op 10 tips for starting a business that will succeed

Start your business while you're still employed. How long can most people live without money? Not long. And it may be a long time before your new business actually makes any profits. Being employed while you're starting your business means money in your pocket while you're going through the business start up process.

Don't do it alone. You need a support system while you're starting a business (and afterwards). A family member or friend that you can bounce ideas off and who will listen sympathetically to the latest business start up crisis is invaluable.
Get clients or customers first. Don't wait until you've officially started your business to line these up, because your business can't survive without them. Do the networking. Make the contacts. Sell or even give away your products or services. You can't start marketing too soon.
Write a business plan. The main reason for doing a business plan first is that it can help you avoid sinking your time and money into starting a business that will not succeed.
Do the research. You'll do a lot of research working through a business plan, but that's just the start. You need to become an expert on your industry, products and services, if you're not already. Joining related industry or professional associations before you start your business is a great idea.
Get professional help. On the other hand, just because you run a small business, doesn't mean you have to be an expert on everything. If you're not an accountant or bookkeeper, hire one (or both). If you need to write up a contract, and you're not a lawyer, hire one. You will waste more time and possibly money in the long run trying to do things yourself that you're not qualified to do.
Get the money lined up. Save up if you have to. Approach potential investors and lenders. Figure out your financial fall-back plan. Don't expect to start a business and then walk into a bank and get money. Traditional lenders don't like new ideas and don't like businesses without proven track records.
Be professional from the beginning. Everything about you and the way you do business needs to let people know that you are a professional running a serious business. That means getting all the accoutrements such as professional business cards, a business phone and a business email address, and treating people in a professional, courteous manner.

Good Business Plan

Lots of business owners skip a crucial step to ensure the success of their companies – writing a business plan. This detailed overview of your company and its future is commonly overlooked - often because it's a lot of work. However, it's some of the most valuable work you can do when starting up a business, which is why everyone from banks to venture capital companies require detailed business plans before they will even consider your business. The process of creating the plan and thinking things through has helped many business owners learn what it takes to be successful. What are the top 7 reasons to write your business plan? 1. Make more money 2. Save time 3. Keep you on track and make it easier to be successful 4. Give you a chance to make mistakes on paper 5. Create a foundation for your company's growth 6. Make running a business easy and fun 7. And, keep you from making the same mistakes over and over again So if you've been putting off working on your business plan, please reconsider – it may be more helpful than you realize.

Work Experience For Good Job

Build Work Experience You must also work on developing adequate work experience. This will be a kick start to surviving in the increasing cut-throat competition, when you are really on the look out in the industry searching for your first ever full-time job. Internships, Summer Trainings and Volunteering Opportunities Another good way to develop quality work experience is to look out for internships or summer trainings or even opportunities for volunteering in varied projects and events. If these trainings are paid, good for you, but even if they are not, they add tonnes about you to your resume. If you aspire to be a journalist or a writer, you could opt as a volunteer for your resident campus magazine, newspaper or even your college's or department's journal or newsletter. If you aim to be a social worker, you could be a regular visitor to old age homes, poverty stricken areas and homeless shelters. Similarly, if you aspire to get into stocks as a broker, you could look for summer training or an internship at a firm dealing in stocks and securities. Working for somebody is not the only channel these days to make some money. You might be a champ in a particular subject, say computer dynamics. So you could just gather some students who require assistance with the subject and tutor them. Similarly, if you are fond of children, you could approach professors or other personnel in your college and offer to baby-sit their children.

Strauss-Kahn Of Police Line Up

The maid who has accused Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the head of the International Monetary Fund, of sexually assaulting her in his luxury hotel room picked the Frenchman out of a lineup.
Strauss-Kahn was picked out of a police line up by the chambermaid last night, according to media reports.
Strauss-Kahn, a likely candidate for 2012 presidential race in France, has been charged with attempted rape, sexual assault and unlawful imprisonment.
The IMF cheif has denied the charges against him.
"Strauss-Kahn will plead not guilty," William W Taylor III, his lawyer, said in a statement.
Strauss-Kahn allegedly sexually assaulted the 32-year-old maid, who happened to be in his USD 3,000 a night suite at the Hotel Sofitel in Times Square on Saturday afternoon, thinking it was empty.
The IMF chief allegedly emerged naked from the bathroom, chased her around the suite to the bedroom and "engaged in a criminal sexual act".
He also allegedly tried to lock her in the bathroom.
Before the incident, it was being widely speculated that Strauss-Kahn, a Socialist politician, had a chance at beating incumbent President Nicholas Sarkozy, who is plagued with all time low ratings.
Observers and rivals have said that the alleged charges will ruin Strauss-Kahn''s chances at a political career.

PENTAGON IS SPEAKING UP

Unlike many other agencies, the Pentagon has not been afraid to complain to lawmakers about the effects of the standoff. With a budget that reflects roughly 3 percent of the U.S. economy, the effects are already being felt.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in January that the lack of a budget was causing a "crisis on my doorstep" that could result in less time at sea for the Navy, fewer fighter jets in the air and delays in maintaining equipment.
"Frankly, that's how you hollow out a military even in wartime," he said.
Within a static budget, the Pentagon has had to find an additional $8 billion for pay raises, increased fuel costs and increased medical costs by diverting money that was earmarked for supplies and weapons programs, other Defense officials have told Congress.

Among the activities affected by the continuing resolution:

- The Navy has delayed construction on a Virginia-class submarine, a destroyer and an aircraft carrier.
- The Army has delayed purchasing more Chinook helicopters and postponed refurbishment of war-torn Humvees.
- The Army has stopped work on its Stryker mobile gun system.
- The Army lacks money to upgrade its Apache Longbow helicopters, but is forced to keep buying new Humvees that it does not want.
- A Pentagon freeze on civilian hiring has threatened the department's plans to step up oversight of its contracting.
- The Air Force had planned to purchase 48 MQ-9 Reaper drones for use in Afghanistan, but can't buy more than 24.

The Pentagon has already had to delay 75 projects, which could lead to higher costs when they resume.
"There's no question that we will spend more money for the same goods if we don't receive the money in a timely way," Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn told the Senate Appropriations Committee on March 1.
The construction delays from Navy-related projects alone could cost the U.S. 10,000 jobs, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus told the Senate Armed Services Committee on March 8. It could take three years for the Navy's plans to get back on track, he said.
Top defense companies have warned that budget-related disruptions could drive up costs.
In Maine, General Dynamics' Bath Iron Works shipyard had expected to be well along the planning process by now for a new DDG-51 destroyer for the Navy. Though construction wouldn't begin for several years, the shipyard needs to begin figuring out which dry dock to reserve and which of its 5,600 workers to assign to a project that can take up to five years from order to delivery.
That planning process has become even more complex now that the project is in budgetary limbo, said shipyard spokesman Jim DeMartini. Another chunk of anticipated work overseeing maintenance and modernization efforts at other shipyards around the country has also been put on hold, he said.
"The more uncertain we are downstream about what kind of work we're going to have, the more difficult it becomes for us to put together a logical plan and execute to that plan," DeMartini said.

Worst Weekly Set Asia Stocks

Asian stocks fell more than a percent and were on course for their biggest weekly loss in nine months as investors shunned risk on concerns about the pace of policy tightening in the region and growing tensions in Egypt .
A broad sell-off in Asia since the start of 2011 on inflationary worries has shown no signs of abating, as expectations of more monetary tightening have encouraged investors to shift funds from emerging to developed markets.
Analysts said the selling in emerging markets could have some more room to run, especially in countries where stocks are ripe for a pullback after last year's stellar gains and the near term interest rate outlook is unclear.
On Friday, Taiwan shares ended down more than two percent, stock markets in Thailand and Korea were down one percent, while Australia's benchmark index snapped a seven-day winning streak a investors took profits from banking and resource shares.
MSCI's index of Asia Pacific shares-ex-Japan is set to fall by more than 4 percent this week, its worst performance since May 2010.
So far this year, Asian shares have underperformed the MSCI world index by five points as traders cut positions due to a steady drip of strong data out of the U.S.
"Pressure on emerging market equities may well, therefore, continue while uncertainties about the intensity, duration and effect of the ongoing tightening cycle remain alive," Barclays strategists said in a weekly note.
This week alone, China raised interest rates, Philippines held rates but raised its inflation forecast and Bank of Korea surprised markets by holding rates steady, although it is widely expected to tighten again in March.
Foreign selling has picked up in Asian shares, especially in South Korea this week while offshore selling in Taiwan on Thursday was the biggest in six months.
Indonesian shares fell 0.6 percent with shares in PT Garuda Indonesia, the nation's state-owned carrier, tanking by more than 20 percent on debut.
Japanese markets were closed for a national holiday.

METALS GAIN

Copper rose back above $10,000 per tonne, while tin prices hit a record high as strong U.S. jobless data reassured investors about the pace of the recovery in the world's biggest economy.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's plans to relinquish powers but not step down did little to boost investor hopes of a quick solution to the Egyptian crisis and lifted oil prices.
Gold, was steady at around $1,364 an ounce and U.S. crude oil futures rose 88 cents to $87.61 a barrel.
In the currency markets, the dollar edged higher after notching up solid gains against the euro overnight and after traders said the European Central Bank stepped in to rescue a failing Portuguese bond auction.
Broad trading patterns in the euro are in line with wave formations and the single currency may be in the initial stages of what may be a decline towards the lower end of a broad 1.3250-1.3850 range.
"Any easy gains in the euro are susceptible to rapid reversal," said David Watt, senior currency strategist at RBC Dominion Securities.
The Australian dollar extended losses after the central bank said interest rates were likely to be on hold for some time.

India To Develop New Aerospace Products For Security Needs

India is set to develop new aerospace technologies and products to meet its growing security needs, Defence Minister A.K. Antony said Monday.

'We have chalked out an ambitious roadmap to develop many challenging aerospace programmes to meet the needs of our armed forces,' Antony said, inaugurating a three-day international seminar on aerospace technologies here.

Exhorting the state-run defence units to improve quality and pace of interactions with the armed forces, Antony said the need of the hour was to enhance the percentage of indigenous systems for meeting their requirements and security concerns.

Among the aerospace programmes to be developed are the advanced medium combat aircraft (MCA), aerostat, unmanned combat aircraft (UCA), airborne early warning and control system (AEW&CS), medium altitude long-range unmanned aircraft Rustom and gas turbine engine Kaveri.

'Though the roadmap provides immense opportunities for the defence research and development establishments and the private industry, greater indigenisation and self-reliance are essential as no country, however friendly, will part with its critical technologies for strategic reasons,' Antony told about 800 delegations.

Lauding the defence and aerospace industry for its contribution to the successful development of the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas, Akash missile system, Nishant unmanned aircraft, pilotless target aircraft Lakshya and airborne early warning systems (AEWS), the minister said cooperation at local, national and global levels was imperative to keep pace with the developments in the field globally.

'Though Tejas has often been criticised for long delays, we have tried to make a world class aircraft. The world over, while technology development precedes product development, we attempted both at the same time in the case of LCA as we were denied technologies and had to find solutions the hard way,' Antony said.

The eighth edition of the three-day international seminar on 'Aero & Space Technologies - Success Through Global Cooperation' is being held in connection with the biennial AeroIndia 2011 trade exposition from Feb 9 in this aerospace hub.

Minister of State for Defence Production M.M. Pallam Raju, Indian Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik, Scientific Advisor to Defence Minister V.K. Saraswat and state-run Defence Research and Development Organisation's Chief Controller for R&D Projects Prahlada also spoke on the occasion.

Simple Tips For Business

Simple Tips to Write Winning Business Proposals for the Solopreneur
If you're a service-based business owner - and particularly if your clients fall in the realm of traditional companies - the ability to write a strong business proposal is paramount to bringing in new business consistently and easily. Yet, if you're not careful, you can end up spending a lot of time putting together proposals that never go any farther than your outbox.
That's why my first bit of advice is to be selective in when you agree to write a proposal to begin with. In many ways, this is just something you learn over time. But most consultants find out rather quickly that some potential clients are happy to say, "Hey, why don't you put together a proposal for me?" when in fact they have no intention of ever hiring you - and are instead just curious to find out how much "something like that" would cost.
That's why I'll only write a detailed proposal after I've had a serious conversation with the client, and once they've expressed genuine interest in working with us even when we talk about a ballpark figure.
My second piece of advice is to put together a reusable framework for the two or three types of engagements you work on. I know. I know. "Every project is different." But is it really? My guess is that while the specifics change, what you do at the end of the day (consult? write? project manage? train? coach? account?) is relatively the same from one gig to the next. So save yourself a lot of time and heartache and create a template that you can use again and again.
Third, and most importantly, you want to make sure that the time you do invest in writing a proposal is going to pay off by bringing in a new client. With that in mind, here are some key elements you'll want to include in every new business proposal in order to increase your close rate.
Give it a compelling title. Don't just name your proposal "Acme Proposal." Grab your prospective client's attention from the start by using a title that immediately implies a benefit to them. For example, you could call it "Leadership Success Program for ACME Human Resources," or "ACME's 5-Phase Plan for Guaranteed Increased Sales."
Open with a testimonial. Begin to establish your credibility and hook your reader immediately by opening with a short, results-based testimonial. If possible, use a testimonial from a client who hired you to do similar type of work for them. But at the very least, make sure the client testimonial focuses on what you brought to the project and the end results they experienced. For example, did you reduce their costs? Help them earn more money? Save them time? Improve customer satisfaction? Lower their stress? You get the idea.
Provide an objective statement: Show your potential client you truly "heard" their needs by clearly and concisely outlining the primary goal or objective that they want to achieve. Don't try to be clever. Name this section something like "Primary Goal: To..." or "Key Objective: To..." Be sure to use as much of the client's own language, terminology and key words as possible so they know you're on the same page.
Build the business case. Why is this project important? What will happen if they don't follow through on it? Do some quick research on the Internet to see if you can find statistics or other proof points that build a business case reinforcing the importance of the effort. For example, if you're an executive coach, incorporate statistics from studies that show professionals who work with a coach earn more and are promoted faster. Or, if you're a sleep consultant, incorporate data that shows the health benefits of sleep.
Outline the key deliverables. Next, you need to tell your potential client specifically what they're going to receive as part of your services. But here's where a lot of proposals go wrong by becoming either muddled or overly detailed. You want to be clear and concise. Package the components of the proposal into bite-size nuggets so you don't overwhelm the client. Also, as a general rule of thumb, if you're proposal includes multiple options, limit it to only two or three at most. Part of your job as the outside expert is to recommend what you feel best meets the client's needs - not to give them a menu of limitless options for them to sort through.
Summarize the investment. Notice I said investment and not price. The client will receive value in exchange for the price they are paying. Therefore, it is an investment in their business or themselves - not a cost (i.e. loss) to their business. We typically like to offer clients two investment options - one for pay in full in advance (at a discount) and one for pay as you go (full price). There may be other incentives or bonuses that you can incorporate as well. People like to feel like they are getting a "deal." So if you are providing any type of discount or bonus for them, be sure to show how the math adds up in their favor.
Reinforce the return. Now that they've just seen the investment price, it's important to have a Return on Investment section directly below that summarizes the benefits once again. Remind your potential new client what the value is that they are receiving in exchange for that investment. I like to incorporate three types of returns - time, money and performance.
Close with credibility. You'll want to wrap up your proposal by reaffirming your credibility and why YOU are the best person/company to deliver these benefits to the client. Here's where you'll want to include things like your bio, your client list, awards you've received, your certifications, trainings and degrees, and any additional testimonials from clients. As much as possible, avoid long paragraphs of text and instead use bulleted lists. The client is more likely to actually read it.
And here's one last tip for good measure. Whenever you send a proposal to a client, be sure to set yourself up for success by:

* Saying thank you for the opportunity to present this proposal
* Acknowledging that it is a worthwhile/important/exciting project
* Telling them that you WANT to work with them on it (yes, explicitly TELL them you want the job!)
* Stating that you believe you are the best person/company to help them achieve their goal
* Offering to answer any questions they have

Together, these components will make for a very strong new business proposal that puts you head and shoulders ahead of your competition.
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