Whiz Biz in Changing Times Book: Table of Contents

Introduction 9

• The complete business process 12

Chapter 1: So, You Would Like to Be in Business? 13

• Is starting your business a good idea? 13
• What kind of business should you start? 14
• Do you need a business idea? 15
• Refining your idea 24
• What can you achieve by starting a business? 26

Chapter 2: Who Are You? 29

• How do you know who you are? 30
• Test: What is your personality type? 33
• Personality types 34
• What is the business best suited to your personality? 44
• Your abilities and skills 45
• Qualities required to be an entrepreneur 46
• Can you still be an entrepreneur without all those qualities? 47
• What is a mentor? 48
• What do you want to accomplish? 51
• Finding your niche 52
• Types of businesses 54
• What is it like out there? 58

Chapter 3: Do You Have the Necessary Assets and Talents? 59

• You will be making money... What will you do with it? 59
• What kind of expectations should you have? 62
• Is everyone going to like you? 64
• Will you be taken seriously? 65
• How will you test your business idea? 66

Chapter 4: Legal Stuff... 69

• Protecting yourself and your business 69
• Legal structures 70
• Insurance 75
• Do you need permits? 78
• Your responsibilities 78
• Agreements and contracts 79
• Nondisclosure agreement 80
• Copyrights, trademarks, service marks and patents 81
• Official requests 84

Chapter 5: Paperwork!!! 87

• Administrative tasks: what can you expect? 87
• What is bookkeeping? 88
• Financial statements 89
• Your own business forms 89

Chapter 6: Money Matters 91

• How much will starting your business cost? 91
• How much will your business cost to operate? 95
• Preparing financial statements 96
• How do you know if you’re making money? 124
• Working should not cost you money! 125
• How do you know if your prices are right? 127
• Calculating your costs and how much to charge for services if you are a consultant 129
• Where do you get the money to start? 131
• Submitting a request for funds 133
• What happens when you do a lot of business and your company grows? 136
• What do you do if you need financing? 140
• When should you borrow money? 143

Chapter 7: Prepare a Good Plan of Action: The Business Plan 153

• Why a plan? 153
• How do you prepare your business plan? 156
• How much time do you have on your hands now? 161
• How much money are you going to make? 163

Chapter 8: How to Sell Your Products 165

• Your Sales Plan 165
• Having a good product 166
• Customers who want to buy you product 166
• Having enough customers 166
• Making potential customers aware that you exist 167
• Making potential customers aware that they need your products 167
• Making your product available, easily obtainable and deliverable 168
• Making the transaction possible 168
• The Marketing Process 170
• Who are your customers? 171
• The competition 177
• Marketing strategies 182
• How do you get to know your customers? 185
• Customer information gathering plan 188
• Customer information gathering principle 189
• The marketing plan 189
• Market surveys 192
• Advertising 208
• Networking and word of mouth 211
• Participating to trade shows and exhibitions 215
• Getting your first customer 216

Chapter 9: Your Corporate Image 219

• What is a corporate image? 219
• Do you need a corporate image? 220
• Professionalism, reliability and credibility 221
• Professional behavior and business etiquette 227
• Your corporate material 228
• Organizing your work space and making your working environment comfortable 229

Chapter 10: Managing Your Time 233

• Establishing priorities 233
• Finding out how your time is used and how to become more productive 240
• Procrastination 241
• Perfectionism 243
• Controlling interruptions 243

Chapter 11: Motivation and Support 245

• Will you always feel like taking care of your business? 245
• Is being in business always easy? 247
• Do you need a mentor? 248
• Professional associations 248
• Your well-being 249

Chapter 12: Getting Recognized 251

• Why do you need visibility? 251
• Where do you get visibility? 251
• Building credibility 252
• Beware of scams and bullies... 254

Chapter 13: Growth of the Business 257

• Will your business grow? 257
• What is growth and what does it means for your business? 259
• Growing pains: the most common mistakes to avoid 262
• Plan, plan, plan! 264
• What is ISO 9000? 265

Chapter 14: Taking Advantage of Technology 267

• Efficiency 269
• Technology needs assessment 271

Chapter 15: Internet As A Tool for Your Business 273

• The potential of the Internet for your business 274
• Using the Internet for your business 277
• The Web Site 278
• Finding the right hosting service 281
• Electronic Commerce 282
• What are the risks and dangers? 285
• How can you protect yourself? 285
• Registering your Web site with search engines 287
• Taking care of business 288
• Maintaining and updating the Web site 288
• Plan for the Internet evolution of your business 289

Whiz Biz in Changing Times - Table of Contents