Balancing Act For Entrepreneurs

This article is part of The Street’s Small Business Soap series that is doing about Treats Truck, which is one of my bookkeeping clients.

 

 

clipped from www.thestreet.com

Kim Ima’s Treats Truck has had her working 17-hour days since it kicked off earlier this summer.

“The one thing I would change about my business would be to set aside a couple hours a day for my office,” says Ima.

For a start-up, she says, it’s common for the owner to wear the “worker bee” hat too much and neglect the hat that started the business in the first place: the entrepreneur.

Ima often finds herself baking from early morning and selling through the day.

It’s hard prying herself away from the truck because “to see me actually working in the truck has its appeal
[to customers]
,” says Ima, who enjoys the personal interaction, but realizes the importance of focusing on her company’s operations.

Finding the Balance

Too often Ima feels like she is just playing catch-up while finishing tasks the day before they need to get done.

Before launching the truck, “I used to have a lot of time to make plans
[for the business]
and network,” she says.

I would suggest that Kim finds a way to delegate more to employees in order to carve out time for more business development.

Vator.tv: You Tube for Business Pitches

What a great way to pitch your business idea, and it is FREE!

clipped from www.springwise.com

Pitching the next great idea to prospective business partners, investors, service providers and fellow entrepreneurs just got easier with Vator.tv—a new venture that combines online video and networking. Based on the proverbial elevator pitch—the notion that you should be able to sum up a new business venture in the few minutes it takes to ride an elevator—Vator.tv is an online marketplace for new ideas. “Anyone, across all industries, at any stage, can share ideas, products, services and businesses with the rest of the world, mainly through video.”

Here’s how it works: users sign up for a free account. They then create pitches for their ideas, projects or businesses in a rich media environment by uploading video, images, PPT or PDF files. They can choose to share their pitches with a personal network or with the entire Vator.tv community.

Business Plans Made Easier

Many of my clients and other entrepreneurs are frustrated over creating a business plan. PlanHQ is a Web 2.0 application that may help. It is clearly organized in sections including market, goals, financials and your team. since it is online, it provides easy online collaboration with member of the team. the monthly subscription rates range from $9, $24 and $49, depending on the size of the business and number of team members.

Minipreneurs, MicroBusinesses and You

If you ever thought to yourself while shopping for products or services, “I could do that”, then you might be a minipreneur. Minipreneurs, according to a very informative trend article on Trendwatching.com, are active consumers who are making money from their creations.

Here are the drivers of this exciting trend:

1. Multinationals of one –open-source information available
2. Being in control of own’s destiny– independence
3. Entrepreneur is chic –The image of a being a mom and pop owner is replaced with chic moms with bakeries or hipster guys with bike shops.
4. More experience and less risk–we know what we know because we learn from our jobs
5. A need for the unusal– the niche is where it is.

So take advantage of low cost to entry, the available of information, and your passion to build your mini-empire.

Three Questions

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to ask three questions about small businesses to the experts at MSNBC’s show, Your Business. If any of my questions are selected, you can get up extra early on Sunday monday (7:30AM) to see me on TV. In the meantime, here are 3 relevant questions that many business owners may ask:

How do I sell my services to prospective clients?

What are other financial vehicles available other than venture capital and small business loans that can fund my business ?

How do I market myself as an expert so that I can get on the conference circuit and write articles for magazines and newspapers?