A startup checklist is the plan behind the plan, what this means is that it is a way to keep track of what you are doing. When starting a business most people get over excited and forget the importance of planning your activities.

Getting over excited is good but not planning and keeping track of things is not good, it can lead to failure. The first thing you have to do is come up with a business plan.

The business plan

A business plan is simply a guide to what you want to achieve, a business plan should contain your goals, objectives, procedures, funding and how you intend to deal with competition. Setting goals and objectives will give you something to works towards (a purpose), the procedures will determine how you reach your goals and monitoring your competition will help you stay ahead of them.

Before you start a business, … More...

A start up is simply a new established business, i.e. a young company that’s still in its infancy. Startups are small and get financing by an individual or by a group. Some startups that deserve your attention this year are:

Slack

If you have been on the lookout for startups, then you probably have heard of slack. Slack is a startup that was founded by Stewart butter field, Sergei Mourachov, Carl Henderson and Eric Costello. What makes slack special is the communication app it developed for workplaces, simply put, this is a fast growing company that deserves your attention.

Currently the company is valued at $ 180 million.

Cratejoy

Cratejoy is a powerful website builder with an ecommerce angle, the company is there to help you launch a subscription product and will cover the cost of hosting, customer emails and payment collection. This is a fast growing business that grows … More...

Starting a business can be compared to exploring uncharted territories, there is always a risk factor, but if you have a trusted adviser by your side you will be in a better position to succeed in what you are doing. A mentor is there to do just that, guide and advise you on the dos and don’ts based their experience.

Before you start looking for a mentor you should first look at yourself, learn your strengths and weaknesses. Learning about yourself means looking at your personality and how you relate with others. Remember you want a mentor that you can build a professional relationship with, so don’t settle on people who try to control you; instead, you should look for a person that listens and respects your opinions. If you don’t think a mentor is right for you then maybe consider a business coach instead like … More...

Crowd funding is a practice of raising capital or funding a project from a large number of individuals, this could friends, customers, family or through the internet. A good place to try this method is on social media or on crowd sourcing platforms such as indiegogo.

Types of crowd funding

There are three types of crowd funding:

Donations: the easiest way to get funding is through donations, when someone donates funds to you they don’t expect anything in return, they just want to see you succeed. But as a sign of good will you should always give something back e.g. t-shirts or other freebies.

Debts: this type of crowd funding involves receiving funds in form of debts, but instead of getting loans the traditional way from banks, you get it from investors. This type of crowd funding is also referred to as peer ton … More...

There are many similarities between mentoring and coaching, but there are also differences. One major difference is in the definition. A mentor is defined as an experienced and trusted adviser whereas a coach is someone who helps you learn and achieve a specific professional or personal goal. Coquitlam plumbers, DJ Plumbing has been using a business coach to help them get their garburator repair service off  the ground and work through the challenges of running a business in a competitive market.

Differences between businesses coaching a business mentoring

Longevity

One major difference between coaching and mentoring is the longevity, mentoring requires a lot of time, making it a long term effort. The reason for this is that the mentor and the mentee need to build trust and this takes time.

Unlike mentoring that can take up to nine or more months, coaching is a short term effort that can only … More...

Lean marketing is a concept that was introduced by an entrepreneur named Eric Ries; the concept is all about experimentation instead of the traditional planning. If you are starting up a new business you will spend a lot of money depending on the nature of the business you are in. lean marketing is a strategy that tries to help you cut costs.

Remember, no matter how well you plan, things always have a way of going wrong. Question is how can you use lean marketing to minimize loss?

Start with testing

Ask yourself this, what happens when your marketing strategy fails after investing a lot of money into it? The sure thing is that you may land in debt or you may end up losing the investment. To avoid this you should test your marketing ideas in small batches instead going all in and hoping for the best. Paul James … More...

Nothing beats the fulfilling and relaxing feeling of a brand-new home. Lounging on the comfortable new couch while admiring the well-organized furniture in a new space, the life you ever dreamed of. But as you get comfortable living in your paradise, sometimes we tend to forget that the house isn’t going to care for itself and in no time, it needs fixing. Worry not for we list down some tips on how to maintain the ‘new’ look of your home.

1. Clean Your Window Wells

As much as window wells are great for letting natural light into your basement and providing ventilation plus keeping the soil away from your window fixtures, they can put your basement at risk if they’re not looked after. To avoid breakage from water pressure due to leaves and other debris that clogged the drainage, clean it using a shorthanded shovel, a snake, or just your hands … More...

Starting out a tree service business in Vancouver requires adept knowledge in tree servicing and the types of equipment involved. If you have related experience in the past and consider yourself an expert in this field, then you could quite qualify to start your own. Always remember that there are many challenges along the way when starting up a business.

That is what we are going to talk about. The things you should keep in your mind or in your list when you have decided to finally start your own in Vancouver. Yes, tree services can be a demanding job but it can also depend on the area that you will cover. The geography around you will greatly affect the business and how far you are willing to offer your services. So might need to know what weather in Vancouver will affect your business the most. Of course, the larger … More...

According to religion, an angel is a being sent by God to help humans. But business-wise an angel investor or angel is an individual who provides capital for startups, the capital angel investors provide can be ongoing or an onetime thing such as seed money. Another term for an angel investors is an informal investor.

How does angel investing work

An angel investor can be a wealthy individual or individuals, but generally it all starts with wealthy investors forming a group where they pool together capital and resources. The aim of doing this is to help startups and for their own benefit. This means that if you need capital to start a business, you can pitch your idea to the angels, if they find that your business is potentially profitable they will give you the money you need. But there is a catch; the business must already be making … More...

Being your own boss is something most of us dream about, but when it comes down to it, a very important question exists. Should you buy an existing business or should you start from scratch? What most people fear is the hard work and money you will have to put in if you start a business from scratch, buying business also has a good side and a bad side. A perfect example of an existing business available for purchase is Steveston Seabreeze Adventures.

So which is better buying or starting a business?

Startup cost

Buying a business means that you are buying into something that already has established itself, it has customers and a procedure in place. The problem with this idea is that it can be expensive especially if the business is profitable. However when you decide to start your own business the startup costs will depend on … More...