Small Biz 101 Podcast

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ In this episode we welcome Buffalo/Niagara SCORE Chapter Administrator, Letasha Montgomery! If you are starting a business and have not heard of SCORE or have not explored your local chapter, you MUST head there today at www.score.org! SCORE is a nonprofit association dedicated to helping small businesses get off the ground, grow and achieve their goals through education and mentorship.  Because SCORE's work is supported by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), and thanks to its network of 11,000+ volunteers, SCORE is able to deliver its services at no charge or at very low cost. SCORE provides: Volunteer MENTORS who share their expertise across 62 industries Free, confidential business MENTORING in person or via email Free business TOOLS, templates and tips online Inexpensive or free business WORKSHOPS (locally) and webinars (online 24/7) SCORE's 320+ chapters hold events and workshops locall

Free and Low-cost Small Biz Resources Online: Small Business Administration USA.gov  Entrepreneur.com  Local: Small Business Development Centers  Co-sharing work spaces Service Corp of Retired Executives (SCORE) 1 Million Cups  Local library Business specific: Associations Mentors Task specific: Market research: Small Biz 101 Podcast Episode 9: Research, Research, Research Marketing Online marketing guides and courses American Marketing Association Any business topic: Online guides and courses YouTube Dummies Books! When a Business Coach Makes Sense Where a business coach or consultant comes into play is when you’ve exhausted these resources and still need: Advice personalized to your business Someone with whom you can discuss ideas and narrow down choices Someone to help pull together the plan for you, finalizing the details and developing the action steps Someone to hold you accountable and celebrate the successes! Application Select one or two of the resources to explore. Get started today!

Find the Right Biz for You Series (Part 10) Welcome to Episode 11 of the Small Biz 101 Podcast – The 10th and final episode of the Find the Right Biz for You Series. We’ve covered quite a bit in past series episodes: Self-assessment Generating business ideas Business styles Business cautions Research - Is your idea a viable one? What will your business idea cost? Now that you have an idea of the business costs, where will that money come from? In this episode, I cover the following sources of funding: Self Family, friends, associates Debt financing Grants Equity financing Crowdfunding Self-funding Funding the business with the owner’s own money is the #1 source of financing for most small businesses. It’s also the one I almost always recommend for my small business clients, if they can swing it. Where might your money come from? Inventory your assets You may find you have more assets than you thought. Perhaps, an investment account that’s skyrocketed with the market the last few years. You may find ass

  Find the Right Biz for You Series (Part 9) Welcome to Episode 10 of the Small Biz 101 Podcast – The 9th episode of the Find the Right Biz for You Series! We’ve covered quite a bit in previous episodes: Self-assessment Generating Biz ideas Business Styles Business Cautions Research - Is you idea a viable one? Today, we’ll get into the numbers. The finances: What you anticipate the costs will be to start the business? What the ongoing costs will be? Determining your cash flow and – the highlight – what is your breakeven point? When will your business turn the corner into profitability. Start-up costs Even at this early stage, it’s a good idea to at least have a sense of these numbers. They will reveal many critical things to you: How much you will need to begin to open the doors. Whether you afford the business on your own. Whether you need to put off starting the business for a bit while you save money. Should you use other sources of financing? When we think of start-up costs, we often think of thes

Find the Right Biz for You Series (Part 8) Now that you know what business you would like to start, Should you make the leap into small business ownership? Make sure you've done all of your research before making this decision.  Whether you are in the process of deciding on your business idea or have already made the decision and are working on the market research section of your business plan, follow along for a variety of resources for beginning your search. Three Areas to Explore: The Industry The Competition The Clients/Customers Sources of Information: Industry groups and associations Industry publications, articles, and newsletters/blogs Industry conferences Visit the competition and evaluate - Online and In-person Local Chamber of Commerce Marketresearch.com Census.gov USA.gov Local library Connect with someone already successful in the business Share idea and get feedback from supportive friends, family, and colleagues Develop list of potential customers and survey: Online, phone, email surveys

Right Biz for You Series (Part 7) Can you imagine how scary it might be to transition from a long career in athletics to one in a completely different industry about which you knew very little? Well, today's guest, Jeff Olinger, did it and did it well! Within a short period of time Jeff reached the top 10% level of his new organization, opened his own office, and currently is expanding his business. I am excited to present to you this interview in which Jeff tells us how he took the valuable experiences and skills he learned as a college basketball coach and transferred many of them effectively into the financial industry. While his is a story of transitioning from athletics to business, what we discuss applies to anyone moving from one industry to another. In this interview, you will hear practical applications of the fundamentals included in earlier episodes of this Right Biz for You Series, as well as tips and resources for continuing to grow a business once established. Jeff shares with us his stories abo

Find the Right Biz for You Series (Part 6) When determining the ideal small business for you, make sure you give consideration to potential pitfalls and address them before they become significant issues. Caution #1 – Current Employer Considerations Many people start their businesses as a side business, building up their new venture during off hours, after work and weekends, while continuing to work a full time job. A side business is a great way to test the waters of your business idea; however, there are some preliminary cautions to consider. Employment Agreement If your idea for a business involves providing a similar service or product to what your employer currently provides, consider whether you have an employment agreement with your employer. If so, check to see if it contains a non-compete clause. If it does, read it carefully to see: what the clause prohibits you from doing; for what period of time; and within what geographic range. Then check with an attorney who works in the employment law field

    Join my guest, Howard Holliday, and me as we discuss our recent professional development book club selection, The Slight Edge. While I hadn't intended to do book reviews on this podcast, I found the principles contained in this book to be too good not to share. Hope you enjoy our lively discussion of this and other books that have impacted our lives.    Resources: The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill The One Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan The 10x Rule by Grant Cardone The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy The Success Principles by Jack Canfield War of Art by Steven Pressfield Turning Pro by Steven Pressfield The Bible (I'll let you select the version you prefer) The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace Waddles Awaken the Giant Within by Anthony Robbins Howard Holliday Contact Information: On LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter Email: hholliday3@gmail.com   In the Buffalo area and interested in joining our Professional Development Book Club? Join

[shortcode-variables slug="subscribe"] Find the Right Biz for You Series (Part 5) One statement I hear often is: “I want to start a business but I’m not sure what I want that business to be”. If you have that same feeling, you are in the right place. With these first several episodes of this podcast, I am walking you through this process of discovery to help you find the ideal small business for you. In Episode 001, we discussed the importance of conducting a self-assessment (and how to do so). In Episode 003, I talked about the various business styles, how to generate business ideas and gave you some tools to help you determine your own ideal business. Along the way, in Episodes 002 and 004, you heard interviews with people either reinforcing the discussed concepts or sharing their own experiences. If you haven’t heard these yet, I encourage you to go back and check these episodes out. Wouldn’t it be great to make 2017 the Year of Your New Business? In this episode, I am providing my top 10 list of online bu

[shortcode-variables slug="subscribe"] Right Biz for You Series (Part 4) In today's interview with Executive Coach and Leadership Development Trainer, Ed Molitor, we hear practical applications of the fundamentals included in Part 1 (Self Assessment) and Part 3 (Generating Business Ideas) of the  Right Biz for You Series. We will learn how this former college basketball coach, mortgage banker, public speaker, and military corporate recruiting expert took the valuable experiences and skills he learned from these positions to ultimately start his dream business where he is living his "Why" every day.  Ed provides valuable information about how he was able to successfully create his first leadership development training event filled with members of his target audience.  He discusses how surprised he was at where his initial business came from, as well as how challenging it was to discover people he thought he could count on turning out not to be quite so welcoming.  We will learn about the importance of living

[shortcode-variables slug="subscribe"] Right Biz for You Series (Part 3) This series is for people who are thinking about starting their own small business but may not be sure of the type of business or, who may know the type of business, but not be sure if it’s a viable one. Even if you already have a small business, this series may help you validate that you are doing the right thing and give you some additional ideas for making your small business even better. Generating Small Business Ideas How to Begin In Episode 001, we explored getting to know you - doing a self-assessment of your skills/knowledge/strengths/passions /interests/curiosities. If you did not have a chance to listen to that episode, I encourage you to do so. If you don’t have time for that, take a few moments now to think about those aspects of you. The ideal situation is to find a business that blends your passions/interests with your skills/knowledge/strengths. It often helps to jot your ideas down on paper, then begin generating ideas b

[shortcode-variables slug="subscribe"] Right Biz for You Series (Part 2) (Note: Due to my being a newbie at podcasting, the sound quality on this recording is not as high as I would  like it to be. Please stay for the content. Lisa is amazing!) Interested in hearing about one of the most effective self-assessment tools out there? As you follow the journey of discovering your ideal small business, having a firm knowledge of: what drives you and what does not; your strengths and weaknesses; your patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting – is essential for moving forward. The Enneagram helps you uncover all of these and more. Join me as I speak with Enneagram Expert, Lisa Alessi, about this amazing tool for personal and professional transformation. Lisa Alessi Contact Information: Renaissance Leader Website Email: lisa@renaissanceleader.com       Resources from the Interview Nine Enneagram Types Books The Wisdom of the Enneagram Book by Don Richard Riso and Russ Hudson The Complete Enneagram by Beatrice Chestn

Right Biz for You Series (Part 1)