Business Alone

I'm as guilty as the next small business author. I like to share the business owner personality traits that seem to go hand-in-hand with successful business.

But we rarely discuss the qualities you shouldn't possess.

Maybe we don't like to dwell on the negative. Maybe we feel that as long as the owner has the good qualities, he can also be forgiven for harboring a few of the bad.

Maybe we'd just prefer to keep silent and assume that small business owners hide their personality flaws by keeping to themselves.

These 10 qualities are not reserved for business types. Anyone can become infected. Also, like most diseases, it's a heck of a lot easier to get it than it is to get rid of it.

Among the many choices the entrepreneur faces in setting up a business from scratch is deciding upon the type of structure he/she will set as the framework for the enterprise.

Sometimes the alternatives are few and the choice is readily apparent. At others, it may be difficult to know what's best.

Typically, the decision about the structure of your business is influenced by the following factors and the answers you come up with to some pertinent questions like:

Every business needs a skeleton, a backbone, a framework that gives structure and organization to the operation.

Having a structure also allows you protections and rights under the law and qualifies your business for particular tax and income advantages.

The structure you choose is important. The decision you make will affect your financial, operational, and legal standing and reporting.

It will also create some responsibilities and requirements for reporting that may force you to seek outside help or assistance. Whether you undertake to learn the do-it-yourself way or you opt for some professional help, here are a few ideas to keep in mind.

You're asking the wrong person, I'm afraid. I'd like to hear from some of you out there in Internet land that have experience in this arena.

It's not wise to take advice from someone that has never been involved in MLMs or to make an assessment of their value, potential, and advantages or disadvantages.

Let me just set the stage with this short introduction to get you going:

MLM is short for Multi-Level Marketing. It is the type of business opportunity that appeals to many people because the business model and products have already been proven by others who have been successful at it.

Picture yourself leaving on a journey to a far away place you've never been to before. You're not quite sure how to find this place, but you think you can ask questions of the locals along the way so you'll be able to zero in on your final destination.

Let me ask you: "What's the single best resource you could take with you on the journey if you had your choice?"

Would it be lots of money to buy your way in to the directions you need? Maybe.

Would it be a detailed map that showed you the exact way to your destination? Maybe.

What would you want to take on your journey?

Regardless of your business structure (sole proprietorship, partnership, or corporation) you should apply for an EIN (employer identification number) if you want to be seen as a legitimate business.

Yes, sole proprietors can get by without one. Social security numbers are acceptable on income tax filings for persons without employees. But often those who would do business with your business, i.e. suppliers and vendors, want to see an EIN as a way to verify that you really are in business.

Your EIN will be assigned to your business by the Internal Review Service. It's your taxpayer ID, so to speak, and it will be used by federal, state, and local governments.

Most of the Internet's best marketing minds agree on this philosophy:

"Don't try to create interest and excitement in your prospect for your product. Find an overwhelming desire already in your prospect's mind and fill it."

What does this idea suggest? Simply this . . .

Many products are available online today that can be sold by those who had nothing to do with the product's development.

The creators of these products have found that it pays to give up a portion of the profits in exchange for much greater sales.

This arrangement appeals to many business owners because they don't feel they have the expertise or creativity to develop their own products.

They prefer to simply advertise and market other people's products without the laborious task of first building the product.

Does the headline of your sales ad or marketing piece really deserve 80% of the time you spend on writing the ad copy?

That's the suggestion of author Ted Nicholas, one of the all time greats in direct marketing.

He figures that between 50 and 80% of the sales generated in direct advertising are attributable to the ad's headline.

That's a pretty amazing statistic, but maybe not totally surprising given the way readers skim copy and jump from heading to heading.