I am a business student and have studied the ins and outs of my field for about four years now. I have practiced some of the theories in my life as a student and as a small time business woman. And so, I would like to share to my readers what I've learned. Perhaps, you might learn from me and can decide to start your own business, be it small time or not.

The first thing to consider if you are planning to start a business is your financial capacity. Are the resources enough for the business you want? If so, then you can now begin to plan for the business that you wish to have.

It is necessary that a study must be conducted. For some, this is very costly. Truth is, it is. Some companies opt to hire a researcher or an analyst to perform the study and a researcher's compensation fee could certainly be financially draining. But again, you need not worry. You can perform the study with limited help. What you need to keep in mind is simply the SWOT. That is short for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats of the business you want to put up and run for as long as you want.

Yes, you have to point out the strong points of your business. What are the advantages which your business has? Think of an edge. This is an internal study of your business and your strengths could be anything you can find within your establishment. It could be your facilities, your people, your effectiveness, and efficiency. List everything you can find. You'll find it very satisfying.

But most certainly, all business are not made up of purely strengths. The biggest companies that seem to be all powerful and are front liners of their respective industries also hold weaknesses and if these weak points are not given any attention, then the business has a high possibility of crumbling into pieces until nothing is left of it. So like your strengths, list down your company's weak points. This is also an internal study and the weaknesses usually revolve around your people and your finances. What percentage is your turn-over rate? Are the attitudes your employees display contribute much to the welfare of the company? Do you have unions that strongly bang on your office door with their demands that just seem all too much for the organization to give? How long does it take for a client to pay his or her debts? Are your assets liquid? Like your strengths, list every weakness you can find and don't be discouraged.

The second half of the study concerns the external environment of the business. Ask the question; “what's in it for me?” but of course, referring to your business. Some people jump in the business world without really thinking of what they can gain from it. that of course, isn't a smart thing to do. Opportunities for a business are important. Just like how an individual looks for a job opportunity to generate money to spend for himself or herself. A business needs all the opportunities it can get to produce an income that would keep the business running. but if there are opportunities for a business, then there are also threats. To manage your business, you must be mindful of the threats. Threats doesn't entirely mean your competitors. Since this is a study of your business' external environment, then you must also consider the location of your business. Is your business easily accessible to your target market? When it rains, does your area easily flood preventing customers from coming and thus, lose an opportunity to transact business? Threats could be plentiful so keep them in tabs. You must know if it weighs more than the opportunities.

Once you know your SWOT, then things begin to look clear and easy to handle. Deciding for your business no longer seems to be a heavy task since you already know the basic things. Be organized, it helps too.

So good luck if you plan to start your business. I hope I was able to help.

These tips will help would be entrepreneurs on how they can go about choosing and starting a business.

• Choose a business that is right for you,i.e the one that you are mist comfortable with, you should take a good look at various business opportunities around you and select the one that is appealing to you based on your hobbies and interests. You can start by listing up to about 20 different business lines, and then choose the one you are okay with bases on your interests.
• Secondly, decide on the business model you want to adopt in your business, this may range from franchising, distributorship, retailing, service provider, or even home based worker. This will be determined by the scope and type of service /product you want to offer.
• Research the availability of market for your product or service, or if there is no large market, can you create a market? Who will need your service? How do you get to them? Who is currently involved in offering same services or product, how can you differentiate yourself? In case you decide to go the way of franchising or distributorship, you need to get as much accurate information as possible as regards the company you are joining, check the company's performance history, home office support, profitability, integrity and scope of their previous operations. Contact relevant organizations to seek information.
• After your research take time out to study the information you have and don't rush into the business
• Once a decision is taken regarding what you want to do plan the set up of your office, if it's a home based business, you must create a separate space for your business in your home, and put the necessary equipment in place. e.g. telephone,computer,fax,printer,minimum furniture etc
• Decide on which marketing technique you will adopt to reach your target audience
• Put in every effort to make you succeed but also know when to sign off, be disciplined, never forget the place of networking, get business cards, advertise advertise and advertise

The preparation for the establishment of any business will depend on the scope of such business and the product or service to be rendered but the few suggestions above plus a few others which will most likely be relevant to big businesses will go along way to assist the would be entrepreneur.

Every business deal is important, even the small ones. There is nothing better than working on a small project, that on top looks like very little money, and turns out to be a gold mind. This can be especially true when breaking into a new market.

This is why writing down your goals for your company is so important. Each and every employee should have a goal in which they are working to reach, and they should receive a raise based on how well they did in reaching that goal. If your company is looking to grow you are looking for results.

That is why it is also important to manage your time wisely. If you do not have good time management skills, you won't be ready if something happens within your company and you have to put out a fire. If you are good about time management and the planning of goals, when you put out one fire, you will set up preventatives in case something similar happens again, or have a backup plan.

It is also important to compartmentalize goals for your company if you are serving more than one industrial market.

Tracking these goals is also very important. Such as you want to know if you want to know if any of your regular customers bought products from your new line. You may even want to reward them or get feedback from them.

As long as you have goals and are writing them down, you and your company can grow. That is the way things happen.

Can you play a musical instrument? There are many opportunities available to teach people to play an instrument.

You can teach children from ages seven and up; don't forget there are also many opportunities to teach adults.

For example, if you play the piano well you could purchase a few piano lesson books that you would teach from, familiarize yourself with the lessons in each book. In other words, you should be able to play any piece in a lesson book.

If you're providing music lesson in a poor neighborhood, for God's sake, don't charge outrageous fees. On the other hand, if your clientèle is middle or upper class, check your local music stores and see what other instructors are charging.

Errand Service:

The weekend is a good time to offer errand services to anyone that needs it. Even though many people don't work on the weekends, some may still require the assistance of a good errand service. People work long hours during the week, and sometimes commute several hours to and from work. Some Mom and Dad's spend several days a week at soccer practice, gym, or other activities with their kids; parents sometimes get very exhausted and just want to relax on the weekend.

You can offer to do grocery shopping; charge the client for gas and a flat fee; make sure you combine the fees and make it one fee.

You can also drop off and pick up clothing at the dry cleaners. Provide laundry service to clients, if possible you can do it at their own home.

Conclusion:

Remember, you don't have to be a professional to offer services; you just have to be good at it.

Good luck in your endeavors. I appreciate the responses from everyone.

Here is a list of 5 Home based businesses that you may start for under $200.00

Pet Sitting:

Most pet owners treat their pet, as if they were their own children. Some even spend hundreds and thousands of dollars annually on pet sitting, animal doctor, and dog wash.

Some pet owners work long hours and need reliable people to look after pets while they work. Therefore, if you like pets and enjoy taking care of them, start a pet sitting service.

Office Cleaning:

Are you a clean freak like my wife? Office cleaning may be just for you.

Visit your local library, borrow some books and CD's on office cleaning; follow the instructions. The internet can also provide tips on how to get started. Print up businesses cards and hand them out; put up flyers in supermarkets, advertise in your local paper.

Apartment Cleaning:

Many busy people don't have time to clean their apartments and homes.

Some will gladly pay a reliable person to pick up after the.

Candy Vending Machines:

Would you like to work smarter and not harder?

Purchase a candy machine and fill it with candies; Place it in an area where there's a lot of foot traffic. Watch the money grows.

Online Writing:

Anyone can make money writing online. There are many sites on the internet that allows freelancers, novice writers to write and submit articles. To improve your earning potential, take writing courses if necessary.

RULE 1: DO SOMETHING YOU LOVE

There's no point in playing an instrument if you hate it because it shows. I have seen LOTS of people trying to sing but because they hate it their singing becomes horrible. Don't bother if it MIGHT please people, but 99 out of 100 times you don't earn much money.

RULE 2: THE LAZY WAY OUT

If you are not very successful try putting some money into your container (preferably notes).

It usually works because it's a psychology thing; i.e. if people see money in your container they usually think that others put it in there and therefore are more inclined to give some as well. Just try it, you'd be surprised!

• You can no longer rely on a job for life.
• You cannot expect promotion as you get older.
• New technologies can kill a current business overnight.
• New technology can kill off your job overnight.

The global marketplace has meant some jobs are now international, which generally means the expensive labor markets of the developed world are being by passed in favor of cheaper labor markets in the developing world.

So what do you do if you find yourself redundant, unable to find employment or just overlooked? Think about starting your own business. The catch is though, you don't have much money. The best businesses to start on a shoestring are those that reward two things that are free, energy and effort. You could throw in a few more ingredients like vision, creativity, even luck, but in the end, like the proverb says, "The early bird gets the worm". In other words, get off your derriere and do it!

A shoe string budget to a multinational might be many millions of dollars but for many of us, a shoestring budget is the price of a shoe string. Yep about two bucks!

So what businesses can you start with very low financial outlay? Consider first your own time and energy as assets. You make money out of assets right? Okay, consider the following possibilities, and remember too, you can combine a few to make a business bigger. Who said a business has to be just one thing? All a business is a vehicle for earning some money, offsetting your costs against your income and eventually paying the taxes on the leftover income.

Some suggestions for starting a business on a shoestring budget are:

Grow something

People are always looking for plants and herbs. Grow from seed or take cuttings. Sell at the local market, via the local drugstore, out the front of your house or add them to someone who is selling something else by party.

Spider plants are very big here in Australia, as are daisies and hydrangeas. Spider plants are so easy to grow from the "runners" that come off the plant. Daisies and hydrangeas are the easiest to grow from cuttings. You do not need fancy potting mixes or containers, the plants just need to look nice to present.

Let some plants go to seed. Collect the seed and sell that. Great if you have catch phrases like "grown without the use of chemicals." Do it locally, do not try and be global.

Grow the exotic plants. You will never make money from selling the cheap vegetables like carrots. Turmeric grows easily and the root is so beautiful compared to the doctored powder you get in the shops.

Bulk Buy and Resell.

If you strike up a professional relationship with a supplier, they may take their payment after you have collected yours. A good one for us was ham. We get the ham, slice it thinly and we sell through a number of social clubs at businesses and sports clubs. They get a good deal, we get a good sale and there is no waste if you get the orders, then supply and buy to the demand. Limit you deliveries to reduce your costs but still provide the appropriate service. Think of how many things can be added to that scheme?

Sell Anything

We work on commission. For what we sell, we get paid an amount for, but we do not buy the stock. In other words it costs you nothing more than your time to get around and promote the products, but you have no cost of goods to contend with. Talk to local artists, tradesmen, growers, makers of things, they all need to sell them. It costs them nothing really until you sell. You just have to negotiate a suitable rate. Try to combine a group of products that can be sold to the same sort of outlets.

What Jobs do People Hate?

Cleaning the car, cleaning the oven, cleaning out the bird cage, picking up the dog doo's from the yard? In your local area offer a service. You can offer two prices. One for labor only and one for labor plus the tools to do the job, if they don't have them. Not hard. If I was not fighting for a living I would get someone to clean my oven, and spring clean, and clean the shower. I hate those jobs! Now that we are on that topic, do my weeding, clean my windows, oh the list would go on.

Your time and your effort equals opportunity. Not everyone has the time or the effort but they have the money to pay you for what you have. Think outside the square and when you do get out, talk to people as if they are real people. Don't try to push your business on them. People like to be treated the way you do, always remember that.

Most people want to earn squillions but do nothing for it. You can wait for that opportunity or you can get out and make a decent living by having a business based around you.

Good luck

There are definitely a lot of great things about working on cruise ships. But the truth is, reality doesn't stop just because you're working on a cruise ship.

It may be a different form of reality, but it's still reality!

I worked as a Musician, Band leader and Assistant Conductor on 4 different cruise ships over 2 years, so I will cover some of my experiences over several articles in the hopes of making your cruise ship career more pleasant and rewarding.

See The Sights!

One of the greatest things about working on cruises is getting paid to travel all over the world! I've been to so many beautiful places. I've traveled through Alaska and the Arctic Circle during their summer, and what a lovely, surprising experience it was to be on deck in a light pants and sweater! I thought I'd have to wear a parka!

On the flip side, I can remember touring the Caribbean islands from about January to April. I was getting so used to it that I couldn't understand why the Canadian news said it was snowing in my hometown during March! Duh!

I've been to so many exciting and vibrant cities, including:

• St. Petersburg, Russia,
• Oslo, Norway,
• Helsinki, Finland
• Istanbul, Turkey

I've toured exotic, and picturesque countries like:

• Italy
• Romania
• France
• England

I've explored ancient biblical cities like Ephesus, and strolled the thoroughfares of the legendary city of Pompeii. I felt like Indiana Jones.

Sorry, now I sound like I'm bragging! But I will always have these adventures to cherish, no matter what.

Investigate Beforehand

I would recommend buying a few good tour and travel books, way ahead of time. That way, you will have time to go through them and make out a list of what you really want to see. Get the most current editions, because things are always changing. If you use older editions, you may disappointed to find an interesting restaurant or shop or something that you planned to visit is no longer there, for example. Watching travelogues is a pretty good idea, too.

Remember that you are usually only in a given port for one day. Of course, because you are working on the ship, and the circuit you are traveling tends to repeat itself every 7 or 10 days (normally), you will be in that given port almost once a week, so you can try and spread out your touring plans.

When I was in St. Petersburg, it was an overnight stay, but initially we only got there once a month, then later on it was about once every two weeks.

Volunteer As A Tour Escort

You can, of course, go wandering off by yourself (but not alone…I wouldn't recommend that…always travel with a group for safety), but one of the most effective and safest means of touring is to volunteer as a Tour Escort with the Shore Excursions department.

Basically, you are required to "babysit" the passengers on tour, make sure that they are ok and no one gets lost, perhaps answer questions if you can, etc. I had a knapsack filled with supplies like wet naps, Kleenex, bandages, etc. that was given to me by the Shore Excursions Dept.

Just remember you are NOT a doctor or tour guide! Tour guides know the places you are visiting like the back of their hand; that is their job. Sometimes passengers will ask you the ancient history of the land…how are you supposed to know that?

However you are an ambassador of a sort for the cruise line…so be polite, and give people a good impression of you. You may not have to wear your uniform while on tour, but you still have to wear a name tag. I never had any trouble during my experiences.

You may also have to fill out a report form, basically giving your opinion and rating of the tour. Kind of like being a judge on American Idol!

Try to find out as early as you can about volunteering…there is usually a waiting list for the really popular tours, and also a seniority thing going on. Those who have been working on the ship longer than you, or are perhaps more "important", will probably have first choice. Put your name in anyways, because you never know.

Being a Tour Escort is a great way to be part of a professional tour, one that has been researched and planned by the cruise ship, so you may get to see things in a way that you wouldn't if you just went off by yourself (again, which I wouldn't recommend doing alone).

Hope this was helpful for you! I will have more articles, so check in often!

If you are interested in the various online opportunities for getting paid--freelance writing, surveys, get paid to post, get paid to read emails, affiliate programs, you should sign up for those money-making opportunities that do not require upfront fees.

In addition, you should work for those websites that guarantee residual income, such as freelance writing websites. To find these "get paid to" programs, put "get paid to" in your search engine. Keep a notebook listing the get paid to programs that interest you.

Sign up for several. Perhaps a "get paid to write," "get paid to read emails" and an affiliate program, e.g. Toy Connection or VMC Satellite TV. Focus on making money from these "get paid to" websites.

You should have a work schedule. For example, write several articles per day to submit to your favorite "get paid to write" website. Read emails sent to you per day. Then work advertising your affiliate program and recruit for your read emails downline.

In addition to maintaining a work schedule, set money-making goals. How many articles should you write and/or emails should you read per day to obtain your per day money-making goals?

Continue to research other "get paid to" websites. List these in journal. Recruit subaffiliates, where possible.

For addition income, you can publish your research in articles or how to books. These how to books can be published free at Lulu Press.

It may be a different form of reality, but it's still reality!

I worked as a musician, band leader and assistant conductor on 4 different cruise ships over 2 years, so I will cover some of my experiences over several articles in the hopes of making your cruise ship career more pleasant and rewarding.

Cabins:

Unless you are very important or very lucky, chances are you will be sharing a cabin with someone. Space is very limited on a cruise ship. Getting your own cabin can depend on the job you are doing. For example musicians like myself, casino staff, shop attendants, crew and most other departments are required to share cabins.

But the Cruise Director, Assistant Cruise Director, Music Director, Beauty Salon Manager, Tour Manager, and of course the Captain, usually have cabins all to themselves. There are other departments too numerous to list here. I was extremely-and I mean extremely-lucky on one ship to have my own cabin.

The reason was that there was only one female in the band, and so she had gotten her own cabin. After she left, I was the most senior person in the band, so I got her cabin. It was an unusual circumstance, but very lucky for me!

However, at all other times I definitely had to share a cabin, and let me tell you, your cabin mate can really affect your on-board experience.

Cabin Mates:

Remember the rules of respecting each other's space, privacy and belongings. Keeping your area clean is a good idea too. On the ships I worked on, we had stewards who would come in every day and make our beds, clean our bathroom, and generally just tidy up. Sometimes I had left clothes thrown on the bed, only to come back later and find them neatly folded by the stewards!

However, stewards are extremely busy people, so have a little consideration for them, and don't be a slob. Be forewarned that surprise inspections by the Captain are also a part of the cruise ship experience!

Unfortunately, there was one time I had a really lousy cabin mate. He was immature, and really did not understand the concept of common courtesy and respect. He did quite a few moronic things, but one small example is the time I came back to the cabin to find that he had "borrowed" some of my CDs. I was a fairly neat person and usually kept all my things in their proper place (also because I wasn't too keen on those surprise inspections)!

Anyways, he had actually gone into one of my drawers, took out my CD case, took the CDs, and left the case on my bed. Then I guess he went off to party. I'm pretty sure he would have been upset if I had done the same thing to him. It is not good to just assume that someone "won't mind" if you do this or that, especially if it involves invading their private space, which is in very small supply on a cruise ship.

If you feel there are issues that need to be addressed, see if you can discuss them with your cabin mate rationally and calmly.

I remember sometimes walking down the hallways to hear cabin mates engaged in rather heated discussions. Just remember that cabins are small, and that even though you are on a cruise ship, you are still a working stiff, and you will get tired and stressed. Usually there is a lock on the drawers, closet etc. So lock up your stuff if it is a concern for you.

None of this is to scare you! I'm just giving you advice for possible problematic situations based on my own experience.

Life on a cruise ship can really be a lot of fun. I also had great cabin mates who I got along with famously, and that just made the good times even better! And I believe it is more often the case you will share a cabin with someone who you will get along with just fine.

However, if you are unfortunate enough to have a lousy cabin mate, talk to your department director (in my case the Music Director) about the situation, and about the possibility of changing cabins. People come and go on a regular basis, so you may be able to switch cabins at some point.

Hope this was helpful for you! I will have more articles, so check in often!