Today’s guest blog comes from Martin C. Zwilling, the Founder and CEO of Startup Professionals, Inc., a Phoenix based company which offers startups help and consulting services.  He publishes a daily blog for entrepreneurs on http://blog.startupprofessionals.com . He is a member of the Arizona Angels group, where he serves on the Selection Committee. He is also on the Board of a half-dozen startups, and has an extensive technology background with IBM and other large and small companies. He may be contacted directly at marty@startupprofessionals.com .

Startups: Action Items for Success

By Martin Zwilling

Behind most great entrepreneur success stories is a long list of mistakes! Unfortunately, for every success story you see, there is an even longer list of failure stories with mistakes that you don’t see. But rather than dwell on the failures, I’ve tried to extract a list of action items that will lead to success.

Every startup mentor has his favorite list of basic strategies to avoid pitfalls, and I’m no exception. If my experience and insights can save just one founder from the stress, lost time, and lost money associated with a startup misstep, then I’m a happy man. Consider these half-dozen action items:

• Get adequate funding. If you have started your business on a shoestring budget without planning for future funds to run the business, then you could be facing severe cash flow problems within a short period of time. This could hamper your business financially and you mentally; and you could soon lose the motivation you need to run your business successfully.

• Adapt to the market. Most startups I know have “refined” their target market several times during their rollout. So be alert and be flexible. Focus on a niche. Watch for customers hell-bent on not letting you earn any profits, or wasting too much of your time.

• Temper theory with reality. There is no substitute for experience. No matter how well-educated you are, and how certain you are that you understand all the nuances of a business area, it is a good idea to work in a similar business for a few months to get a feel for the market and observe the way in which that business is run before taking the plunge. The same thing is true for students who dream of being entrepreneurs.

• Marketing is key. Every new product needs to fight the urge to declare “If we build it, they will come!” Even word of mouth advertising and viral marketing cost big bucks these days. With a billion businesses fighting for your customer’s attention, it takes leverage, effort and money to remain in the public eye.

• Manage your time. It takes practice and effort to focus on the most important things first. In business, “most important” means time to market, customer service, low cost, and beating your competitors. It also means knowing when to delegate, and time for effective communication with your subordinates.

• Reign-in expenses. It is very important to control your expenses. Not being able to reign them in will result in all your income being washed away, and will result in serious cash flow problems.

The most important overriding principle is that you should do what you love – passion and attitude will play a large part in defining your success in business. Apply the action items outlined here, define your own rules and goals, and you will be well on the way to creating a successful and profitable business.

Today’s Buzz Your Business features Elia Tours is for all your world travelers – if you’re ever in Australia, you’ll know what to do!

Elia Tours is a boutique tour company established almost 3 years ago in Brisbane, Australia.  Our main service is personalized English Study Tours for small groups who wish to combine their hobby or interest (such as scuba diving or horse riding) with learning English whilst on vacation.  Of course we offer some more general tours too which enable our clients to see what this beautiful part of the world has to offer!

The tours can all be taken with or without the English Study component – which has proved successful with English-speaking clients who just want to experience the vacation itineraries on offer.

We also run a successful horse riding business offering 1 to 10 day tours – totally unplanned, this business has grown by word of mouth since we ran some trial weekends to practice for the Study Tours when we first started the business!

We have also just launched an ‘Intro to Endurance’ tour – assisting some of our more capable trail riders to break into the sport of endurance racing. We are very excited about this new direction for our small business!

The concept for Elia Tours arose in 2002 when Danni Cullen (Managing Director) was taking a year out from the IT world to work as an English teacher in Japan. Whilst the benefits of classroom learning were undoubtedly important for students, Danni soon realized that it was through speaking English in their free time that students became more natural speakers, and developed the ability to think in a foreign language. And so the idea of combining classroom study with an English-speaking vacation was born.

Danni is originally from England but has lived in many countries around the world including Holland, Japan, the USA and New Zealand.

She moved to Australia in 2006 and found that her passion for adventure and outdoor sports was soon satisfied with the abundant scuba diving, horse riding, kayaking and bush walking on offer within a few hours of Brisbane.

Early 2007 Danni had an accident that left her unable to walk for a while. During this time, Danni decided to pursue her dream of setting up a company that combined traditional teaching with sharing some of the amazing outdoor activities that she herself was experiencing.

Determined to offer an experience that enabled students to meet and interact with local people in small groups, Danni started to devise itineraries that offered a true Australian experience and encompassed plenty of warm local hospitality.

Her Management Science degree and Project Management skills proved invaluable in setting up the business – however it was the generosity and enthusiasm of other local businesses that really enabled the company to take off.

The Tours

When Elia Tours was first launched clients could build their own vacation itinerary choosing form over 80 different activities. However, this proved an unsuccessful model as we were offering too much choice and it was confusing for people who didn’t know the area.

Within 12 months we had down-sized and simply offered five 10-day  tours which we knew we could deliver with exceptional quality and get it right every time. Three of these focused on hobbies – horse riding, scuba diving and bush walking – the other two were more general sightseeing/experience  tours. Being able to admit we hadn’t got it right, and to adapt accordingly was a life-saving decision for the business.

Recently we have been confident enough to add three 5-day itineraries to the product offering – these can be taken alone or combined with any of the 10 day itineraries.

Whilst we were building the vacation/English Study Tour business we were busy launching some ‘trial runs’ for friends and family for the horse riding tours.

Following our first weekend horse riding tour, we had strangers calling us asking to be invited to the next one. And so it continued until now we have a loyal client base of regular horse riders who join us for weekend tours once a month and recommend us to their friends – the whole business has grown by word of mouth!

We occasionally organize something a little different like a 5 day campout tour or our new ‘Intro to Endurance’ tour just to keep the momentum going.

Without doubt, our favorite section of Bootstrap Business: A Step-by-Step Business Survival Guide is Chapter 8: Avoiding Cow Pies – it’s a good reminder that as well as focusing on our goals, we constantly need to check where we are now, and that we are performing at our peak there too.  When we first set up the business, we were constantly looking forward. It took us almost 12 months to realize that you need a good strong base now to move forward and our offering at that time was simply not appealing to our clients.  Chapter 8 talks about how climbers were standing on very thin ice, whilst all of their focus was on the summit. This is where we were too at Elia Tours – thankfully we realized this just in time, and were able to save and build a successful company.

For more information on Elia Tours please go to our website at www.eliatours.com.

Or contact us anytime:

Email:   info@eliatours.com

Tel:       +61(0) 488 070 405

We look forward to hearing from you!

I’m sure that at one point or another, we’ve all worried about the safety of our email accounts.  Today on Buzz Your Business we’re featuring StrongWebMail, a company that protects email accounts from hackers.

We hear about high profile break-ins of email accounts almost every day. Even Sarah Palin’s email was hacked into during the election season last year. We knew that there had to be a better solution for securing an email account.

The Sarah Palin incident as well as several other stories of high profile individuals getting their email accounts hacked, motivated us to build StrongWebMail and spread awareness of the need for more secure email accounts.

StrongWebMail aims to provide the most secure email accounts on the planet. Hackers break into email accounts everyday (eg. Sarah Palin, Paris Hilton) which can lead to major damage due to the amount of private information most people have within their email accounts.

StrongWebMail uses a telephone verification system provided by TeleSign to ensure maximum security when it comes to logging in to your email account. This feature makes StrongWebMail a more secure email platform than other web-based email platforms.

For more information visit our website at www.StrongWebMail.com or send us an email at contact@strongwebmailcorp.com.

Our team here at StrongWebMail can relate most to Chapter 2 from Bootstrap Business, Juice to the Light Bulb, in terms of generating ideas by identifying problems and creating a solution. We feel that email security is a huge issue especially because people now have much of their livelihood within their primary email account. We also continue to look at our own security technology as well as other secure email providers and try to identify and solve problems related to technology.

Today’s Buzz Your Business features Appible, a company that works in multi-platform mobile applications.

 Appible’s disruptive thinking is the product of their diverse backgrounds and experiences thinking outside industry norms; having worked in construction management, contract management, accounting, IT, graphic design, programming, and law.

After trying their hands at iPhone app development and direct distribution, Appible came to recognize barriers to entering the industry: app development is laborious, slow and expensive. Working in an emerging market made it difficult to find qualified developers while keeping costs reasonable. Appible saw a unique opportunity to cure these pains, not only for themselves, but for businesses and individuals who had run into the same barriers of entry.

Now Appible has an exciting product which has given them a unique advantage over their competition: multi-platform applications. Using the Appible engine gives clients the opportunity to publish mobile applications to the iPhone App Store and Google Android Marketplace, as well as Windows, Mac, and Linux PCs. Appible is currently developing the frameworks which will allow their apps to be distributed through the BlackBerry App World and Palm WebOS App Catalog.

Appible’s platform allows anyone to manage their apps in one central location. Retailers can manage their catalog, promotional codes, discounts prices and branding. Musicians can upload album art, MP3 samples, YouTube videos or concert dates. Real estate agents can custom brand games and utilities to keep their name in the minds of potential clients.

The apps powered by Appible can tie in to many of today’s popular online services such as Twitter, Facebook, last.fm, Google Checkout, digg, flickr, bit.ly and many more. The catalog of available services is constantly expanding. This allows app owners to simply aggregate the content they have already invested time and money in producing.

One principle from Bootstrap Business that has been important for Appible is “climb high, sleep low.” Staying in a position to make mistakes without killing the business has been critical to getting Appible to the point they are today.

To learn more about Appible contact them at:

Phone: 208.650.4088

Email: info@appible.com

Web: appible.com

Twitter: @appible

We’re excited to feature a unique organization today in support of Lemonade Day – encouraging kids to become entrepreneurs.  Hope you enjoy this special Buzz Your Business feaure.

Hi everyone!

My name is Esther and I am working with Prepared 4 Life to bring Lemonade Day to the San Francisco Bay Area on May 2, 2010. I’m working with 10 other fabulous team members to bring this program to US cities such as Phoenix, LA, Denver, Twin Cities, Atlanta, Washington DC, DFW, Chicago, Indianapolis, and San Antonio.

Prepared 4 Life’s foremost objective is empowering youth to take ownership of their own lives and become healthy, productive members of society—the business leaders, social advocates, volunteers and forward-thinking citizens of tomorrow. Held on the first Sunday of May every year since 2007, Lemonade Day offers young people the opportunity to savor the sweet taste of success that comes with setting up, owning and operating their very own lemonade business.

The program has seen phenomenal growth, growing from 2,600 stands in Houston its first year to over 27,000 with 75,000 kids participating in 2009! This past May 3rd, the combined youth of the Greater Houston community sold over two million cups of lemonade and, with their profits; they contributed more than $500,000 to local charities.

If you are interested or know anyone who you think will be interested in Lemonade Day, I encourage you to e-mail me, check out the Lemonade Day website and watch this video! We are going to launch each new city’s specific site soon so I encourage everyone interested to check frequently as updates will hopefully come quickly. You can also follow me on Twitter or on our team Lemonade Day Blog!

Today on Buzz Your Business we’re excited to feature Sue Varty of Wordtree Consulting!

Seeding a Business

Wordtree was planted without fanfare when friends, family, and co-workers would come to me for tips and tricks based on my experience as a software trainer. My documents were a showcase for my skills and other people wanted in on that! I was happy to help them out. Now, I offer these types of services to small business owners who need an edge.

Nurturing New Growth

Wordtree provides sales writing to satisfy “old school” copywriting needs. At the same time, I inform my clients about new software, innovative sites, and social media. As a result, my creative marketing side gets to express itself and people get the content they need – a great match no matter what the media. I charge flat fees so my clients know up front what they are purchasing.

Learning Under the Wordtree

Training is a large component of my business so people can become more efficient and learn the techniques that have become the key to my success. I love to share knowledge and offer $10.00 support calls/emails as an initial service. I understand when you’re stuck and you don’t know the terminology to decipher the manual.

Wordtree is Still Growing Branches

My business does not have a lot of bells and whistles yet. My homepage is a simple brochure. My clients come first and I focus my efforts on a monthly eNewsletter that is fairly exclusive. One day I will enhance my own site. However, I find it doesn’t stop me from working creatively for my clients. Twitter has been an amazing tool for people like me and there are things coming from the IT world that will change the game pretty soon, such as Google Wave.

Wordtree and Bootstrap

Wordtree follows Rich and BootstrapBook on Twitter and appreciates their business insights and real-time advice. I feel like I connect with Rich and Ron throughout the day because their “tweets” are always informative and relevant for my small business. They keep me focused on my goals when I have my entrepreneur self-doubt moments! The “Death by Net” section really hit home for me. Just because I send an invoice – doesn’t mean the money is in the bank!

Why Contact Wordtree?

Sue may be an “old school” copywriter sometimes but her approach draws people and small businesses to her time and time again. Sometimes “tried and true” can bridge the gap to using an innovative, new technology and take your business goals to another level.

My eNews subscribers qualify for discounts and are treated to special, personalized content not available online.  Sign up tonight: http://wordtree.wufoo.com/forms/enews-subscription-request/

Everyone is welcome to visit www.wordtree.ca or call me direct at 1.416.712.4440.  I provide a lot of useful links about writing, marketing and technology for free through my twitter account: twitter.com/wordtree.

Sue Varty, Document Expert, Wordtree Consulting

Writing | Communication | Training

www.wordtree.ca

twitter.com/wordtree

1.416.712.4440

Today on Buzz Your Business we’re featuring Agbi Bajrushi of RedStage Networks.

Redstage Networks is a design, marketing, and development firm specializing in web/digital marketing. Our focus is in ecommerce development and marketing, with an emphasis on solutions that don’t sacrifice design for functionality or vice-versa. Because the company has a strong marketing background, we pride ourselves on building web presences that convert well, as well as look good.  Among the platforms we develop in are Magento, ZenCart, Wordpress, Drupal, and several multichannel ecommerce solutions.  We’re also in development on 3 custom web apps, including a Twitter app, scheduled for release over the next few months.

Redstage Networks started life as two companies, SellCenter and AE3 Interactive.  SellCenter offered marketing and consulting services, as well as a proprietary multichannel ecommerce solution.  AE3 Interactive provided custom design and development in several mediums.  As SellCenter started to grow their multichannel service, they brought on AE3 Interactive to provide front-end ecommerce site design to their clients. 

After several very successful projects, and an inordinately low number of shouting matches, the companies decided to take over a floor at 80 River Street together.   Within 3 months of the move, they were merged into Redstage Networks, which now offers a focused distillation of both companies’ core competencies.

Having stepped in several already, our favorite section of Bootstrap Business to date is “Avoiding Cow Pies”.  As a young company, it’s heartening to see that we’re not the only ones facing issues like these.  Bootstrap Business has been offering great insights into how to overcome these problems, and we recently took your advice to heart and implemented new payment terms for our invoices. For the first time, we’re offering our clients 2-10-Net 30 payment terms (2% discount to clients who pay within 10 days, 30 day grace period) and are waiting to see the results. In addition to updating our billing terms, we have improved our invoice design by making it more professional. We have also begun mailing and e-mailing invoices. The combination of these three improvements have helped reduce our Accounts Receivable lag time dramatically!

Contact Information - For more information, contact us at:

http://www.redstage.com/

http://www.redstagesolutions.com/

http://www.redstagecreative.com/

By Email:              info@redstage.com

By Phone:        888-335-2747 x220

By Mail:           Redstage Networks LLC
80 River Street STE 5M
Hoboken NJ, 07030

We’re excited to feature Mike Faherty of ProSales Connection today on Buzz Your Business.

ProSales Connection, LLC, is the small and medium business market’s on-demand sales force. We provide businesses all over the country with professional, inside sales as a service. 

For me, life at the Mega Corporation where I built and led top performing inside sales organizations was exciting but not fulfilling. It frustrated me that no matter how successful my organization was, I would never “move the needle” in terms of earnings. I wanted a richer work-life experience, so with $3,000 I launched ProSales Connection, LLC to help small and medium sized businesses grow. 

Large corporations have been augmenting their sales force with contracted sales teams for years. I would know, over my career I have implemented outsourced inside sales programs on 3 separate occasions. This proven sales model works even better for emerging enterprise companies who need to get the most from their sales teams without adding headcount. In today’s market that resonates with business owners!

A question I always ask business leaders is, “How long does it take your sales people to uncover a qualified lead?” Chances are, if all they worked was warm, qualified leads it would have a huge positive impact on the business. Our clients leverage our experience and expertise at ProSales Connection to generate these leads for them, keeping their sales force in front of prospects and customers.  Many of our clients are founder run businesses that have networked their way to success, but are finding it increasingly difficult to make their revenue targets. They know they need to build a sales force, but don’t know how. For these clients we deliver a complete turn-key sales organization with systems, processes and management designed specifically for their business. So in just weeks they can go from Zero to 60! It is a very successful model… Focus on your strengths and outsource your weaknesses! 

The Bootstrap Business Blog section that is pinned to the wall at my desk is titled, Don’t Destroy What You Want to Create. This section reminds me that I started ProSales Connection, LLC for several reasons and only one is financial. We take time to celebrate our success and stop to learn from our mistakes, and we never lose sight of the prize. Freedom! 

At ProSales Connection, LLC, we approach business everyday with the heart of a teacher and we are vested in our client’s success. I am finally able to “move the needle” the way I knew I could.  If your business could use an outsourced inside sales program or just warm, qualified leads for your existing sales team, please contact me at:

Mike Faherty

mike@prosalesconnection.com

www.prosalesconnection.com

832-365-0730

Follow me on Twitter @ProSales_Mike

This week on Buzz Your Business we’re featuring Zvi Dubin of JewelBasket, an online jeweler based out of New Jersey.

JewelBasket.com is a fast growing specialty jewelry & gift retailer, featuring contemporary styling and competitive prices. We offer specialty jewelry, engraving services, on-site jewelers and a broad selection of gift items, from antique to modern designs.

We began laying the groundwork for JewelBasket back in early 2003. Initially, I spoke with an acquaintance at a bar-mitzvah about starting an internet jewelry business. I had been a programmer for 15 years at several Wall Street financial firms, and I leveraged my experience to start the website. My partner and I both knew a person who had previously started an internet business, therefore it didn’t seem so unattainable. I did all the programming myself to save money, and each partner only contributed $5,000 to get started (sounds like bootstrapping to me!). To date, this was the only investment we needed to make.

My acquaintance was a jewelry manufacturer and had an office for his manufacturing business and we added a toll free number for JewelBasket. I immersed myself in learning about search engine optimization, became a DMOZ editor and bartered my programming skills with other store owners. In return for my programming, I received many SEO lessons and on basic e-commerce tactics. Over time I discovered niche markets, built vendor relationships and discovered value add services. Our business grew dramatically and we hired a real staff and began working with development and marketing firms. Later I added affiliate programs, discovered PPC strategies and began performing multi-variant tests, and much more. My partner managed and still manages order fulfillment and customer service.

I love your message about how to escape from the corporate world. It describes my feeling in detail. You will never be free, unless you work for yourself.

For more information, or to contact JewelBasket, here’s their information:

JewelBasket.com

19-03 Maple Ave

Unit 1

Fair Lawn NJ, 07410

866-815-3935 (toll free)

Email: cusomerservice@jewelbasket.com

If you know of a great business to feature on Buzz Your Business (your own or someone else’s), leave a comment on the blog and I’ll email you more information.

Today is our first Buzz Your Business post and we’re featuring Dave Young of Wizard of Ads. 

I’ve been a Partner in the Wizard of Ads consulting group since 2002. My focus is helping owner-operated companies grow their businesses through better advertising, marketing and strategy. To me, there’s something very gratifying about working with the owner of a small business instead of the marketing committee in a large company. I’ve done both, and I can say that the excitement of sitting across the table from the decision-maker is always more exciting.

One of the unique aspects of our business model is being paid according to the results we deliver. We set a consulting fee for the first year of working with a client and then adjust it according to the rise or fall in gross sales in subsequent years.

Our core services include website development, copywriting, media buying, email marketing, public speaking and teaching. I’ve been focusing on the area where on-line and off-line marketing intersect. Specifically, applying web analytics to radio schedules to measure web traffic that is the result of radio advertising. Emerging technology is making this easier to do and is providing a new level of accountability to traditional media.

My first exposure to Rich and Ron was when they took a class I was co-teaching last fall. It has been my pleasure to get to know them and spend time with them. Their book and their wise counsel have helped me focus my own business in some very important and strategic ways. I’m very excited for their success and have been recommending their book and program to every business owner I come in contact with.

My favorite chapter in Bootstrap Business is “Fire, Fire, Fire, Aim!” The lesson comes from Rich’s experience hunting rabbits. Instead of hunting around for a rabbit (or perfecting a new product or service line) it sometimes works best just to lob a few shots into the bushes and scare up some rabbits (launch your product or service in a bunch of directions at once to see who gets interested). Only then, do you “aim” for one of the rabbits you flushed out of the bushes.

I often tell my own clients that the biggest benefit to hiring a consultant is to see your business through a fresh set of eyes. Reading Bootstrap Business (and getting to know Rich) has been that kind of experience for me. Thanks for writing it!

Dave Young blogs at www.BrandingBlog.com and his services are described on his website at www.PersuasionPro.com.

If you have already submitted your business for consideration for Buzz Your Business, there is no need to resubmit; you’ll remain entered until I feature your business.  If you would like to enter your small business to be featured, leave a comment on the blog expressing interest and I’ll email you details.  Let me know if you have any questions or would like more information about contacting Dave Young! 

In honor of the overwhelming responses we’ve received on Twitter, we’ve decided to institute our own version of Follow Friday, called Buzz Your Business.  Here’s how it works: twice a month, every other Friday, (or more often depending on demand) we’ll feature a different small business on our blog.  This is where you, the reader, come in.  If you have a business you’d like us to feature, leave a comment on the blog and I’ll email you with more details.  We’ll basically do a post about your business – including what you do, how you got started, what your favorite section of Bootstrap Business is and how it’s helped your business. 

Once again, if you have a small business you’d like us to feature, please leave a comment on the blog with your email address and I’ll be in touch.  Don’t worry about posting everything about your business and your favorite section of the book in your comment, just let me know you’re interested and we’ll go from there.  The small businesses we feature will be decided on a first come, first served basis, based on the appropriateness of the business.  Let me know if you have any questions.  We look forward to hearing about your amazing companies!