business for two months out of the year and survive the remainder? Not me. At least not yet. I’ve always been intrigued by places like this and all of those Christmas stores that are paying rent for 12 months out of the year without steady profit.

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Partnering with a virtual assistant may not be for everyone. Here are some things to consider before opting in for outsourcing.

* Getting personal: If you’re squeamish about handing over personal information like user IDs and passwords, you may want to think twice about using a VA, or at least limit any personal tasks you hand out.

* Tech issues: You may have to familiarize yourself with programs like ClientSpot or Skype in order to pay and communicate with your VA.

* Time investment: You’ll have to spend some time filling out request forms and signing agreements. You’ll also have to train your assistant, and there will likely be a learning curve before you get your work rhythm down.

* Language barrier: You’ll need the time and patience to be extra clear about your expectations, and keep in mind that slang or shorthand might be lost in translation.

* Time difference: Your VA may not be at your beck and call. If you need someone who’s available during US business hours, make sure he or she can accommodate you.

Some useful sites

* International Virtual Assistants Association (ivaa.org). Allows you to post a free “request for proposals” outlining your needs, to which VAs can respond.

* Find Virtual (findvirtual.com). Offers a virtual assistant directory that you can search according to criteria like pay rate and skill set.

* Alltop (Virtual-Assistant.Alltop.com). An aggregator of virtual assistants’ blogs and Web sites.

* Assistant Match (Assistant

Match.com). An agency that, for a fee, connects clients to assistants who’ve been screened and background-checked.

* Ask Sunday (asksunday.com). One of the largest virtual assistant agencies. Others include Elance.com, GetFriday.com, Brickwork India (b2kcorp.com) and DoMyStuff.com.

By GAIL EISENBERG

• Make a to-do list and stick to it. A to-do list is a great way to outline the work to be done for the day. This list should be prioritized accordingly as well. Chances are that small business owners will deviate from the list from time to time when a pressing situation emerges. However, the list will serve as a focal point to return to once pertinent matters have been addressed.
• Delegate tasks accordingly. Sometimes small business owners just need to relinquish some control and allow employees to assist with getting projects done. It’s better to delegate a critical task to one person who can put a sincere effort into it, rather than try and multitask yourself and generate mediocre results. Recruiting and hiring talented individuals who can take on a great deal of responsibility will alleviate the feeling that small business owners need to be involved in every single facet of business operations.
• Use business process outsourcing. Small business owners can outsource critical tasks – such as payroll and invoicing – to save time and money, and avoid multitasking on a regular basis.

Source

I’ve been traveling a little for Hunting Square – One of our online classifieds section for outdoorsmen. We just went up to the QDMA ( Quality Deer Management Association ) and gain about 200 members from the show! Great success for us.

I’ll be writing soon to tell you about the next project I’m working on once I have the final beta site up for viewing…no sneak peeks yet. Also working hard to sell a dotcom business we’ve been working on for the past year.

Time to focus – To be continued…

I was reading Inc. Magazine this month and discovered this small segment at the bottom of the page. It grabbed my attention because when I started in business, this was a similar idea. If the rent could be paid and I could survive on canned soup and tv dinners then I was able to run my business without bugging an investor. Bootstrapping became another familiar idea – This has been a way to grow our businesses without having to contact other sources for financing. Many entrepreneurs start with small sums, often $5,000 or less, and then finance their growth out of profits. Notice how I just said that the profits will be put back into the company – Will you still be paid? Of course, in fact you have the option to take out any money you would like until the company needs to have money placed back into it.

Link to Article I gathered origional statement from can be fount HERE

‘ Nothing kills startups like distractions. The worst type are those that pay money: day jobs, consulting, profitable side-projects. The startup may have more long-term potential, but you’ll always interrupt working on it to answer calls from people paying you now.

Calling ALL entrepreneurs!! This is such a true statement for me and I’ve heard this is the trend for most other entrepreneurs. Like musicians, we have to constantly be thinking over the next best thing while still paying the bills with the recent gig. Where does distraction begin to take part of the failing of a business? Dr. Jeff Cornwall is always getting on to me for not focusing because he mentioned to me that he too struggled with this and wants me to begin to develop this skill. It’s not that I don’t listen to him but I do have trouble with distractions.

At the age of 22, I’ve launched five companies with positive cash flows. If I focus on one of these will I be more successful than if I slowly grew the other four? This is my current struggle / drive to find the answer. I think a point to make here is that all of the businesses require greater attention than others. For instance, I’m partnering with an online wedding guide site that only needs to be checked up on every couple of days but it’s still providing some extra cash. If I were to invest 30 extra hours a week into this site would the business grow – Well I think so. But we’re also running a high end video company that is producing a much higher cash income so my focus remains with this company while still giving minor attention to the others.

Last point to make: Team building and prioritizing might be the solution toward running 4-5 successful businesses. If you can delegate certain duties within these businesses that can be watched and developed, I think that the companies can survive and grow at a healthy rate.

1) Our hours are really flexible. We can meet up anytime between 11PM and 8AM. Sleep can always be rescheduled.
2) We will never come home and complain about our boss.
3) We’ll pay for all our dates the old fashioned way. (Old fashioned=Circa 1999…with worthless stock options)
4) You can tell all your friends that you’re dating a CEO who runs their own company. You can leave out the fact that the CEO is also the secretary, the janitor, middle management, and a web design intern.
5) Some of us have millions of dollars in the bank. Of course, it belongs to our investors, but still…it’s in the bank.
6) You get to be a beta tester of the next Google or Facebook.
7) We’re good at teamwork. We have to be…not all of us can code.
We’re not afraid of commitment. In fact, let’s move in together… you know, economies of scale and all.
9) Your place is closer to my office and has more bandwidth. Do you mind if I just leave this server here? Really? Is it loud? I never really noticed.
10) Your parents will just love us… They’re accredited investors, right?

http://www.thisisgoingtobebig.com/2008/05/top-10-reasons.html

I recently had an idea that might work in the industry i was thinking but after finding out the expenses of the business I was able to take another approach toward the business concept. I tend to hop right into business ideas without giving the finacial side enough attention – I’m learning though. After talking with my entrepreneur professor, Dr. Jeff Cornwall, he helped me take a different approach toward my business ideas. It’s great to have a someone like him to toss ideas at and let him give me feedback.