Being a business owner doesn’t have many downfalls-what can be better than being your own boss? But it can be stressful when things aren’t going quite to plan or you’re not sure what to do next if you’re struggling to finance developing your business, or just making ends meet till you get paid.

The most obvious option you may think of could be a bank overdraft, but these are becoming harder to come by and often only a small amount will be offered for you to lend. Not forgetting that a bank overdraft is repayable on demand and this can happen due to a number of reasons. Today, invoice factoring is the first choice for many businesses that need a way of borrowing money, without the added worries associated with a bank overdraft.

What is Invoice Factoring?

Invoice factoring is a financial transaction where a business will sell its accounts to a third party in exchange for immediate cash to finance their business. Many people believe it to be a modern day equivalent of the bank overdraft, but with added benefits!

Why choose Invoice Factoring over a Bank Overdraft?

Whereas a bank overdraft will be awarded depending on the length of time your business has been trading and whether your business is immediately profitable, Invoice Factoring is awarded against the total amount of unpaid invoices of your business. Normally, invoice factoring will allow you to receive up to 95% of funds from unpaid invoices.

What can Invoice Factoring do for my business?

• Increase your cash flow instantly
• Help to develop and grow your business with the funds
• It will give you bad debt protection
• Help you along in the gap between raising invoices and being paid

If you decide that Invoice Factoring is the right solution for your business, it is crucial to find an independent financial business advisor. Target Business Assist are one of the UK’s leading independent financial advisors and pride themselves on offering impartial advice as they are not tied to any specific lender. They have access to most UK lenders, ensuring that you will get the best rates possible for your business, along with easy to understand advice making sure you understand the contract, too!

You’re out there everyday, telling the world how great your service is, that what you have to offer is exactly the solution they are looking for.

The best way to prove that your services are the answer to your prospect’s problems is to build your credibility as a professional and to show that you’re the expert in your field.

photo credit: gcoldironjr2003

Here’s how to prove that you are the solution:

• Prove that you deliver what you promise. Live by this mantra: Under-Promise, Over-Deliver.
• Look at your marketing material with a critical eye. Would you hire yourself?
• Add an element of tangibility to your services by sharing real success stories and testimonials.
• Write and publish articles about your area of expertise.
• Fill your pipeline by getting others to introduce you and refer your services.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/twenty_questions/ / CC BY-NC 2.0

We live in a world where there is a plethora of options – we are deluged by products, gizmos and gadgets, some of which we don’t really have any use for and most of which tend to get obsolete in no time at all. So if you’re a marketer, you must know how to sell your products effectively so that customers know what they stand to gain by buying and using them. A successful marketer avoids making fatal errors, mistakes that could kill their chances of success. There are many marketing don’ts, but the most important of them are:

• Being too intrusive: No matter how badly people want to buy something, they’re not going to buy from you if you’re too intrusive. I hate callers who ring my doorbell when I’m busy and refuse to go away; I get irritated with cold calls from salespeople who gain access to my mobile number through mass marketing lists that they purchase and hound me at all hours of the day; and I find pop ups that block the web page I’m trying to view a big nuisance that I must close immediately. So when you’re intrusive and in your customers’ faces, you don’t start off on the right foot or make a good impression on them. You tend to drive them straight to the arms of the competition at times. It’s hard enough earning a good reputation, and your job is made even more difficult when you have to overcome a bad one.
• Treating the customer badly: Some salespeople and marketers believe they are above certain customers and don’t treat them well. Remember Julia Roberts in the movie Pretty Woman? The man who refused to attend to her because of the way she was dressed had to eat dust a little later. So don’t prejudge your customers or assume that you know what they can or cannot afford. Your job is to sell your product and so your focus must be on closing the sale alone.
• Failing to offer follow up service: Your job is not over once you’ve sold a product, and if as a marketer you think it is, you’re making a huge mistake. Very often, people become repeat customers because of the after-sales service you offer – no one wants to buy a product for which they are forced to put up with shoddy service and maintenance. When I buy a car, I want to know that maintenance is going to be a hassle-free experience and that spares are not too expensive. If I feel cheated after the initial promises made at the time of the sale, I’m certainly not going to buy from the same company again or recommend it to my friends.

This guest article was written by Adrienne Carlson, who regularly writes on the topic of accelerated online degrees . Adrienne welcomes your comments and questions at her email address: adrienne.carlson1@gmail.com .

Career Overview just came out with their top 100 best social sites for entrepreneurs.

Click here for the list of 100 Best Social Sites for Entrepreneurs

While many won’t be a surprise, you may just find a few new social sites to network and build your business in 2010.

photo credit: ManojVasanth

6 Tips to Start and Run a Successful Business

It’s not something that most of us would dare venture, but starting your own business venture does have its share of excitement. There are pessimists who say that 9 out of 10 new ventures fail, but then, failure is a relative term. It depends on how you define it – if you don’t make a profit in the first few months, are you a failure? If you are not busy all the time, does that mean that you’ve failed to succeed? And if you are going through a bad patch, would that count as failure?

The point I’m trying to make is that we all want to succeed, but success means different things to each of us. So when you’re starting your new business, here’s what you need to keep in mind:

• Do something you love: When you’re passionate about your work, it becomes a labor of love, not a chore that has to be endured. And this encourages you to strive harder for the success you dream of. When you’re able to make a business out of your passion, you know you have a surefire recipe for success.
• Do your research thoroughly: You need to use a little of your head as well when starting a new business. Study the market thoroughly and see if there is a need for the product or service you are selling. Only then can you rest assured that all you need to achieve success is a combination of hard work, dedication and initiative.
• Be prepared to work hard: Hard work never killed anybody, especially work that is well planned and equally well executed. Plan your operations ahead so that you get things done efficiently. Know how to delegate tasks so that you don’t overwork yourself. And know where to draw the line when it comes to taking the office home with you.
• Invest in a good team: You are only as good as the weakest person in your team, so ensure that you invest time, money and effort in hiring talented and skilled people who are not afraid of hard work and are willing to learn what they do not know. When you are supported by a good team of employees who work with you rather than for you, you know you’re well on the route to success.
• Remember that the customer is king: And last, but certainly not the least, without your customer, you have no chance of making it big. So treat your customers with courtesy and provide them with services and products that are of good quality. Be ethical and transparent in all your dealings with them, because it is their goodwill and continued patronage that works in your favor to bring you new customers and help your business grow.
• Continue to innovate: So now your business is up and running and you have a steady stream of income coming in. Stay one step ahead of the competition and prevent your business from becoming obsolete or defunct by innovating. Keep in tune with market trends and find out what your customers expect. Cater to their needs and watch yourself taste success after success.

About the author:
This guest article was written by Adrienne Carlson, who regularly writes on the topic of executive mba programs. Adrienne welcomes your comments and questions at her email address: adrienne.carlson1@gmail.com

Trevor Emdon and I met over the internet a few months ago, and we hit it off right away — something about personalities meshing that just can’t be explained. He offered to write a series of guest posts for The Savvy Entrepreneur blog, specifically to help you, my dear readers, with ‘out of the box’ strategies to get more of what you want in your business. Enjoy!

The Savvy Mindset – Time Management While You Sleep!

Working from home means you can run your own schedule. That sounds great until you get a “to do” list so long that clocking off time becomes when you can no longer keep your eyes open.

Here’s an unusual tip for time management. As you go through the day you’ll accumulate things to add to your to do list. Jot them down, but if they can wait, don’t do them yet. Before leaving your desk for the day, sort the list into these two categories:

• Down to Earth, and
• Inspired Required.

Down to Earth will be things like pay invoice number… and phone supplier X. By contrast, Inspired Required should include such things as, find the perfect marketing agency/publisher/virtual p.a. or write sales/advertising copy or need perfect product for Xmas sale and so on.

Read over the Inspired Required list and just let them roll around your mind without attempting to solve them yet. Now, before you go to sleep, just mentally issue an instruction to your subconscious mind:

“I’m going to sleep now. While I’m resting, I want you to take care of all the things on my Inspired Required list.”

Then go to sleep. In the morning, deal with the Down to Earth ones that need handling – or, better still, get your p.a., partner or friends to do them. (If you hate accounts and you have a friend who enjoys them, there’s always some skill or favour you can exchange even if you don’t have a budget, isn’t there?)

Now turn your attention to the Inspired Required list. You’ll be amazed at how many of the those tasks will seem to “do themselves”! I bet you didn’t know you had a “silent partner” living in your head who will willingly work while you sleep, did you? Try it. There’s no penalty for sacking them if they don’t come up to expectations!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Trevor Emdon, aka the “Wizard of Wisdom” writes and creates, (from his very soul), self help and law of attraction programs, such as Stop Worrying And Grow Rich, one of his most popular as it is about how to attract money.

Basic Tips to Establish Yourself as a Brand

Becoming a brand has lot of advantages. A strong brand doesn’t only give financial advantages but you also get loyal customers who connect themselves with your brand. Companies with established brands can introduce new products easily and effectively under their same family brand. Branding gives you a significant advantage over your competitors when customers start associating advantages with your brand. Don’t think that branding could be done for only big companies with an unlimited ad budget. You can also establish your small business as a brand. In this article I will be discussing some tips which you can implement to create an effective branding strategy for your own business.

• Relevant Tagline: Your brand should have a relevant tagline with its name which represents what your business stands for. The tagline would give an idea to your customers about your services. For example, the tagline for Apple is “Think Different.” Taglines help your customers to connect with your brand. Make your tagline small and short.
• Educate Customers: Everybody likes to get new information. Educate your customers with unique and useful information. The more you will educate your customers, the more you will be able to sell. Providing great content for free would help you to establish your brand as the most reliable brand among your target audience.
• Create a Website: Register a domain with your brand name. You can register a domain name for less than $10 for year. Create a professional and beautiful website which contains all the important information about your brand.
• Use Web2.0: Web2.0 is one of the most powerful ways to create your identity online. Create accounts on various Web2.0 sites with your brand name like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube etc. Start interacting with your target audience in such websites and develop relationships with them by telling them more about your brand.
• Take Your Brand Everywhere: Take your brand with you wherever you go. Wear t-shirts with your logo while meeting clients in professional meetings.
• Promotional Products: Create useful promotional products relevant to your brand. For example, if you are a travel agent, you can create backpacks imprinted with your logo. Distribute such promotional products among your customers so that they remember your brand whenever they use these items.
• Trade Shows and Conferences: Participate in trade shows and conferences related to your business. Speak up about your brand anywhere you get a chance.
• Sponsorships and Charity: Sponsor local events or do charity for good causes. These events usually get covered by the media and gives you lots of free publicity which will put your brand in the good books of your audience.

About the author:
Gagandeep Singh is working as Internet Marketing Executive for Fortepromo, which provide high quality promotional products to help companies in promoting their brand.

I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of Sean D’Souza or Psychotactics.com. If not, you should! I’ve enjoyed their website, newsletter and products over the years and have found it to have very useful marketing information.

This morning, I got an invitation that said Sean was giving away a workshop he normally sells for $2500. And that he’s doing a test and giving a limited number of copies away absolutely FREE… No charge. This workshop, the Brain Alchemy Masterclass, explains why structure—not marketing—is critical to grow a business effectively. He teaches you how to build your business around YOU, something I’m a HUGE proponent of!

If it’s anything like the other Psychotactics products I own, I know this workshop will create HUGE changes in the way I run and market my business(es)!

A free giveaway like this would normally have a catch of some sort, but this one (strangely) doesn’t. I’ve (of course) signed up to their waiting list, so that I can get my copy of these goodies soon. You should check it out, and if you find it useful, you should get on the waiting list before it’s filled.

I’m sending you this note because I thought this workshop could help you in marketing your VA business. You should check it out and judge for yourself.
Here’s the link: http://www.psychotactics.com/free-goodies

P.S. I read somewhere on the page that there’s a deadline for this free offer, so have a look and decide.

*Disclaimer of transparency: I get absolutely NOTHING for promoting this program (actually, Psychotactics has NO affiliate program!). I’m sharing this with you because I believe what Sean teaches is truly innovative. He’s a down-to-earth, no-nonsense kind of guy. When I signed up for the free Brain Alchemy Masterclass workshop, Sean asked me to share this with people I think would appreciate such an offer. This is what I’m doing!

“Don’t be distracted by criticism. Remember- the only taste of success some people have is when they take a bite out of you.” — Zig Ziglar

Mike Brown over at Brainzooming wrote a short article earlier this year on an alternative to defining your business brand called Have You Tried a ‘Not’ Definition?

Start by asking, “What doesn’t our brand stand for or represent?” By beginning with a “not” definition, you may subsequently be able to more readily express a succinct, targeted definition.

Because I still have branding on the brain and I struggle with nailing down the details, I thought this was a great way to flip branding over on its head.

Hope it helps you get clearer about what you don’t do too!!

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. — Marianne Williamson

Normally, October is Anti-Procrastination Month here on The Savvy Entrepreneur blog. Since all my time is spent working on my new venture, Mompowerment, I decided not to post daily procrastination-beating tips, tricks, resources and suggestions this time ’round.

However, Chris Lloyd was kind enough to submit an article for me to share with you here!

Enjoy!

Planning To Beat Procrastination

Scientists have conducted research into procrastination and what causes it. You can read the report for one study here (pdf), but I’ll try and sum up the results and what they mean for you without all the big scientific words.

The researchers gave two groups of people a task to open a bank account. The researchers made one group think abstract thoughts about the task by asking them to imagine what a bank account can mean for their life. Researchers tried to make the other group think concrete thoughts about the task with questions about the specific steps of opening an account. It probably won’t surprise you to find out that the second group completed the task much quicker than the first group. In some cases, the first group never completed the task.

This contradicts some procrastination advice. People have advised imagining the benefits of completing a goal to get the motivation to overcome procrastination. This research suggests that advice will make your problem even worse. You probably already know the benefits of starting your own business. That’s why you’re reading this blog. Daydreaming about good things that might happen probably won’t help get the job done.

Instead, when you find yourself procrastinating, try and break down the task into smaller, concrete steps. Write them down or just think about them. This will make you more likely to actually do the task. You’ll be on the road to accomplishing your goals instead of just daydreaming about it.

This has been a guest post by Chris Lloyd. He still daydreams more than he should about helping people find great Austin apartments.