Accounting 255

There are many things I learned in accounting 255 that will help me to become a lot more successful in the process of opening my own business.  The learning of how to use an electronic tool such as the internet is very useful for every to know.  It will help you to maximize your potential revenue and use a tool which will also enable you to use the largest marketing front known.  Here is just a few of the things I have learned.

1) I learned how to create, update, and maintain a blog.  This lets me share my thoughts and professional views and stances on issues that I care about.
2) I learned how to use Google AdSense which allows me to earn money advertising depending on the traffic amount I am seeing.
3) I learned about affiliation with other online retailers to get a commission.
4) I learned how to use Google analytics to track the performance of my web site.
5) I learned how to use search engine listings.
6) I learned about click-to-pay and other advertising programs
7) I learned how to make an e-book
8) I learned how to make an online virtual identity.
9) I learned how to use other blogs as a resource
10) I learned how to use other peoples websites as a source
11) I learned about various online business models
12) I learned about utilizing new technology in innovative new ways
13) I learned about several different types of web pages
14) I learned the many types of blog postings
15) I learned about linking and how to promote your website
16) I learned about advertising placement
17) I learned about ClickBank products and how to make your own

Finale?

It has truly been a pleasure to do all this research on a topic I love as much as small business.  I would like to thank all my readers and I am going to post a link to this blog on other peoples blogs in the hopes that we can all benefit from the sharing of knowledge.  There can never be too much information available for those who want it.  In today's day and age information is the supreme tool in making educated business decisions and gambles.

I do not know if this will be my last blog post ever, as I would like to continue to post to this blog if interest remains high.  However I don't think I will update this blog as regularly, but who knows?  I would love it if all of you would visit my website which can be found at two different address here and here.  This website goes into details about aspects of small businesses and the entrepreneurs founding them which I find to be the most important.  My advice comes from a love of small business, from my academic discipline focusing on small business, and from my job which is also a small business.

Overall, I would just like to leave all you young businessmen and women with the idea that you should do something you enjoy doing.  As a restaurant manager I can't say that every day is an easy day and there are failures and successes that come with my experiences there.  Overall I love the idea of the restaurant, I love my customers, and I love working there.  The culture is great and I don't think I could have a better learning experience to help me in the small business or the corporate world. 

Good luck everyone and thanks for reading!
Michael Wiseman

Young Business Stars

I'm finally coming to the conclusion (possibly) of my blog which presents a lot of advice to the young and inexperienced entrepreneurs.  I figured that all this advice that I give is good and researched advice, but wouldn't you like to find out from people who are young and successful in their own small business adventures?  In order to provide some real-world examples who give real world advice I found a video on CNN, where there is a video of three of the top 40 under 40 business people, as listed by Fortune.  This video can be found here, under the title of hot young business stars. 

 All the material I used here is useful but there is nothing like real-world experience and these experts have it in plenty despite their young age.  They have plenty of advice which is useful but the common theme is that they were ambitious and confident.  This confidence enables them to talk to and debate with people who are their elders in the business world.  Confidence is the key to a young business person being successful, as they must be totally devoted and confident of their abilities to work at a high level. 

Please watch this short video to just get a look at how your future can turn out if you are confident and capable.

Alcohol Recession-Resistant?

I think this will be an post which all my fellow college students can appreciate.

This is a specific product a lot of companies will not be able to add to their repertoire as there are many businesses out there that are considered "family-friendly" and will refuse even the thought of selling alcohol to ruin that image.  Alcohol has been statistically proven to be a rising seller in times of economic distress, probably because of the whole distress element.  There are many businesses that are using alcohol in their products in new and unanticipated ways. I found a list of businesses using alcohol in innovative products, which can be found here.

The truth is alcohol is a relatively cheap way to feel rich, as top-notch alcohol doesn't cost nearly as much to purchase as other luxury items.  This means that people can treat themselves without breaking the bank, which is a good thing in these times of belt-tightening.  Some of these ideas may seem a little eccentric, such as selling ice cream with alcohol  or cupcakes topped with tequila frosting. 

Many of these businesses were started by individuals who didn't really intend for their product to be so successful.  The mom who came home from work with her own private cocktail of chocolate milk and alcohol didn't share her recipe with the world until a friend said it was too good to pass out.  Now she has an alcohol mix that is selling extremely well and she is trying to keep up with demand.  She used blogs and other tools to spread her product awareness virally, and her success speaks for itself.

Be Wary In 2012

Now usually I'm all about optimism when it comes to economic recovery and its effect on small businesses, but this time I'm advocating caution.  A smart businessman or businesswoman will never make a business decision on how to run their small business without first considering everything and acting with a degree of caution.  In a small business setting you don't have the capability to recover from a major slip up, because you don't have that large safety net that larger corporations have.  That safety net doesn't even protect them as can be seen with the recent examples of Netflix and Bank of America recording massive losses with programs that were intended to generate additional revenue.

I recently found a list on the Wall Street Journal which details the positives of the economy, but also details pitfalls that may happen to small business owners if they are not very careful.  This list can be found here.  Most of the issues that are discussed in the article are issues I have already addressed in previous blog articles but there was a new one I have seen which could be a potential pitfall for owners.

With the economy recovering the owners of small businesses have been cutting back on the discounts that hurt their bottom line the year before when purse strings were tighter.  This has lead to a slight rise in the price of the goods they are selling which, while not significant yet, may scare away potential or existing customers.  The owners must be careful not to alienate their customers as the secret to small businesses are sustainable consistent customers, so the owners must be very careful about which products they price higher.

Without a large customer base like a larger company has, the small business must be willing to make sacrifices in the short term to ensure the long-term survivability of the business.

Small Business Lending Strengthens

As rough as the economy is it appears we have turned a corner when it comes to the availability of loans available for small businesses.  This is a good thing because small business is a driving factor on the road to economic recovery.  Its also a good sign because with more available capital there are more people who are going to expand or improve their operations.  This article can be found on Fox's small business section on their website, or you could take the shortcut and just click here.

This happens mostly because of the Small Business Jobs Act which was signed into law by Obama.  This act freed up about $9.1 billion in capital for the use of the Small Business Administration, which filters it down to small businesses hiring new employees or raising wages for current ones.  This has caused an increase in hiring by small businesses to a clip of 188,000 from last years total of 68,500.  This creates jobs keeping people happy and keeping the economy on track for recovery. 

This move made by the government has also caused banks to loosen the purse strings on small business loans.  Many of the top banks, Wells Fargo and JP Morgan Chase, are increasing their loans for small businesses by double digit percentage amounts.  Bank executives say they are still being cautious and that the loan market is far from ideal, but these are still encouraging signs for small businesses.  The bank executives cite the desire to grow, a feature of small businesses, as a primary benefit to giving these loans out.  They say that it only helps the economy to have businesses growing rather then just hoarding their money and sticking it out.

These factors should encourage the small business owners to make steps in trying to improve or expand their small businesses right now to gain as much market share as they can.