Your New Business - What Should It Be?

Oh, the joy of being self-employed! The yearning to be self-employed and in control of one's own life comes from deep within. Yet, what type of business can one start that will be truly successful on every level - a business that does more than make money and give you and your family a life of luxury, but a business that fulfills the need to create, the need to express, the need to use one's mind in a way that will make life better for others? Because this new business has not yet been created, it usually has not been clearly defined.

We've all heard the phrase 'follow your passion and the money will come' or' build it and they will come' and we've all watched many of our friends follow this philosophy and not ending up successful. While we advocate following one's passion, one's strengths and likes, we also strongly believe that a little bit of planning and common sense can go a long way in fulfilling one's dreams. Read More...

Building Customer Relationships

Building strong relationships with your customers can have many benefits for the business owner, aside from simple profits. Here are three other benefits which your customers can provide, which are also valuable:

1. Customers can also provide leads and referrals

Your existing base of customers can often be the best source of providing new sales leads, as well as referrals who can also benefit from your products and services. The best part is that you simply have to get into the habit of asking every customer for these. Sometimes, it may take some careful questioning: Has the customer met any people who are new to the area? Do some of the people they know share characteristics which are common to your current base of customers? Maybe your customers even know of people who would be ideal for a new product or service you are planning. However, you will never find out about these people, unless you ask... Read more

The Top 10 Franchises for 2010

According to Entrepreneur magazine, these were the top 10 Franchises of 2010.

	The Top 10 Franchises of 2010
	Company	Start Up Costs
	#1 Subway	$84,300 - $258,300
	#2 McDonald's	$995,900 - 1,842,700
	#3 7-Eleven Inc.	$40,500 - 775,300
	#4 Hampton Hotels	$3,716,000 - 13,148,800
	#5 Supercuts	$111,000 - 239,700
	#6 H & R Block	$26,427 - 84,094
	#7 Dunkin' Donuts	$537,750 - 1,765,300
	#8 Jani-King Cleaning	$11,400 - 35,050
	#9 Servpro	$102,250 - 161,150
	#10 AmPm Mini Market	$1,835,823 - 7,615,065

With its new breakfast menu and the aggressively marketed "Five Dollar Foot Long" campaign, it's no surprise whatsoever to find Subway restaurants at the top of this illustrious list.