First of all, a number of individuals are finding the confidence and drive to come out with their new ideas. Crowdfunding platforms, like Kickstarter have helped a number of entrepreneurs bring their businesses to life.

If you’re thinking of a startup, here are some myths that you might come across. Make sure you keep your distance from them, if you want your business to succeed.

• Without venture capital you can’t start anything. This was true in the past, but things have undergone a complete revamp with the introduction of crowd funding platforms. Sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo have given entrepreneurs a chance to stand on their own feet. When you create a project via Kickstarter, individuals can go through your product/service and decide whether they want to invest in it or not. The need for venture capital has drastically reduced.

• You need to know the right time to start. That is not true. If you’re passionate about a business idea, you should go ahead with it right away. All those success stories about how entrepreneurs waited for the perfect time to go public are not always true. If you have a product or service that you feel can make a huge difference, you should go ahead with it as soon as possible.

• Making money in the early stages is not a good sign. Many “experienced” entrepreneurs will tell you that if you’re raking in profits right from the start, then something is going to go terribly wrong. It is exactly the opposite, startups making initial profits are a good sign and you can use the excess funds to concentrate on future growth.

• The idea is all important. Even if you think you have the best idea in the world, it doesn’t mean that it should be given top priority over your customers and service. The idea should be focused upon but do not ignore your customers along the way. They are an integral part of startup success.

Stereotypical thinking and pre-conceived notions will not take your startup far. You need to keep an open mind and stay away from any startup myths that you thought were true.

Launching the research at its BYOX World Forum in London, Ovum revealed that the BYOX phenomenon shows no signs of disappearing, as nearly 70% of employees who own a smartphone or tablet choose to use it to access corporate data. The personal tablet market continues to grow, and with personal tablet ownership by FTEs rising from 28.4% to 44.5% over the last 12 months, more businesses will see these devices on their networks. Moreover, this activity will continue whether the CIO wants it to or not. Ovum’s study shows that 67.8% of smartphone-owning employees bring their own smartphone to work, and 15.4% of these do so without the IT department’s knowledge and 20.9% do so in spite of an anti-BYOD policy.

“Trying to stand in the path of consumerized mobility is likely to be a damaging and futile exercise,” says Richard Absalom, consumer impact technology analyst at Ovum. “We believe businesses are better served by exploiting this behaviour to increase employee engagement and productivity, and promote the benefits of enterprise mobility.”

Ovum’s research also depicts the rise of the bring-your-own-application (BYOA) trend. While email and calendar remains the most commonly used application on both corporately provisioned and personally owned devices, the usage of new-generation cloud productivity applications, such as enterprise social networking, file sync and share and IM/VoIP, is growing fast. Worryingly, Ovum found that these types of apps are increasingly being sourced by employees themselves and not through managed corporate channels – 25.6% of employees discovered their own enterprise social networking apps, while 22.1% and 30.7% of employees discovered their own file sync and share apps and IM/VoIP apps, respectively.

“The thread that runs through all of the data is that IT is not keeping up with the changing demands and behaviour patterns of the new mobilized, consumerized workforce. Nowhere is this clearer than in the BYOA data. If employees are sourcing their own applications to do their job, then IT is not delivering the right tools or a good enough user experience for its employees,” concludes Absalom.

[Source: Ovum Press] [Image Source: CIO]

Who wants your products/services?

Whether you’re going to be selling electronics or you’re thinking of opening a frozen yogurt café, you need to know your customers. Is there a demand for what you’re offering?

An important question that surprisingly recedes to the background as people go about trying to ‘set up’ their business.

If you’ve done your research and found out that there are certain individuals who could benefit from your business, then you’re on the right path.

Are you being sane or weird?

That’s one question that is bound to pop up if you’re thinking of something totally out of the way. Don’t be afraid of taking a leap, but just make sure the idea is not completely crazy!

Take Quirky.com for example. The members can come up with their own products, develop them and have them sold online. The site raked in $1.2 million in 2010.

You don’t always need to have a business idea that sounds watertight. Take a risk and try something out. It could be the next big thing to hit the commercial world.

How challenging (or easy) is production going to be?

Ask yourself this question well in advance because when orders start rolling in you don’t want to be on the backfoot. Make sure your production ideas are sound and you can get off to a flying start.

This is also a good time to address the question of the kind of people you need in order for production to take place. Don’t forget to think about the costs involved and how you’re going to recover it.

What kind of competition will your product/service be up against?

If it’s a niche field, you’ll have to make sure that you have something that none of the current offerings possess. This will be your trump card.

Keeping a tab on competition helps keep your feet on the ground and address issues related to product development and customer service.

At the end of the day, a business plan shouldn’t turn out to be an epic novel. It should address issues that will help kickstart your business in the right way. Business licenses, office space, etc. are factors that shouldn’t be the center of your business plan.

[Image Source: winweb]

For instance, the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas at the beginning of the year saw big and small names come together to unveil cutting-edge products. While Samsung was showing off its massive TV, a company that got its backing via Kickstarter unveiled a smartwatch called Pebble. It runs apps via Bluetooth and it can be connected to your Android or iOS device.

It just goes to show that startup events really do open up the playing field. At a time when the underdog has the upper hand, startup festivals are really making a huge splash.

Why have such events become a necessity?

• First, startups have increased over the past decade or so. While many do not make it through their first year, the right ones do go on to become quite popular.

• It isn’t always easy kicking off a startup. You might be toying with the idea for months (or even years) before you actually do something about it. Startup events can give you that little push you need.

• Such events can answer many of your questions regarding your startup issues. It can really help get rid of all your uncertainties.

Startup events take place all over the world, helping budding entrepreneurs get off their feet. If you manage to get on the guest list of a major event – it could be just the break, you need. Visiting one such event as a guest or an exhibitor are two different roles.

The latter will allow you to unveil products that like-minded people might be interested in. The former allows you to pick up tips while being a spectator.

As good as startup events may be, sometimes they can be a bit too much.

• Visiting too many startup events will not serve your purpose at all. You will just end up spending a lot of money without doing anything on your own.

• Startup events don’t believe in ‘leaks’ and this can ruin a good publicity move.

While being part of a startup event can be a good thing, make sure you’re a presenter at the next one. Don’t forget to tell your listeners the same thing when you’re on stage. Make the most of your time in the spotlight.

[Image Source: aura-astronomy]

Besides this new move, small businesses can benefit a lot from YouTube. It all depends on how well you know you can use this as a marketing/promotion tool.

Your Channel: As a small business owner, you should take special care in customizing the look of your channel. Use colors that complement your brand so that people know that they’ve landed on the right page. Upload your company’s logo and set up your playlists with the most engaging videos easily accessible.

Using Annotations: These are small comments that appear in boxes while a video is playing. Don’t fill up your video with annotations because it is very irritating for viewers. Use a couple at the beginning and end, if you really want to post a relevant link.

Proper Content: No one’s going to watch a video that is boring and doesn’t interest them on any level. While creating video content, make sure you have a script ready so that you land up with a video that is fun to watch and informative at the same time. Content is crucial on YouTube.

Subtitles: Use the auto-captioning feature if there is a lot of talking in your video. Make sure you edit it so that people don’t get the wrong information. Using subtitles allows hearing-impaired individuals to enjoy your video, as well.

Subscriber Interaction: If you have a number of subscribers, then you should stay in touch with them. Respond to their comments and messages and reward the active ones with discounts. As a small business, you will have more control over your channel and this helps get closer to those who watch your videos and will be interested in your products/services, as well.

Tags and Sharing: YouTube organizes videos based on their titles and tags. The latter is very important; so make sure you use the right keywords in the tag section. This will help the search engine to pull up your video when someone uses similar search terms. Don’t forget to share your videos on Facebook, Twitter and your other social media profiles.

A small business can really use YouTube to enhance its image, but it needs to be done in the right manner. Make sure you know how to go about it.

The Thiel Foundation came up with the innovative plan of backing young adults who have brilliant ideas. The main criteria is that these individuals have to drop out of college and concentrate full time on making their ideas successful.

How does the fellowship work?

• If you’re selected, dropping out of college is the first step.

• Thiel will provide you with $100,000 over a two year period to help with your idea.

• More importantly, you are mentored by innovators, investors, futurists and scientists from the Thiel Foundation.

These points have made the fellowship highly popular with those geniuses who have something special on their hands, but don’t have the funds and guidance to see it through. Since its inception in 2011, Thiel has helped set up over 30 companies and $34 million from other investors.

Why the “drop out of college” clause?

Thiel’s explanation is that the under-20s who are selected need to concentrate on their ideas, full-time. Over the two years they spend in the program, individuals are trained and mentored by experts from the Thiel Foundation. It also means that they will be following in the footsteps of notable dropouts such as Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates.

Brilliant reform or a bad idea?

On one level, Thiel’s “20 under 20” program can be criticized for encouraging students to drop out of school or college. However, the billionaire investor argues that in many cases, college degrees are unnecessary.

Moreover, the students selected are usually ones who have the most innovative ideas that have high chances of becoming financially successful and help the world at the same time.

For instance, Austin Russell (18) is one of the chosen twenty in 2013. He will be working on 3D depth mapping and projection in order to streamline his technological ideas that range from far field communication devices to cancer detection systems.

In 2011, when the program took off, Thiel backed 17 year old prodigy, Laura Deming, who was interested in extending the human lifespan. Thiel has a history of backing ideas that have a high risk level. This innovative fellowship could do the world a whole lot of good as genius individuals get exactly the kind of backing they need to make a difference.

[Image Source: noahpinion]

Business metrics that give you a deeper insight regarding the health of your business need to be taken more seriously.

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

How much are you spending on acquiring new customers? You need to add up the cost of marketing and sales and then divide it by the number of customers over a particular period of time.

If you find that you’re spending too much, you need to try and lower the cost so that more customers can be got onboard. It won’t be easy, but this is one metric that gives you a real idea of where your business is headed.

Lifetime Value of a Customer (LVC)

How much does the average customer spend on your products and services? This becomes a little difficult to determine in the startup phase, but as time passes by, LVC can be easier to find out.

You need to ensure that the lifetime value of a customer is always high. This way you can afford to spend more on acquiring new ones.

Churn Rate

This is an important metric that tells you whether your business is on the right track or not. Over a period of time, you will lose a few customers, here and there. That’s a fact you need to deal with in the right manner.

The churn rate tells you how many customers are leaving you for something different. This could be happening because of a number of factors: drop in production quality, better competition, weak customer support, etc.

Make sure you keep a close eye on the churn rate so that your business does not leak customers.

Measuring social media ROI

All businesses use social networking sites to stay in touch with their customers. This means a lot of funds are poured into the art of staying relevant online. How do you measure the ROI with regard to social media?

A Klout score of your Facebook page is a great primary indicator. After that, you can dig deeper with a Share of Voice report. If that’s not enough, the Daily Story Feedback tab on Facebook Insights can give you a holistic view of how people are reacting to your posts.

Overall, success metrics are even more important in today’s ever changing business environment. You should know what makes your business click.

[Image Source: softsalesecure]

Whatever be the case, Kickstarter has revolutionized how startups are born. Helping entrepreneurs set up their business with help from the general public is a novel idea that has caught on pretty well with a lot of people.

How does it work?

• First of all, you create a project that will attract attention of people from all over the world. You can be as creative as possible and try to promote your business idea through project pages.
• Funders will receive particular rewards depending on the amount of money they pledge. The idea is to give something back to those who help your project see the light of day.
• Project owners have to set funding goals and deadlines. This way there is a time limit for all projects.
• If people pledge money and goals are met; then only are their credit cards charged. If not, then nobody has to pay anything.
• Kickstarter works for any creative project under the sun – music, technology, fashion, art, you name it, and Kickstarter has helped fund it.

How Kickstarter changed the entrepreneur game overnight

In the past, individuals had to worry about having the right capital for their business idea to come to life. If you had an idea that was out of the box, you’d have to think twice before investing in it. Kickstarter has completely revamped this important part of starting a business.

A creative project on Kickstarter can find like-minded backers who will be willing to pledge certain amounts for an idea to come to life. This works perfectly for ideas that are off the beaten track.

For instance, fashion projects have never been too successful on Kickstarter. However, by making smart adjustments and quirky innovations, people have managed to beat the odds.

The 10 Year Hoodie is the perfect example. Flint and Tinder decided to combat the problem of how goods become unusable sooner than usual. The Hoodie you buy from them comes with a ten year guarantee that they will mend it if anything goes wrong and send it back, free of cost. The project had a $50,000 goal and it exceeded it by $1 million. Enough said.

A Brief History

Bitcoins hit the online world in 2009 when Satoshi Nakamoto came up with the idea. Nobody actually knows who this individual is, and he/she has never spoken about it publicly.

Since then, bitcoins has seen a steady growth in popularity. What used to be the stronghold of tech-friendly individuals has slowly grown into a world arena of people interested in the use of bitcoins.

Creating and Buying Bitcoins

Top class computer equipment is currently required to ‘mine’ bitcoins in blocks of 25. In the beginning, this mining could be done on one’s laptop making quite a few individuals bitcoin millionaires.

If you’re interested in buying bitcoins, then you can visit sites such as Mt GoX or Coinbase. Direct sellers of bitcoins can also be found online.

What can you purchase using Bitcoins?

Mainstream ecommerce sites don’t accept bitcoins directly, but if you’re looking to purchase something on WordPress or WikiLeaks, you’re in luck.  Shopping directly on Amazon with bitcoins is not allowed, but there are sites that offer vouchers for the popular retail site.

The Biggest Benefit of Small Businesses Using Bitcoins

If you start accepting bitcoins as a form of payment, your online business could really expand. This is mainly because costs of selling will drop even if people from different locations purchase your products.

For example, if you’re a U.S based eCommerce site catering to a UK client, then the problem of using PayPal or credit cards is out of the way. This reduces the commission rates of such services and bitcoins save the day.

Moreover, bitcoins can in turn be used by eCommerce owners to purchase hosting or other web-based services for their online business.

The Dark Side

The stability of this virtual currency comes under the scanner a little too often. In February-March 2013, one bitcoin was around $20. In April, supporters were enjoying a surge that took the rate up to $258 per bitcoin. However, in no time the rate dropped by about $100. This kind of fluctuation in value could work against bitcoin popularity.

One thing’s for sure: bitcoins have made a mark in the online world and small businesses are looking at it with great interest.

[Image Source: bitcoinchart]

When you are flooded with product/service orders and your business is making all the right moves, you need to have the foresight to think about the future of your business. How are you going to channel this success and avoid a burnout?

Signs that your small business is growing too fast for its own good

• You need to borrow in order to fund excess production costs. This is a sure shot sign that your company has a lot on its plate.

• Your staff has to multi-task like crazy. This means that one person will be doing the job of two. Even you will have to help out when deadlines need to be met.

• Complaints from customers are on the rise. This could mean that your small business is going for quantity more than quality.

A smart entrepreneur will ensure that quick growth doesn’t hamper his company’s future plans. You need to take these changes in your stride and know how to handle pressure (even if it is of the good kind).

If your startup has really taken off, here’s how you should go about your business:

• Hire the right folks. There is nothing better than delegating a job to somebody who is competent enough to handle it. As production and other tasks increase, you will need more time on your hands. Make sure you bring in people who understand what you need and keep your business’ spark alive.

• Increase product/service rates. One reason why you may be getting a lot of customers is because you could be charging marginally lower than others in your field. Increase prices gradually so that customers can value your production efforts. This will help increase the profit margin, as well.

• Keep a close eye on your working capital. Always know what your day-to-day expenses of your business are. This way you can create a fund that can be used, should any unexpected costs come up. Your startup is growing; you don’t want to run out of cash in the middle of an order.

Small businesses have the advantage of personal touch when it comes to customer interaction. Make sure you don’t lose out on that when your company starts growing rapidly.