Tag Archives: Self-Employment

Entrepreneurship, Starting a Business

Myths about Owning a Business

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Successful business owners make running a business look easy. Observing from the outside, it’s easy to imagine that they harvest massive rewards with little or no effort. That is just one of many misconceptions about owning your own business. Here are a few more:

1. A Business Is a Get-Rich-Quick Scheme.
It’s more accurate to say that most “overnight successes” take at least 25 years of hard labour. An entrepreneur is a twisted individual who will work 15-hour days at minimum wage to avoid taking a real day job at $20 per hour.

2. You Need a Lot of Money to Start a Business.
Some businesses do have a high start-up price tag, many do not. If you are a tradesperson who owns all the necessary tools to work for someone else, you might already have most of what you need to start your own business. Many people start small enterprises by investing a lot of sweat equity and little or no cash. Continue reading Myths about Owning a Business →

Writing a Business Plan

Make a Plan to Succeed in Business

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The most important reason to write a business plan is probably to save your house, or grandma’s nest egg, or whatever investment you are putting at risk. A business plan will help you learn more about your business and serve as a tool for communicating with others, such as bankers or investors.

Here are seven things to know about business plans:

1. Most businesses are started without written plans. For the most part, plans only exist on a napkin or in the owner’s mind. Business planning is an unfamiliar trek for most people, and too often the task is avoided until they are urgently needed to get a loan.

2. By the time a business plan is printed, it is probably already out of date. Enterprises continually adapt to their surroundings and the plan is a living document that gets updated at strategic times.

3. Business planning is an organic, non-linear process. At any given time, you will be more knowledgeable in some areas than others. Effective business plans arise from building on strengths, developing strategies to mitigate weaknesses, and innovating as you learn more about your business.

4. The further a business plan projects into the future, the less reliable those projections will be. It’s entirely likely that year five predictions will be less accurate than year one.

5. A professionally prepared plan does not guarantee a business will succeed. A picture-perfect business plan is not worth the paper it’s written on unless the owner understands it thoroughly. The real value of a business plan is the knowledge you gain by doing it.

6. Plans that call for aggressive early stage spending will meet with resistance, especially where the shopping spree is predicated on using borrowed money. It’s usually healthier for a new business owner to solve problems through innovation, ingenuity and frugal investment of available resources.

7. While a business plan will help to increase your knowledge about your business, it will not do much toward helping you develop business trade skills, such as how to handle money, how to buy, sell and pay. Business trade skills are more likely to be learned from managing a paper route or operating a lemonade stand. Owning a business is the best way to learn the basic survival skills like knowing how to read the market, how to learn from it and how to change your mind.

Your business plan is more for you than it is for your banker. It will enable you to prove your business case, and to be reasonably sure that your venture can survive.

Once you’ve debunked your own assumptions and gathered enough evidence to demonstrate viability, you’ll have more confidence in your business idea. Armed with a better understanding of your business and realistic financial projections, you will be much better positioned to discuss your business with those who might help you.

Self-Employment, Workshops

Making the Transition to Self-Employment

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Transition to Self-Employment BootCampWith the ever changing demands of the new economy many people are opting to direct and control their careers through self-employment.

There are a number of benefits to being self-employed. You will:

▪  Have more freedom.

▪  Have more control over your work schedule.

▪  Have the choice to work from home.

▪  Be paid more money for the work.

▪  Be able to take on work from different sources.

Here are 8 things you can do to ease the transition to self-employment:

  1. Get Into a Business You Love. At the end of each day, you will have invested another 24 precious hours of your life doing whatever it is your business demands of you, and if you’re work life isn’t jammed full of activities you enjoy, you’ll be wondering why the heck you started the business in the first place.
  2. Surround Yourself with Champions. When you announce your intention to start a business, you’ll find well-meaning friends will discourage you citing notorious business failures and financial shipwrecks.  Old party partners will go to great lengths to get you back into the party game. Others, knowing you just scored a business loan or earned a profit, will try to guilt or coerce you into lending them money. To counteract any negativity, establish your own support team. It’s healthy to interact with positive, supportive people.
  3. Go the Extra Mile. When it comes to starting or growing your business, the “extra mile” can make the difference between success and failure. Business owners are often compelled to do important tasks after the regular workday and beyond the realm of normal energy outputs and expectations. Many great achievements take place over and above the regular workday. There is always enough time for miracles; it’s a matter of identifying the need, developing a plan, and taking action.
  4. Learn all you can about your business idea. Are there competing businesses already selling products and services you’re considering? Is your idea new to the area? Determine if there is demand for your goods by talking to potential customers and competitors. Answering these questions is part of doing market research and proving your business case.
  5. Be curious and coachable! It takes a certain confidence in oneself to brave the chaotic waters of starting a business, but overconfidence is the kiss of death. You can’t go wrong by spending more time listening than talking. Listen to competitors, listen to business owners, and listen to customers. Listen to anyone knowledgeable about the industry, and who will take the time to educate you about the business. Find a mentor.
  6. Set Your Prices High Enough. You’ll never build goodwill by under-charging your customers. Those new to business are prone to undervaluing their products and services. This is one of the common pitfalls made when starting a new business. Be sure to charge enough for your products and services to cover your overhead costs and turn a bit of profit. Decide whether you want to be the cheapest, the fastest, or the best. Pick any two; trying to be all three is a sure recipe for going broke.
  7. Get It in Writing. When you make the transition to self-employment, don’t be afraid to ask for signed agreements from customers, suppliers and other professionals. A signed agreement will go a long way toward eliminating misunderstandings afterward, and conserve your energy for the most important activity of all for the cheerfully self-employed; serving customers.
  8. Become the Expert. Do as much yourself as you realistically can, for as long as you can. Most small enterprises become successful because of the owner’s tireless efforts, particularly in the earlier stages. As long as it doesn’t go on to the point of burnout, wearing many hats is an ideal opportunity for the owner to get to know all aspects of the business and become the expert for the business.

Are you ready to join the world of the self-employed? The Fast-Track to Self-Employment BootCamp will be offered at Sprott-Shaw this June at the Prince George, Kelowna, Victoria and Vancouver campuses. 3 Days in class time are followed by 37 hours of self-directed research, 4 teleseminars and an hour of one-on-one coaching. For more information or to register visit http://www.riskbuster.com/fast-track-to-self-employment-bootcamp/ or email info@riskbuster.com today.

Self-Employment, Workshops

Fast-Track to Self-Employment BootCamp Kelowna

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In Kelowna June 11-13. If you’ve been thinking about starting a business, now is the time. Navigate the transition from employee to self-employed contractor and business owner with safely and with confidence.

This workshop is designed to take individuals from working as employees to working as self- employed contractors and business owners. With the ever changing demands of the new economy many individuals are opting to direct and control their careers through self-employment. The course will assist in bridging to self-employment and fully understand what is necessary. The program will cover such topics as market research, understanding industries, identifying opportunities in learner-specific fields of interest, developing and describing a business concept, marketing for self-employed, navigating legal and regulatory requirements, assessing the competition, knowing what customers want, bookkeeping, accounting, taxation, social network marketing, business communications, and understanding labour markets.
Participants will leave the workshop with a basic understanding of what it means to own and operate a small business in the 21st century, how to start a small business, and how to get contracts and keep busy as an independent, self-employed contractor.

City Location Workshop Dates Instructor
Kelowna, BC Sprott-Shaw Campus
#200-546 Leon Ave.		 June 11, 12, 13, 2012 Dan Boudreau

Training Goals

At the end of this course, the participant will be able to:

  • Discover the differences between owning a business and being an employee.
  • Determine if a business idea is feasible.
  • Identify the key components and structure of business plans.
  • Use effective business writing and communications techniques.
  • Discuss small business legal and regulatory requirements and deadlines.
  • Locate sources of assistance and information for entrepreneurs.
  • Recognize and discuss sources of labour market information.
  • List and prioritize products and services.
  • Identify potential customers and competition.
  • Ease fear of financials and develop a 3-year forecast.
  • Review proposal formats and writing techniques.
  • Recognize affordable marketing methods, including printed media, the internet, websites, email, and social network marketing options.
  • Identify professional support, including bookkeeping, accounting and legal counsel.
  • Develop a strategy and action plan to transition to self-employment.
  • Research and write a business plan.

Who This Workshop Is For

  • Employment Counsellors
  • Technicians
  • Tradesmen
  • Professionals
  • Anyone transitioning from employment to self-employment

What Participants Can Expect

This workshop is learner-centered and designed for maximum participation and practice. Learners will fill their self-employment toolchest with tricks and techniques, and have opportunities to practice applying new information in a safe and fun learning environment.

Classroom Time

18 hours (3 days)
Instructor led in-class time with the facilitator

Individual Guided Research

37 Hours
Individual guided research, business planning and set-up time.
Remote Live Q&A Discussion/Coaching Sessions via teleseminar

4 – 1 Hour Teleseminars

After attending the workshops and starting your through your individual guided research you will have an opportunity to ask questions and discuss successes, speedbumps and any other issues you have encountered.
Teleseminar 1: July 3 at 10:00pm PST
Teleseminar 2: July 24 at 10:00pm PST
Teleseminar 3: August 07 at 10:00pm PST
Teleseminar 4: August 21 at 10:00pm PST
If for any reason, you are unable to attend any of the 1-hour teleseminars, you will be provided a link to a recording of the phone call so you can listen on your own time.

Individual One-on-One Business Coaching Time

1 hour per participant individual one-on-one business coaching time.
Unlimited Access to the RiskBuster Business Plan Oasis Membership Website.
Each participant receives a membership and access to the Online Business Planner’s RoadMap

Each participant will get the following workshop materials:

  • A BootCamp reference binder loaded with business planning and start-up resources
  • 1 copy of RiskBuster by Dan Boudreau
  • 1 copy of Business Planner’s RoadMap by Dan Boudreau
  • Unlimited Membership to the online RiskBuster Business Plan Oasis
  • Information on bidding on government procurement opportunities
  • Access to a workshop participant’s forum in which to network with other learners, share information and get answers to questions

Each participant will get the following workshop materials:

  • A BootCamp reference binder loaded with business planning and start-up resources
  • 1 copy of RiskBuster by Dan Boudreau
  • 1 copy of Business Planner’s RoadMap by Dan Boudreau
  • Unlimited Membership to the online RiskBuster Business Plan Oasis
  • Information on bidding on government procurement opportunities
  • Access to a workshop participant’s forum in which to network with other learners, share information and get answers to questions

What Participants Will Need

  • A business idea and a desire to operate as a self-employed contractor.
  • A PC or Mac with functional word-processing and spreadsheet applications.
  • Basic computer and word-processing skills

Costs & Class Size

Workshop Fee: $1,000.00 per participant.
Workshop Materials: $114.00 per participant.
Total Cost (including taxes): $1,239.70

Maximum Per Class: 16

Facilitator

This BootCamp will be facilitated by Dan Boudreau, President & CEO, Macrolink Action Plans Inc.

Register Now, Seating is limited.

When you click on register now you will be taken to the Macrolink Action Plans Inc. secure shopping cart. Payment can be made by credit card (Visa, Master Card, American Express). Once you have registered, we will email you confirmation of your registration, a receipt, and details of the workshop.

For more information contact Macrolink Action Plans Inc toll-free at 1-877-612-9161
or Sprott-Shaw Community College at 604-552-9711 ext 338

If you wish to pay by any other means, please call us to make arrangements.

If you would like to speak to us before registering please contact us toll free at 1-888-612-9161.

Fast-Track to Self-Employment BootCamp is offered in partnership by Macrolink Action Plans Inc. and Sprott-Shaw Community College.