The Next Big Thing! - New Business

Despite the doom and gloom crap that you see in every US newspaper and TV news broadcast, there is an interesting counter-culture buzz that I think merits some real attention: New Business.

Every time there is upheaval in the economy, every time there is "blood in the street," there is always a counter-opportunity to step in and fill in the gap. Please note the words: EVERY TIME!

What I mean by "filling in the gap" is that tough times create opportunities for you to change something that you are doing or to spot a new idea or trend that will offer you unusual rewards. When things are great, we are usually not as willing to upset the apple cart, so we sometimes miss out on great opportunities. When business is slower, we are more willing to take that little, extra risk, and that is often when good things happen. Let me give you an example.

One of my companies just finished sponsoring the Street of Dreams home showcase held in our area. For those who do not know, the Street of Dreams puts on an event featuring very large and very expensive mansions, built just for the show, in different parts of the country. The event is heavily publicized to get people out to see the $6,000,000 to $9,000,000 homes as well as all of the great ideas they contain. This year, one of the big concerns was how the housing crisis would affect the event and its turnout. The Street of Dreams Company was clearly concerned, seemingly rightly so.

What did they do about it?

Cancel the show? Not on your life. They raised ticket prices. Yes, the prices were not all that expensive anyway ($12.00 last year up to $15.00 this year) and you could argue that by raising prices they got a more qualified crowd to their event. All of that is true and positive. What was most interesting to me was that they made at least as much money this year as they had in previous years, and guess what will happen to ticket prices when the housing industry stabilizes and the size of the crowds come back? They will remain at the new higher level, of course, or go up even more. What was the result for the Street of Dreams producers by working through a difficult market? Higher profits for every future year in their business!

How can you make a change?

In the next few weeks, we will all be glued to the TV set as the world turns its attention to the Olympics. Go ahead and enjoy them, but let me encourage you to keep a business eye open for all of the profit potential that can come from goods, services, and new ideas that will be unveiled at the Olympics. Just this month, the cover of Fast Company Magazine was graced with the new swimsuits designed to make our athletes swim even faster. Do you think there will be an increased demand for the swimsuits and similar athletic enhancement products at a local level?

What will the vendors sell to the crowds to eat, drink, or take as souvenirs that you could import to sell or use to start a business? What new promotion will be featured that you can take advantage of? Even using the Olympics as a title in your ads or direct mail will increase readership during these next weeks, because that is the topic that will be on people's minds-- and stepping into their thought process is the way to get the greatest response from your message.

Many changes, new trends, and opportunities will come out of the Olympics, so be ready to get your "gold."

New ideas are also present in the newspaper. Yes, newspapers are read less because of the web. But from my standpoint as a Trend Merchant, I look to the small, local stories for ideas, and I find a wealth of possibilities. Today as I write, the newspaper had a good story about a guy from London who came to the US and is opening the first Pinellas County Indoor Soccer Academy. Many people have tried to make money on soccer in the US and have not been successful. But will this idea work? Will the two partners be able to put together a business plan that can be replicated? If they can, they will not just have created a local opportunity; they will have a national one that can be franchised and sold across the US. Naturally, since I am in the franchise creation business, I have added this man and his partner to my list of people to go visit in order to explore opportunities for the future. This potential came from an idea found during the simple act of reading the paper to look for opportunities. Interestingly, this idea also provides the opportunity to talk with people who were willing to start a new business in a down economy. My kind of people.

Where will your Next Big Thing come from: your current business or a new idea?

Happy Searching!

How Business Owners Can Choose a Credit Card.

Small business owners now have a wide variety of credit cards to choose from, and it makes it difficult to choose the best one for your small business. As a small business owner, you will need to decide which features you think that the company will use most often, and if they are worth using and having, before applying to a card. Many of the credit card companies now offer many attractive tools that can and will help each small business owner in their everyday spending and tracking. Also remember that it is harder to keep getting credit cards after the first couple, so choose wisely when choosing business credit cards.


Should you pick a business card that offers rewards or miles?

If you have no problem paying off the credit card debit each time the statement comes in, then the point rewards or cash back is the way to go for you. With the cash back and rewards credit cards, they give you rewards for spending money on everyday business needs, which is money you are going to spend anyway, so why not be rewarded for it. Another option to consider when choosing a credit card is the travel reward and miles credit cards. Do you or someone in your company travel on a regular basis? Then a travel reward or miles reward card is the type of card you might want to use. Most of the popular airlines have now teamed up with the credit card companies to bring business owners a reward for traveling for business purposes.

Should I get help tracking and reporting your expenses?

Most credit cards that are geared for the small business and even for larger businesses now, have a feature that is attractive in more than one way. The credit card companies can now track the categories that money is being spent on every month, and they can also provide a quarterly or annual spending report. This comes in handy during tax time. If you plan to use the same credit card for all of your expenses, this may be a great option for you.

Do members of your staff need to have access to a credit card?

Most of the credit card companies that offer cards to small businesses have a feature that allows employees of the business to also carry a credit card. This feature helps the business owner and the employee. When the employee travels now, they have the business with them to back them up in case anything should come up. Employees now can keep track of their spending for business related purposes a lot more efficiently now. The credit card companies can also track the credit card expenses separately so there is no confusion over who spent what. Not to mention the reimbursement paper work and waiting will now be eliminated. The credit card companies also allow the owner to set the amount of funds that are available to each card.

Small business owners also need to watch out for credit cards and the rates they charge with balance transfers and also with the APRs. This can be a great asset to a small business owner. Zero percent interest on balance transfers seems to be the going rate right now, and makes it nice to have an interest free loan for a little while, but beware! If you miss one payment you will lose that nice 0% APR and will have to pay the full rate.

Credit cards have changed so much over the years. They are very helpful to the business owners and their employees. Most credit card companies have now done away with the yearly fees that used to be associated with owning a credit card. So, if you are a business owner that pays the balance every month, these are the types of cards you need to apply for.