4 key steps to starting a business - according to financial experts

4 key steps to starting a business - according to financial experts Attention entrepreneurs: Are you eager to kickstart your own business? Of course, the notion of being your own boss and taking your idea, nurturing it with some hard work and ingenuity, and grabbing hold of a little luck in order to turn it into a successful venture is an exciting prospect- and you may be itching to just throw caution to the wind and run with it as quickly as possible. That said, it may be in your best interest to slow things down a bit, temper your excitement with a little caution, and take some more cautious steps forward. After all, the business world is full of people who started off with grand plans for their new businesses but had their entrepreneurial visions knocked out of orbit by harsh reality, failed executions, and poorly-devised and ill-timed decisions.According to a recent article by Investopedia, â€Å"The Small Business Association states that only 30% of new businesses fail during the first two years of being open, 50% during the first five years an d 66% during the first 10. The SBA goes on to state that only 25% make it to 15 years or more. However, not all of these businesses need to fail. With the right planning, funding and flexibility, businesses have a better chance of succeeding.†So, perhaps the first question you should consider asking yourself when planning to start a new business is if you want to be on the winning or losing side of these percentages. Sure, that may not be a difficult one to answer, but whether or not you’re willing to do the requisite amount of careful planning when you’re at the critical initial stages of getting your business off the ground may a bit more tricky. If you’re looking to stack the odds in your favor, then consider the following strategies on how to start a small business, according to financial experts who’ve seen it all and know the most common mistakes and pitfalls to avoid.Define your valueYou may have nothing but the best intentions for wanting to start your own business, but are you sure it’s one that’s poised to generate value (think revenue)? Sure, money isn’t everything, but it is an essential component to making your business take off and be sustainable, so make sure that your venture is one that has a reasonable chance of returning on your investment of blood, sweat, tears, and start-up capital.Back up your hopes with analytics that project a clear and realistic trajectory into the black at some point in time. Also be sure to define how your business idea and brand stand out from the competition, disrupt your industry, and contribute substantively to the world- because if they don’t, then what’s the point?Plan (and plan some more)Enthusiasm is a great thing to have when starting a new venture, but it will rarely sustain a business past initial takeoff. Get grounded and make sure you plan- both for the immediate future and for what lies ahead. Temper your entrepreneurial excitement wit h a solid business plan that legitimizes your goals with demonstrably achievable milestones. (If you’re going to court startup capital from outside sources, this is an absolute must.)Also, take the time to do some long-range projections for your business (try one- and five-year plans to start); these can always be revised as your business idea grows and evolves, but they will be a huge help in determining whether you’re on track for success or a collision course with failure.Get helpNo person is an island, and your business shouldn’t be one either. Savvy entrepreneurs know to leverage their networks to take full advantage of the knowledge, talent, and experience of people in their orbits in an effort to make their business ideas. Regardless of your industry, running a business takes a wide and varied set of skills, and unless you’re an indomitable entrepreneurial wizard and jack-of-all-trades, do yourself a favor and rely on the expertise of others to ben efit your new venture. Don’t be afraid to pay for some outside advice and guidance if need be- consider it a sound investment.Learn from mistakesThe truth is, almost no one gets everything exactly right when starting a business. But often, the difference between a successful business and a flop is an entrepreneur who learns from their mistakes. You can either self-assess regularly, take note of what went wrong, and make a swift course correction†¦ or sit back, avoid self-assessment, and remain doomed to keep repeating failures. Consider the missteps that happen along the way as valuable learning moments, and use them to your advantage as you trudge forward.

The History of Coca-Cola Essays - Coca-Cola, Patent Medicines

The History of Coca-Cola Essays - Coca-Cola, Patent Medicines Ian J. Wharton March 17th 2016 CISC 1050- Introduction to Computer Applications The History of Coca-Cola Sprite, Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Fanta are all sodas that people would have no problem at all drinking. But when you think of soda what is the first one that comes to mind? Out of all the sodas mentioned there is one thats missing. One that actually stands out from the rest and serves as the cornerstone that allowed them to become what it is today. This is the history of Coca-Cola: Taste the Feeling! To begin we must first ask the general question of What exactly is Coca-Cola?. Coca-Cola is a soft drink that was actually made by a mistake by John Pemberton. The name itself stands for the ingredients that make it which are coca leaves (the Coca) and kola nuts (the Cola) Pemberton was a pharmacist and a war veteran who was severely hurt during the Civil War where he served as a colonel. Historically, people who were hurt during warfare became hooked onto drugs to lessen the pain. The original recipe for Coke was made in Georgia, which was suppose to be a coca wine at first. In 1886, when Atlanta passed laws against alcohol he then decided to make a non-alcoholic version of his French Wine, which is of course Coca-Cola. Pemberton claimed Coca-Cola cured many diseases, including morphine addiction(the same addiction he had from war), headaches, and impotence. Jacobs Pharmacy served as the birth place of the first distribution of this new product in May of 1886 for the low low price o f a nickel. As time progressed the business aspect of Coke began to grow as well. In May 1889 Asa Candler made it clear that he was the sole owner of coke by stating "sole proprietors of Coca-Cola ... Delicious. Refreshing. Exhilarating. Invigorating." Alongside his partners Candler created the official Coca-Cola company. Candler did various things such as giving out free coupons for a glass of Coke to ensure that one taste of it would get you hooked. Then in 1895, Mr. Candler was able to confidently say that "Coca-Cola is now drunk in every state and territory in the United States." . As time progressed facilities were built and expansion began. The next step for Candler was to get deep into Coke being sold at soda fountains which is something else we all now enjoy today. A man named Joseph Biedenharn was so impressed by the growing demand for Coca-Cola at his soda fountain that he invested in Coca-Cola and decided to install a bottle machine in his store which in turn made him the first bottle r of Coca-Cola. But the big boost came during WWII when people were able to have their first taste of Coca-Cola in nearly 44 countries. In war it always brings a spike in business and Coca-Cola benefited from the war in a big way. When the U.S decided to join the war Robert Woodruff made the order "to see that every man in uniform gets a bottle of Coca-Cola for 5 cents, wherever he is and whatever it costs the Company." Soon after the war ended it allowed Coca-Cola to expand and officially go worldwide with partial boundaries as I will mention later. Throughout the years the Coca-Cola Company has introduced other drinks under the Coke brand name. The most common of these is, Diet Coke with others including: Diet Coke Caffeine-Free, Coca-Cola Cherry, Coca-Cola Zero Coca-Cola Vanilla, and special versions with lemon, lime, or coffee. Would you believe me if I said that Coke used to not be sold worldwide? Despite the fact that Coca-Cola is a true worldwide phenomenon, it wasnt always that way. Because of trade sanctions from the United States, most countries were unable to reap the benefits of Coke until 2012 . There are now just two countries in the world where Coca-Cola cannot be bought or sold - at least, not officially. They are Cuba and North Korea, which are both under long-term US trade embargoes (Cuba since 1962 and North Korea since 1950). China, India, Vietnam, Burma, Germany and the Soviet Union are just a few countries that didnt have Coca-Cola in certain time periods. Now to speak on the highs

Those Winter Sundays Poem Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Those Winter Sundays Poem - Essay Example The entire first stanza paints a very clear picture of the scene. The father â€Å"put on his clothes in the blueblack cold, / then with cracked hands that ached / from labor in the weekday weather made / banked fires blaze† (2-5). Words such as ‘blueblack’ evoke images of the pre-dawn morning just before the first light begins to lighten the sky from the pitch dark of midnight. Associating this immediately with the word cold causes one to think of the bone-chilling emptiness of space, the physical pain of crawling out of a warm bed while half-dressed. This image is compounded by the idea of his cracked hands due to his age and accustomed chores, which cause his hands to be exposed to the elements on a regular basis. In case there was any question, the author even states outright that the father’s hands ached, and yet he dragged himself out of bed before anyone else to make sure that the fire was going well to warm the house before anyone else needed to get out of bed. This scene is reinforced by the imagery of the second stanza in which the narrator describes the breaking up of the cold as if it were the breaking up of the river ice. It is heard â€Å"splintering, breaking† (6) until the house finally becomes warm enough for the children to be called from their beds. This imagery presents the dedication of the father in ways that simply stating the father’s love wouldn’t do. This imagery is coupled with the use of contrasts to make the meaning of the poem clear. After describing the tender scene of the father getting up in the terrible cold in order to make the house warm, the narrator talks about his fears getting out of bed in the warmth the father has provided. â€Å"slowly, I would rise and dress, / fearing the chronic angers of that house† (8-9). While the father gets up to a bitter cold, the child rises to fears of too much heat. Throughout the poem, it is made clear that