Unless you're renting simple office space odds are you will need to make some modifications to the space, be it adding walls, flooring, paint, electrical, plumbing, or any combination thereof. So far in this series we’ve talked about finding a location for your retail business, negotiating the lease, and securing a capable contractor to build out the space.
This week we discuss how to find a capable building contractor to build out the location. And as this series has been thus far, this segment is based on my personal experience and offered to you warts and all. As with all of my columns only the names have been changed to protect the innocent, the ignorant, and the overly litigious.
We've been discussing the steps required to open a brick and mortar store. We’ve talked about startup plans and finding a location. This week we look at what comes next in the process: the negotiation and signing of one of the most dreaded legal document any entrepreneur will ever face: the commercial lease (insert scary music here).
Last week we talked about creating a "Startup Plan" for your new business idea. To catch you up, a Startup Plan is a detailed list of tasks and subtasks that must be completed in order to get you from the initial idea stage to opening day and beyond.
This week our discussion on starting a brick and mortar business continues. We’ve already talked about creating a Startup Plan to manage the process and conducting market research to gauge the viability of your idea. If you missed those entries visit TimKnox.com and click the "Columns" tab.
This week begins the tale of my recent foray into the world of brick and mortar and the startup the lessons learned there from. Over the next few weeks I’ll be detailing the exact steps that I took to launch my retail business and bring it to profitability within the first 30 days. The lessons to come are many, and not just for those milling around in the brick and mortar crowd.
When I was a kid there were five words I heard more than all others combined. Usually coming from my father, they were, "Boy, what were you thinking?" Those words would typically come after he caught me doing something I shouldn’t be or more often, after talking my younger brother into doing something really stupid that could have - but never did - end in his demise.
Well, my friends, like the Terminator, politicians named Clinton, the ghosts from the movie Poltergeist, and that corn on the side of your big toe: I’m back. There are just some things that won’t go away. Sorry. I’m sure many of you have been wondering why I’ve been absent from these hallowed pages for a number of months, just as I’m sure many of you are now reading this and thinking, "Who is this idiot and what have they done with Harvey MacKay?"
Expert Author: Tim Knox | Category: Marketing One of the hot catchphrases being bounced around a lot in business these days is "competitive advantage."One of the cool things about being an entrepreneur and business author and speaker is that I get to use all kinds of big words and phrases that make me sound much smarter than I am.
I wanted to share with you a question that came in this week from a local entrepreneur named, Steven, who is having a tough time dealing with the stress of running his small business. I'm hearing from a lot of stressed-out entrepreneurs these days, so hopefully sharing Steven's question and my response will help others learn to cope with the pressure that comes with running your own business.
You could avoid the mistakes you previously made and build on the successes you previously enjoyed. You could nurture the positive relationships and avoid the bad. You could tap into your wealth of experience during times of indecision and always know where and when your time and money would be best spent.
Enterpreneurship requires not just hard work and knowledge of business but also a number of other things that are many times not considered too important. Grooming yourself to look good is just one of these things that enterpreneurs need to focus on.
The last time we met I told you about the U.S. Department of Labor's prediction that within the next ten to fifteen years fifty percent of the American workforce will consist of home workers, independent contractors, consultants, telecommuters, freelancers, and of course, entrepreneurs.
When it comes to careers and business, my radio show partner and author of the best selling career advice book "48 Days To The Work You Love," Dan Miller, is a walking, talking encyclopedia of precise industry statistics. While I've always been comfortable using such statistically noncommittal terms as "many, most, and some," Dan prefers to remember and espouse accurate numbers.
Is the pressure of being in business getting to you? Do you feel like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders? Do you lie awake nights with a thousand points of worry flashing through your poor, tired brain? Welcome, my friend, to the wonderful world of entrepreneurship. Come on now, you really didn't think it was going to be that easy, did you?
Before becoming a full time entrepreneur (or ontamanure, as my daughter calls me) I worked my share of jobs and had my share of bosses. Some of the jobs I enjoyed, some I did not. The same is true for the bosses. Some were decent folks who treated me with the same respect I gave them while others would have been better suited running a concentration camp. I shouldn't complain, though, because it was the worst boss I ever had who ultimately motivated me to start my own business as a way of escaping the shackles of employment.
I ran across an interesting article in Wired magazine this week that told the tale of Kolo Soro, an elementary school teacher in the tiny village of Tomono in the northern Ivory Coast of Africa. This is an area so remote and void of technology that for generations communication between villages has been done by tying notes to rocks and having passing trucks toss them out the window at pre-described locations.
Email marketing can be used as an effective tool for communicating with customers. Its is an effective medium of communication to boost sales by ensuring that your customers constantly remember you.
Expert Author: Tim Knox | Category: Humor A remote control in the hands of a woman is a dangerous thing, especially when it's her man she's trying to change.
Expert Author: Tim Knox | Category: Humor It seems like an awful lot of people are asking my opinion these days, usually about things on which I have no opinion to give. They ask my take on international politics, global warming, the overseas stock markets, the future of the Eurodollar, the latest Calvin Klein fragrance, and a whole slew of other topics that I know little, if anything, about. Even my wife wants to know what I think. She's always asking things like, "Honey, does this make me look fat?" It doesn't take a genius to figure out that there's only one correct response to that question.
