On song

Buying a Franchise Vs Starting a New Business

There are many people who want to start their own businesses. There are many franchisers too, who are advertising their franchise opportunities. These also promise that you will get into business very fast.

If you are planning to start your own business, do keep in mind, that it will be long and difficult process. There will be a lot of pitfalls and traps especially if you are a novice entrepreneur. There are many examples of businesses which don't reach the break-even stage.

Buying a franchise has many benefits. It helps you shorten the learning time period and also reduces the amount of time, your business needs to actually start making money. It also lets you work under the name of an established brand. It is very obvious that if that business is successful now, it's business processes are mature and they have a sound business concept. So by buying a franchise opportunity, you will also be benefiting from their business processes and from their success.

There are some situations in which, buying a franchise does not seem to be the right option.

One of the reasons is that it is often more costly than starting a new business from scratch. You have to pay certain fees like franchise fee, franchise marketing fees, and you also have to pay for franchise training program. A minimum amount of working capital may also be required. There may be some other restrictions from the franchiser. But seen from an another angle, these high costs and restrictions prove helpful for the business growth.

Some franchises also have the requirement of territory. This also leads to success for a new franchisee. Normally the territory will not have much competition. But owning a franchise territory also needs better franchise management to reach certain milestones.

There are many things that you have to think about, when deciding about buying a franchise or starting a new business. But buying a franchise will be a better choice for many, since they will be getting sound business model and guidance from an established business.

Top 10 Ways to Retain Your New Belly Dancing Students

After spending about a hundred years teaching in colleges and career development centers, I've been steeped in the art of retaining students for longer than I can just about remember. I'm definitely no expert on the art of belly dancing and would instead describe myself as simply one of your biggest fans! But I can definitely speak intelligently about the art of retaining students.

Colleges and Universities spend large amounts of money on student organizations and events and it's because they're effective at keeping students in school! Many potential drop outs stay in school because that's where their friends are. Bluntly put, that means added revenue. The environment you're teaching in may be very different, but the underlying principles still remain the same.

1, 2 & 3: Relationships, relationships, relationships. Relationships are the bottom line glue for building your retention levels.

Any new student is going to be bringing their concerns about what it will take to be successful with them, and until those concerns have been put completely at rest part of their minds will continue to worry about them.

Pretty inhibiting all the way around.

Some Instructors might be more skilled or gifted at breaking the ice than others, but it's essential to retaining the maximum number of students that the studio and the Instructor find ways to facilitate the building of those relationships.

4. Make sure you have a variety of ways in place for students to get plugged in. What you're striving to foster in your students is their sense of belonging. Things like a web site with a discussion forum, creating an email based discussion list just for your students, an online newsletter, a Yahoo group just for your students, as well as plugging them in to networking groups you use yourself - you name it - every single thing that you put in to place that the students actually use to connect with each other is more mortar for retention.

5. Put ongoing research, surveys, and feedback methods in place. It's never failed to amaze me the feedback I get from regular surveys in my classroom. It ranges from touching acknowledgements from students that I've touched - not just for a semester - but for life, to comments that are downright painful to hear, and they've all been invaluable towards making me a better trainer.

But most importantly what the feedback has given me is an understanding of what they need from me in order to be able to walk away from my classroom going "YES!"

As uncomfortable as getting feedback can be sometimes, it's just too empowering to miss out on. Paper based anonymous forms, a suggestion box, a feedback form on your web site, or just plain old fashioned ask! It's all good and will each evoke different kinds and levels of revealing and honesty.

6. Get creative about using small groups and group work with your students. One of the most effective ways to build your retention rate is by finding ways and means for your students to collaborate, whether it's working in small groups, buddy pairs, or as a class.

The first night of class could end with instructing your students to exchange phone numbers with at least two people that they didn't know before they came there and their "homework" is to call both of these people and speak to them at least once before the next class. Because it's an assignment that they "have" to do for homework, it lowers the level of risk that they're taking and makes it a lot more likely that they'll actually follow through.

One idea that would give them something to talk about on the call could be a handout where they're researching some questions about Belly Dancing. That way they can use the call to talk about the handout and make sure they're all finding the answers. If the questions and answers are interesting enough it will spark a more in depth conversation and suddenly they're becoming friends.

Your biggest challenge is going to be incorporating it into your classroom in such a way that it doesn't get in the way of what you're teaching them, and instead even enhances it, and the only limit to using group work is your imagination!

7. Be courageous. Some of the things I'm suggesting here may require some courage on your part, but how perfect is that? Maybe it's plugging them into your local belly dance community and having to cope with the fear that they might switch to another studio or perhaps it's about taking risks with your students that could have a negative impact on your income. I can't say what fears you might have to confront to even just play with some of these ideas, or if you're even going to have any. If you are - be courageous!

8. Build your Dream Team. It's an unfortunate catch 22 that being a small business owner typically means that you're meeting such a heavy load of demands on so many fronts that it may be difficult to really free up resources you'd need to even just LET the people that care about you contribute towards your success, but building your Dream Team is probably one of the few ways - and definitely the most effective - for getting past the struggle and the road to success.

The good news is you can build your Dream Team in a lot of different ways, anything from participating on an email discussion list to joining a professional organization.

You can start on building your Dream Team by developing your R&D (Research and Development) Team. This team of people can support you in completing on the rest of your Dream Team.

(more on R&D Teams coming soon!)

9. Be emotionally available for your students and never forget to connect with them as human beings and individuals. Boy! This can be a whole lot easier said than done, especially in the middle of all the doing that it takes to be a teacher, but this one can make or break a student in the classroom. Unfortunately, it's also the willingness of teachers to make that emotional investment so they can reach their students that causes teacher burnout.

10. Which is a perfect segue to number 10 - which is take radical care of yourself! Teachers typically thrive on giving of themselves and probably all of us start out with a real passion for it, but if we don't take proper care of ourselves then it's just a matter of time before things start to break down. On any airplane the Air Hostess always explains to the passengers that if the oxygen masks fall that it is imperative that you put your own on before trying to help anyone else. It's a wonderful metaphor for the importance of taking care of our selves. To the extent that you're willing to take radical care of yourself will be exactly the extent of how much you'll have to give!

About: Tracy Phaup is the founder and President of the Tracy Phaup Group, a consulting group specializing in custom consulting services for Internet marketers, Professional Bloggers, and Infopreneurs. Affectionately known as the Social Media Marketing Maven, her specialty is relationship marketing. Her many years of experience in Coaching, Consulting and Team Building allow her to bring to bear expertise across mediums and to share her expertise in developing relationships that rock!

Advantages of Franchising – Why Franchising?

Franchise business has been booming worldwide for years now. Many people are starting their franchises. In this article I will discuss some main advantages of franchising.

Advantages of Franchising:

1. One of the main advantages of buying a franchise is that you will be working on a successful idea. The business you are franchising has been built up and has been made successful by the owners, before they decided to start franchising their business. Now that their business is running smoothly and is getting profits, they want to expand the business through franchising. And you get to share their success, if you buy their franchise.

2. Another huge advantage of franchising is that you get to work under a brand name. The franchiser takes care of all the marketing and branding of the franchise. The franchisee gets the advantage of the brand popularity.

3. You also get the rights of marketing the franchised products in your territory.

4. The franchisee also gets good support from the franchisor. The franchisee has to pay the franchise fees. And the franchisor as a return has to support the franchisee. This support also includes the training and sharing of ideas and manpower. All this comes as a part of the franchise agreement.

5. As a franchisee, you will get all the systems in place already. All the systems for getting the supplies, cooking the foods, selling your products, generating all financial reports etc come as a part of franchise for you.

Buying a franchise has many benefits. If you have effective franchise management, it will take you towards success much earlier as compared to starting your own business.

Netsolace provides customized Franchise Software Technology to optimize the way your franchise system operates.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ross_Pit

Why the Smallest Goals Are the Most Important

In everything you do it's important to have well defined attainable goals. Whether you're trying to lose weight, save money, build a business or just about anything else you have to know where you want to end up and how you plan on getting there.

The people who I have witnessed make the most money in a home based business are the people who set large long terms goals and smaller mini goals along the way. It's too easy to get discouraged if all of your goals are big and out of sight you need to have the smaller goals to keep you on track and keep you motivated so that you can reach the finish line. Small goals can be anything from wanting to make a specific amount of sales in a month to working even when you don't feel like it to talking to at least 20 people a week about your business.

This article is not meant to tell you what your goals should be but simply to tell you that you need to have them. The best goals are the ones that are well defined and specific. So when you are mapping out your smaller goals don't be afraid to go into detail. When you go into detail with things you make it more real to you and that's really important. Also, you want your goals to be attainable but still something that is going to take effort to accomplish.

So pretty much nothing too easy that you won't have to work hard but nothing so outlandish that you couldn't accomplish it if you tried. if you're not sure if your goals are good then you can always ask another business owner or someone else in your home based business most people will be more than happy to help you set your goals if you just ask for some advice.

Another important thing is to write down your goals. Make sure they are specific and on paper in a place where you can see them regularly. Keep yourself accountable by posting your goals in a place where you can see them all the time it makes a huge difference! Setting small goals is so important to your business and your success so don't forget to do it!

Thank you for reading! I enjoy working from my computer and would love to share more information with you please take a moment to review my website!
Dan Himes

Undervalued? Leverage the Skills You Already Have!

"The happiest are those who have made a profession and a lifestyle of being in touch with their bliss; the most frustrated are those who have accepted one job or another because they didn't know what else to do, and once employed have never had the time to figure how to get out."

--John Lane, Timeless Simplicity

Every now and then I get a phone call or an email from a friend of mine who has run her own consulting company for years and has achieved some great success in her industry. She has authored a book, is an international public speaker, and is sought after to provide her expertise as a consultant to professionals throughout North America. Last week I got an email from her, and she sounded very frustrated. She said, "I've been so busy with my business...working in it and doing it for others, that I'm getting tired. Same old story."

And it IS the same old story. She has called or written me with that same message at least twice a year for the last four years. This time she added, "You always give me something to think about. That carrot is always dangling in front of me. One day I just might do something with it. I can see that you are truly having fun. I'm not. So only I can change that."

The "carrot" that my friend refers to is my "Plan B," which has enabled me to create incredible leverage while having a lot of fun in the process. There are only two ways you can leverage. You can leverage your money by investing it, or you can leverage your time. These days many people don't have extra money to invest, but we all get the same amount of time (168 hours/week) to invest as we choose.

Not so long ago I felt like I was a slave to my work. If you can relate to this, keep reading.

Right out of college I took a job that got me started in a 13-year career in non-profit work. I did not realize how stressed I was until I left that work behind and took a couple years off to do part-time temporary work while I sorted out what I wanted to do next.

Fourteen years ago when I started my own business, I thought I had it all figured out. I loved the work I was doing as a Productivity Consultant and a Certified Professional and Personal Coach. I thought that being my "own boss" would be the solution to many of the challenges I had experienced with my previous work.

Although I loved the coaching and consulting work I was doing, I allowed it to consume me. After 10 years in business, I had a full practice and could not take on any more clients. I was not generating the income I wanted, and I was running myself ragged working 12-15 hour days. Once again, I reached a point where I was not enjoying my work and I was burned out.

Okay, so working for someone else did not do it for me, and being my own boss was not a bed of roses, either. When you trade time for dollars, the only way you can make more money is to work more paid or billable hours. (If you work for someone else and are in a salaried position, you may have to get a second job to earn more.) Since you only have 168 hours a week to work with, you limit the amount of money you can make because you are trading time for dollars. That is, of course, until you've learned how to leverage!

To understand what I'm about to share, let's look at what many people refer to as "time management." Although you cannot manage time -- it will tick away no matter what -- you can manage how you choose to invest your time. There are two parts to managing this. You've got to manage your thoughts (self-talk) and your actions.

Your self-talk represents your beliefs about time. Do you repeatedly say things to yourself like "I am overwhelmed!" or "I am a poor time manager."? Or do you say things like "I have all the time I need for what's most important to me," or "I am a masterful time manager."? If you focus on being overwhelmed, you will get more "overwhelm" in your life. If you focus on having all the time you need for what's most important to you, your experience of time will expand. Whatever you focus on expands.

Your actions represent your ability to put into practice the techniques that are known to maximize productivity. Examples of productivity techniques:

Delegation to people or systems

Saying no to some activities

Blocking protected time for important business and personal activities

Clustering some activities together to save time (like running errands that are geographically near each other)

Creating a written daily plan before your day begins

Okay, so let's say that you are already doing the best you can with both your self-talk and your actions. I've learned that productivity is not just about being efficient with your time. It's also about the results you achieve. I know some very efficient people who are not nearly as productive as they could be if they'd learn how to leverage their time through systems or people.

"Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on

which to place it, and I shall move the world."

--Archimedes (Greek Philosopher)

Four years ago I chose to leverage my time by getting involved in a network marketing company. This has provided me the ability to generate passive income. I still love the coaching and consulting I have done since 1995, so I choose to continue doing this. Within two years of starting my new venture, I was able to replace the income it took 10 years to generate with my coaching and consulting business (trading time for dollars). Now I receive income on a monthly basis, and what I generate is far greater because I have learned how to leverage.

How would you like to invest one hour of your time and produce 100 or 1000 hours of results? If I invest an hour of my consulting time working with one client, the result is that I have provided one hour of expertise to one person. I am trading time for dollars. Now, let's say that I take that same hour and I teach a teleclass or webinar to 100 participants, thus producing 100 hours of results with that same one hour of time. I ask each person on the call to teach what they've learned to one other person, and that doubles my results and produces even greater leverage. I record the class and make it available to those who cannot be on my live call, thus leveraging my time even more over the coming months and years.

I love to travel and am doing a lot of it. A couple weeks ago I went to a resort near Park City, Utah for a company retreat. It was absolutely gorgeous. I went on my first hot air balloon adventure while I was there. As my webmaster loaded this article onto my website, I was in Las Vegas with my daughter (it's her Spring break) where we took in some shows and did some power shopping (just us girls - no men along to complain!). While there I had a working lunch with a group of my team members, so I was able to write off the cost of my travel as a business expense. I will be going to Cancun for a week in mid April with my husband - a trip I won for being a top income earner in the company I've been involved with for the last several years. The end of April I go to San Diego for a company seminar. While there, I am taking an extra day to do some training with my local team. In May I will spend three weeks visiting five cities in Australia and several cities in New Zealand. Although this is a business trip, I look forward to some fun experiences in that part of the world as I get to know team members face-to-face whom I have so far only known through email messages and Skype calls.

I tell people I get paid to play. I love what I do, so most of it does not feel like work! And I would never be able to travel like I am if I was working for someone else or if I was still working full time in my traditional coaching and consulting business. Before I learned about leverage, I had a limited number of hours to trade, with very little time or money left over for play.

I am struck by how many people live for the weekends because they dislike their work so much. Imagine how it would feel to have the kind of work that you were so passionate about that you woke up before your alarm went off and you looked forward to the day ahead! Imagine having the kind of work that allowed you to set your own hours, determine your own vacation schedule, and enabled you to generate income even when you were sleeping and vacationing!

Top income earners have learned how to leverage their time and their money. The vast majority of people are one or two paychecks away from financial ruin. I have friends and relatives who have lost their homes recently to foreclosure because of job loss or out-of-control medical expenses. Far too many people have learned the hard way just how financially fragile they are - people who were living comfortably until something unexpected happened.

Now is a good time to take stock of your own situation and decide if you want to keep doing what you've been doing. Even for those who currently live comfortably and love their present work, most people need a Plan B in place, too.

Ask yourself these questions:

* Am I doing what I love? Am I happy?
* Do I feel a sense of purpose and genuine passion for what I do?
* Does my work enable me to have the lifestyle I choose?
* Am I leveraging time and money so I am not completely reliant on the next paycheck to cover my basic expenses?
* If I lost my job or my ability to work tomorrow, would my family and I be able to sustain our current lifestyle?
* Will I be able to retire in the lifestyle I desire when I want to?

Do I have a Plan B that can sustain me through unexpected circumstances?

If you answered "no" to any of the above questions, it's not too late to put your own Plan B in place.

Kathy Paauw is a productivity consultant and a certified business and personal coach who offers simple, yet powerful ideas on how to manage your time, space, thoughts and relationships for a more productive and fulfilling life. Visit http://www.bethoughtfulnow.com/contact.html to access her websites or contact her. Subscribe to her ezine at http://www.orgcoach.net/subscribeme.html

Discover Common Dilemmas in the Jobs Industry

In as much as employers need people to work for them they do not really act like it. For several millennia employers have been known to treat their employees like slaves, and the practice still has not come to an end. A great portion of this problem lies in the very fact that employees know very little about what to expect. So when something is threatening to happen they have no idea what is coming, in the exact same way as Hurricane Katrina. This article is meant to remove this shroud of deception and reveal to you the truth we all like to avoid in our quest for employment, the truth of the jobs industry.

Sexual harassment is a problem female workers face as they try to move further up the corporate ladder. When bosses realize that they have a largely driven work force they are quick to look for ways of soliciting sexual favors in exchange for promotions. In some instances it is not even direct, but hinted.

For a woman who is not willing to sell her body for a promotion this can be unnerving. So if at all you notice this make sure you quit or follow the courts in order to completely uproot the problem.

Discrimination on so many tiers is particularly a problem in countries where race issues are of a sensitive nature. Sometimes workers doing the exact same job and having the same experience get paid differently. Despite the truth being hard to unravel it surely is worth it. There really is no way of curbing this but by carrying out proper investigations. But at the end of the day it is not really worth it, it is better to quit.

A number of companies working in highly hazardous environments are supposed to have liability insurance for accidents that occur while their workers are working for them, but they do not. This is a very serious dilemma because if he does not have it you could end up without a job, and worse still the ability to support yourself will be gone.

Agencies are also top of the list when it comes to fraudulent practices. A number of them have been found guilty for deducting percentages of your salary that are illegal. Noticing this is not quite easy but after a few months you should begin to feel the effect. Therefore make sure you know exactly what they are expected to deduct and take it from there.

You are definitely not the only person to look for this kind of information. I hope it goes far in helping you deal with what you are trying to cope with.

How to Create Ethical Working Relationships

Ethics play a big part in business and they are our sense of right or wrong. Our professional behavior as a Nail Technician, and our working standards in a Nail Salon, are crucial to running a business that will last and be reputable. In the beauty industry and nail business, especially as a Nail Technician, we must demonstrate high values and ethics at all times.

We are dealing with the public and in most circumstances as a Nail Technician they will confide in us with all sorts of interesting (and not so interesting ) information. Information from personal issues to the latest rumours etc they have heard. As tempting as it may be sometimes to repeat or join in-don't! The fact you are not participating in gossip and rumours not only frees you from the negativity of it all, it shows the nail client that you are not involved in gossip and they can totally confide in you without fear of you repeating it to another. It makes a big difference. Having this integrity as a Nail Technician is vital to an ongoing solid clientele base and your success in the Nail Industry.

As Nail Technicians we are also quite often placed in situations where we are confided in and trusted by our co workers, employers and educators. Again, do not repeat anything!

Here is the list of do's and dont's again:

* Be honest with everyone

* Be loyal to your employers, co workers and clients at all times

* Be friendly and give good service to your nail clients

* Have no favouritism to any nail clients, all work must be the same standard on each person.

* Be polite and be aware of others feelings

* Let people know you are reliable by keeping your word and fulfilling obligations

* Set a good example with professional behaviour.

* Co operate with salon personnel and fellow students.

* Comply with all govt health rules

* Practise high standards of salon and nail sanitisation always

* Learn to listen, to your employers, co workers and especially your clients.

* Never discuss controversial subjects with nail clients such as religion and politics

* Never gossip or start rumours

* Talk intelligently about you work

* Do not repeat anything that may have been told to you in confidence.

So there it is-the biggest thing while being a Nail Technician- be ethical!

Happy nailing:-)