Business Plan

* What is a Business Plan?
o Why prepare a business plan?
o What to avoid in your business plan

* Business Plan Format
o Vision statement
o The people
o Business profile
o Economic assessment

* Six Steps to a Great Business Plan
o Basic business concept
o Feasibility and specifics
o Focus and refine concept
o Outline the specifics of your business
o Put your plan into a compelling form
o Review sample plans

* Does Your Plan Include the Following Necessary Factors
o A sound business concept
o Understanding your market
o Healthy, growing and stable industry
o Capable management
o Able financial control
o Consistent business focus
o Mindset to anticipate change
o Plans for online business

* Formulate (and Reformulate) Your Business Plan

* Top Ten Do's and Don'ts

* Sound Byte Transcriptions

* Sample Business Plans

* Session 1 and 2 Business Plans

* Session Feedback
What Is A Business Plan?



Read Transcript The primary value of your business plan will be to create a written outline that evaluates all aspects of the economic viability of your business venture including a description and analysis of your business prospects.

Since the My Own Business, Inc. course is broken down into sixteen of the most important topics to consider in starting or operating a business, your business plan can easily be organized into this same format. Included in this session, and in each of the following sessions, there is one-page business plan template, which you can fill in and print. (Session 2 contains templates for both Sessions 1 and 2.) When you put these all together, you will have completed your personalized, overall plan.

We suggest that you fill in each section of the business plan, found at the end of each session, as you proceed through the course.

Each of the sixteen Business Plan Sections can be downloaded from our Web site and provide you with a single, attractively presented document. To begin, let's take a preview look at each of the 16 Business Plan Sections:

Click to view each of the 16 business plan sections

Keep in mind that creating a business plan is an essential step for any prudent entrepreneur to take, regardless of the size of the business. This step is too often skipped, but we have made it easy for you by providing this ready format to build your plan as you progress through this course.

Business plans can vary enormously. Libraries and bookstores have books devoted to business plan formats. This course is a starting point. You can then go on to design one that would be ideal for your particular enterprise.

Be aware now that most start-up entrepreneurs are reluctant to write down their business plan. It is, therefore, strongly recommended that you complete each segment of the plan as you progress through this course. We make it easy for you by providing sample plans for both product and service businesses and also an attractive blank form that you can download onto MS Word and customize yourself.

Your business plan will become your roadmap to chart the course of your business. But at the outset you cannot predict all of changing conditions that will surface. So after you have opened for business, it is important that you periodically review and update you plan.

Home Based Business

 

Online Consulting :

Starting an online consulting business can be a rewarding venture if you have expertise in a specific industry or field. Here's a guide to help you get started:

1. Identify Your Niche: Determine the area in which you have expertise and can offer valuable advice to clients. This could be business consulting, marketing, finance, HR, technology, health and wellness, career coaching, or any other specialized field.

2. Define Your Services: Clearly outline the consulting services you'll offer, including the scope of work, deliverables, and pricing structure. Consider whether you'll offer one-on-one coaching, group workshops, online courses, or a combination of services.

3. Build Your Brand: Develop a strong brand identity that reflects your expertise and resonates with your target audience. This includes creating a professional website, logo, and marketing materials that showcase your skills and credibility.

4. Create a Marketing Strategy: Identify your target market and develop a marketing strategy to reach potential clients. This could include content marketing (blogging, guest posting, video content), social media marketing, email marketing, networking, and partnerships with other businesses or professionals.

5. Set Up Your Online Presence: Establish an online presence through a professional website and active presence on relevant social media platforms. Use your website to showcase your expertise, share client testimonials, and provide valuable resources to attract potential clients.

6. Develop Client Relationships: Build trust and credibility with potential clients by offering free resources, hosting webinars or workshops, and engaging with your audience on social media. Provide valuable insights and demonstrate your expertise to establish yourself as a thought leader in your field.

7. Offer Exceptional Service: Deliver high-quality consulting services to your clients, meeting their needs and exceeding their expectations. Provide personalized advice, actionable recommendations, and ongoing support to help clients achieve their goals.

8. Seek Feedback and Referrals: Encourage clients to provide feedback on your services and use their testimonials to attract new clients. Build relationships with satisfied clients and ask for referrals to expand your client base.

9. Stay Updated: Stay informed about industry trends, best practices, and emerging technologies relevant to your field. Continuously invest in your professional development to maintain your expertise and stay ahead of the competition.

10. Manage Your Finances: Keep track of your income and expenses, set aside funds for taxes, and ensure you have a reliable invoicing and payment system in place. Consider consulting with a financial advisor or accountant to manage your finances effectively.

Benefits of Online Marketing

Online marketing has only recently made it’s foray, and yet it’s charm, speed and time saving attributes have made it a viable option. Sitting on your chair and just a mouse click away to make a purchase, seems so simple and effortless, that eyebrows are raised-Why online marketing, or rather – How can one enjoy maximum benefits by marketing online? Well, in a nutshell, Internet being a visual medium demands that your website or product be effective and attractive in terms of web design/development, this tried and tested strategy ensures that half the battle is won. But, in case you don’t want to put all your eggs in one basket then , online marketing offers scope to employ various strategies to reach your target. Internet marketing has become an energetic & economical way to buy products and services in less time, without consuming the time and energy of their customers.

These are the apparent benefits, but the subtext unravels other bounties: like cutting costs-online marketing helps you do away with legal and professional services, travel expenses and the charges to market for a stipulated period in journals, newspapers or magazines. This also allows for higher profit margins, since your costs are low, you make more profit form sales. Marketing is an integral part of sales, offline, advertisements costs can burn a whole in your pocket, whereas online you can submit free ads, do ad swaps with e-zines or use pay per click search engines etc.

Here are some key factors and guidelines that an online marketer needs to take into account in order to achieve guaranteed success.

Web Design/Development:Web design/development should be according to the services offered by the provider and targeted community, where content is easily accessible. Try and avoid critical and heavy images, scrolling text and flashing graphics. These can be tedious and put off a prospective buyer. Frequently updating your website in case of alterations will do the trick.

Web Visibility:Enhanced web visibility can translate into higher sales. If your products and services are easily reachable to the user on the web, there will always be a chance to be in the top league. Traditional online marketing skills and various other methods can be employed to increase your web visibility such as Search Engine Optimisation, newsletters, affiliate marketing etc. The following are some of these explained further:

1.

Search Engine Optimisation:Did you know that 90% of all online visitors are attained through search engines. If your website is search engine friendly, you will always have a chance to be on the top of a search engine’s results. You need to ensure that when someone queries a search engine your web site gets returned in the top 30 results (or first 3 pages). This will help generate valuable visitors who can be future customers, adding to your online sales with a high visibility of your products and services. Key to both acquisition and retention is having good content that will attract visitors in the first place and then keep them coming back for more. Search engine crawlers give preference to those web pages which have crisp and valuable content with targeted key phrases. Search Engine Optimisation has been controversial in the past by some companies using unethical ways to get to the top in search engines. These methods are now banned by all major search engines.

2.

Newsletters: Newsletters are by far the most powerful way to communicate with a group (people with common interests) – on a regular basis. Newsletters are great not just for customers, but also for getting employees, distributors, commission sales reps, the media, and any other third party excited about your firm. This is a platform by which you can communicate with your clients, they generate calls and inquiries, and because they are permission based, your clients will receive them favorably. The most important and effective marketing tool because they have a vast reach and convert, Buyers into Customers. Newsletter marketing is therefore one of the best ways to keep in touch with your customers if done with caution. The most prevalent problem with generating newsletters is –SPAM! So avoid predefined keywords and trigger words. To ensure that your newsletter be read it needs to be interesting, informative and helpful.

3. Affiliate Marketing Benefits of affiliate marketing include the potential for automating much of the advertising process (accepting & approving applications, generating unique sales links, tracking & reporting of results) and payment only for desired results (sales, registrations, clicks).

When we talk about affiliate marketing; we can measure affiliate marketing in terms of Pay-Per-Click (PPC) and Cost-Per-Click (CPC).

3.1 PPC: In a PPC agreement, the advertiser’s payment is based on click-through to the destination site based on a prearranged per-click rate.

3.2.CPC:The terms pay-per-click (PPC) and cost-per-click (CPC) are sometimes used interchangeably, sometimes as distinct terms. CPC indicates measurement of cost on a per-click basis for contracts not based on click-through.

Web Analysis: Set up a procedure to analyse your website activities. You should be aware about what’s happening on your website. There are lots of web analytic tools and service providers which can help you with a complete tracking of your website visitors. You can examine the complete summary of your website visitors by following those methods. Web analysis can reap benefits for online marketing, since it allows you to read and monitor your visitors/prospective customers behavior, where they are concentrated(location), what are their preferences(helps you rate your products) and further helps in making future marketing strategies and working on your shortcomings.

People's online expectations have climbed over the last few years and two-thirds don’t ever bother returning to a web site that did not meet their expectations. Keeping these factors in mind can go a long way in providing great value edition in your e-commerce and web promotion activities, and make you a rising star in WWW community, or better still, the only STAR!!

Netlink uses integrated digital solutions to promote and market our client’s business objectives and long term vision. To know more about how we can help you achieve your goals

Contractor Marketing Plan

Remodeling Contractor Marketing Plan

Remodeling Contractor
by John Jantsch

Marketing Vision

We are on a path to becoming the remodeler of choice in our chosen upscale market. Our weekly all-staff meetings always involve discussion of ways we can improve every aspect of business and service to reflect this vision.
1.1 Goals

Personal

* Income of $275,000
* 21 days of vacation
* National Ethics in Business award
* Top 25 Remodeler

Business

* $5 mil revenue
* 25 design projects
* 100% 9 or above rating

Strategic

* Top 3 in market
* 10 carpenters
* Buy building

Tactical

* Redo website
* Top 10 for 5 search terms
* Column in Home Section
* Hire marketing coach

1.2 Purpose

Remodeling is a tough business filled with lots of unkept promises. We will become known as one of the most ethical service providers in our industry and in business in general. Every decision we make will be infused with our core ethics.
1.3 Picture

It's 3pm on a Tuesday and as I enter the office our design team is meeting with a prospect going over our process and portfolio. The customer came to us through a customer whose kitchen was one of the largest we have ever completed. Every aspect of the job went well and in addition to sending us referrals the owner sends the lead project manager on the job cookies and Christmas cards.

When I return to my desk I find 3 inquiries and a request for an interview to talk about our recently instituted green-building process. Shortly I will meet with our customer service team to talk about this year's customer appreciation project.

A quick glance at the project and key indicators board shows we are well on our way to a record year and quickly becoming known as the remodeler of choice if you understand that the remodeling process is as important as project.
1.4 Gap Dashboard

My personal projections are based on a 20% increase in income tied to an even larger increase in revenue.

The business projections are a healthy but realistic 30% increase in business due in large part to our added design capabilities.
Gap Dashboard
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
Personal Goals
Income of $275,000 $275,004 $288,754 $303,192
21 Days of vacation 21 21 21
National Ethics in Business Award 1 Yes Yes
Top 25 Remodeler 6 Yes Yes

Business Goals
Revenue of $5 million $5,120,000 $5,632,000 $6,195,200
25 Design Projects 25 30 35
100% Ratings of 9 or above 9 yes yes

Tactical Goals
Redo/ update website 1 yes yes
Top 10 for 5 Internet search terms 5 yes yes
Write column for the newpaper Home section 45 52 52
Hire marketing coach 1 0 0

Strategic Goals
Top 3 in market 7 yes yes
10 carpenters on staff 10 ten ten
Buy a building for our business 1 done done

Marketing Coach

Marketing Coach Marketing Plan

Marketing Vision

Marketing Coach
by Joe Dager

Our vision is that in 3 to 5 years we will be implementing through content rich material and processes that have become an industry norm on how to go about installing a marketing system.
1.1 Goals

Personal Goals:

* Finish my book by the end of the year
* Become more efficient at storytelling
* Take time off this year

Business Goals:

* Increase consulting engagements from three to six by year's end
* Have minimum of five year-long engagements ongoing by August
* Have 50 attendees per month in webinars

Strategic Goals:

* Increase speaking engagements by the end of year
* Create smooth transition between the steps of the marketing funnel

Tactical Goals:

* Call five people a day, period
* Use social media to promote our expertise with past clients
* Develop cross-promotions for the book with key expert partners

1.2 Purpose

Our business exists to install a simple, affordable, effective and repeatable process into someone's business. Sometimes it can be done in 30 to 90 days, but typically it will take a full year commitment from a firm to establish the foundation, instruments and processes for this to become part of their business culture.
1.3 Picture

The picture we want to paint is that a customer has the ability for their marketing to operate without panic, confusion or scrambling to get something done. Marketing works when it is a process and things are done on a schedule supporting the previous and future steps.
1.4 Gap Dashboard

These key metrics need to be monitored. If we achieve these we believe that we will prosper and succeed in business. But, more importantly, we feel that if we make these efforts and our business is suffering it is apparent that our tactics and strategies need to be adjusted. Using this as an indicator and monitoring our marketing funnel successfully will allow us the freedom and opportunity desired in owning our own business.
Gap Dashboard
2009 2010 2011
Personal
Book with a chapter a month 12 12 12
Storytelling 3 3 3
1 week vacation 4 4 5

Business
Consulting Engagements 6 8 10
Year Long Engagements 5 6 8
Webinar Attendance 50 75 100

Tactical
Call 5 people a day 240 360 480
Smooth transition on Funnel 7 7 7
0 0 0

Strategic
Open source Development 7 10 14
Blogsite 4 4 4
0 0 0

Business Operations Consultant

Business Operations Consultant Marketing Plan

Marketing Vision

Our expertise has become well known in a very quiet manner. People are very aware of what we do and our referral partners continue to create our opportunities. We intend to become more active in other areas through trade association speaking and Internet content marketing.

This should lead us into doing more assessments in the early stages of a business crisis. Accountants seldom share these clients with us but, through educational marketing material, we feel that our growth will be very much determined by the relationships we build in this area.


1.1 Gap Dashboard

Our metrics consist of building relationships. Our ultimate goal is to do assessments earlier in the process of a downturn. Our referral partners and end-customers must be educated about the early signs of trouble and what an operation assessment can do for them. Accountants must not feel that they are giving up any part of their income or customer dependency by including us in this process.
Gap Dashboard
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
Business Goals
Whitepapers 12 12 12
Lunches with Referral Partners 58 60 60

Tactical
Speaking engagements 7 8 10
Blog postings per month 222 275 325

Strategic
Web traffic per month 8,025 10,000 15,000

Employee Trainer Business

Business Employee Trainer Marketing Plan

College Knowledge Centre
by Elizabeth Walker

Marketing Vision


The financial goal for the fiscal year is to generate measurable $1.5MM in gross revenue and deliver $130K in pre-tax profit.

Depending on the state of the economy, we should then be in a position to generate $2MM in gross revenue and deliver $600k in profit by the end of the following year.

We will position the organization as a recognized brand that presents little risk, the destination and centre of excellence for the Small Business sector and the single source of skills training and business knowledge for manufacturing, large enterprise and municipal governments.

We will implement an integrated turnaround program to become a market-driven organization: establishing performance metrics, repositioning, reorganizing, upgrading physical plant and equipment, creating strategic relationships, developing wanted and needed programs, adjusting pricing, attracting the best trainers and facilitators and executing a marketing communications program.

Marketing Plan

Accounting and Book keeping Services Marketing Plan

Sorcerer's Accountant
Marketing Vision
Sorcerer's Accountant will fit the needs of transitional small businesses, dealing with the growing pains of leaving an owner-operator model to hiring employees and expanding. These clients will see that Sorcerer's Accountant is competitively priced, both compared with the market and with the substitute option of hiring their own bookkeepers. Clients will see that Sorcerer's Accountant is extremely flexible and scalable in a way that in-house bookkeepers cannot be.

To move forward with this new business line, Sorcerer's Accountant will make the bookkeeping services the core of its business and a source of leads for its additional accounting services, rather than the other way around. Over time, as this transition happens, the marketing plan will be revisited to see how these clients can be better used as a source for referrals and more business.
Goals

Sorcerer's Accountant's goals include Personal, Marketing, Business, and Client Satisfaction goals.

They are:

1. Personal - To reduce the time spent on the business by Max Greenwood to a more sustainable level over a few years and to achieve professional recognition
2. Marketing - Generation of large numbers of leads and press mentions
3. Business - Expand sales significantly over the next three years
4. Client Satisfaction - To achieve a high level of very satisfied clients

Purpose

Sorcerer's Accountant seeks to provide a full suite of tax and management accounting services for small businesses in Chicago, Illinois, allowing business owners to not only save money over in-house accounting and ensure their compliance with tax laws, but to make valuable management decisions from their numbers.
Picture

When clients come to Sorcerer's Accountant, the frustration of dealing with in-house bookkeepers and low-quality providers will recede. Clients will be given the time to have all of their questions answered and valuable accounting and systems advice will be given even in the initial meetings. The client will quickly understand that Sorcerer's Accountant will scale their services to meet the client's needs and can add to those services as the client's needs change. They will understand that they are not entering into an onerous contract and that the cost of getting started is low.

The client will be delighted the first time they receive a thank you card and small gift when they've made their budgeted numbers for the quarter. At this point it will truly sink in that Sorcerer's Accountant has their bookkeeping and accounting needs covered and that they can put away any worry that this area will be a weak link in their business.
Gap Dashboard

Weekly measurements of key metrics will be averaged for each month and entered in the Gap Dashboard. Personal goals will be tracked by Max Greenwood directly to make sure he is moving towards both professional recognition and a sustainable work/life balance. Marketing goals will be tracked by the CRM system and business goals will be tracked by QuickBooks. Client satisfaction numbers will be derived from the survey provider's database.

Whether numbers are met or not, the news will be shared on a monthly basis with the entire staff, with congratulations and discussion as to what is going right as well as a look at what is going wrong and how it can be rectified. These reports will be shared in full with the bookkeeping program manager and partially with the bookkeepers.
Gap Dashboard
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
Personal
Invitations for speaking engagements 35 72 79
Hours spent on business by Greenwood 2,876 2,700 2,500

Marketing
New leads generated 6,367 7,004 7,704
Press mentions 26 30 35

Business
Sales $218,100 $295,950 $420,350
Net Profit $10,893 $42,591 $64,416

Client Satisfaction
Surveys completed 642 770 924
"Very satisfied" responses 465 577 693
"Unsatisfied" responses 42 38 46

Catering Business Tips

Catering and Ballroom Rental Business Plan

Sumptuous Cuisine Catering
Sumptuous Cuisine Catering is a local catering company serving both business and private clients in Doeuvreville and the surrounding towns within a ten mile radius. Established in 2005, the business has operated a catering kitchen and specialized in full-service catering and event planning for upscale events in the region. The business event management, event staff, a variety of cuisine for breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and appetizers, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverage service, floral design, space design and decor, musicians and DJs, event equipment and furniture rentals, and other event services. Sumptuous Cuisine Catering seeks to expand its operations to a dedicated venue, called The Sumptuous Ballroom, located in Doeuvreville, with a mortgage on the space, its own cash reserves and the issuing of a convertible debt to angel investors.

The addition of The Sumptuous Ballroom to the services provided by Sumptuous Cuisine Catering will enable gross margins to rise above their previous levels and industry averages as rentals of space provide high gross margins. Both existing and new clients will be interested in using this space, and in the additional services Sumptuous Cuisine Catering provides. Top line sales will grow from their current level in 2009 to more than double in 2012. Net profits will rise three-fold from 2010 to 2012 after this acquisition, even with the expected increases in operating expenses. Sumptuous Cuisine Catering will seek to utilize the space on at least 40% of days by the end of year 3 to achieve these results.

Objectives
Sumptuous Cuisine Catering has set the following objectives for the first three years of the launch of its ballroom:

* Renovate and upgrade the interior of the ballroom
* Hire and retain a facilities manager to run the logistics of the new space
* Produce a positive return on investment for the ballroom acquisition by the end of the second year
* Utilize the ballroom on 40% of days by the end of the third year

Mission

Sumptuous Cuisine Catering offers top-class event experiences with flawless execution to business and private clients in the Doeuvreville area. With Sumptuous Cuisine Catering running your event, the food will be delicious, the service will be excellent and the guests will be wowed.
Keys to Success

Keys to success in the catering and event business include:

* Managing and exceeding client expectations
* Balancing expert opinions and advice with care for the client's preferences and vision
* Exhibiting a sense of professional showmanship on the day of the event - the show must go on
* Protecting the client's interests and liability even when it requires unpopular decisions

Sumptuous Cuisine Catering keeps these keys in mind through all events they have managed and catered in the past and will renew their efforts as they open their own catering venue.

Forex Scalping Strategy

Forex Scalping Strategy

The term ‘Forex’, is basically an abbreviation of the words, ‘foreign exchange’. The Forex is a securities market where different currencies of nations is the subject of trade. Like any other market, Forex market works on the buy and sell basis and is more like a barter exchange system, where currency for currency becomes the medium through which the exchange takes place. The Forex market works on the simple principle that there is a difference between the prices of two currencies. For example if you want to sell off 50 USD (United States Dollars) in the Forex market you will get back about 37 Euros. The rate of conversion changes every day and in many cases, it also changes almost after every hour. In fact, Forex scalping strategy is based on this short term changes on the rate of currency exchange.

Beauty in fashion

A collaboration between Pond’s and Plains and Prints

A match made in marketing heaven, skincare brand Pond’s and apparel brand Plains & Prints have collaborated in a campaign that is expected to increase brand awareness and ultimately, achieve sales growth for this holiday season.

There have been precedents to this kind of crossover campaign, in (and outside of) the beauty brand. In August 2009, Pond’s came out with a weekly promo for Project Runway Philippines’ Season 2, culminating in a grand prize win of the "dream dress," one designed during the show.

A few months later in October, Pond’s came out with the Red Dress Collection, working with nine fashion designers for Philippine Fashion Week Holiday 2009.

"This is not the first time that Pond’s has tied up with fashion but by collaborating with Plains & Prints... Pond’s has become more accessible compared to past promotions [with the fashion designers]," said Pond’s Assistant Brand Manager Jules Gollayan, remarking that sales increased by 20% as a result of these promotions.

This time, Plains & Prints has designed 22 dresses, 12 of which will be available at their stores beginning tomorrow while the remaining 10 will be rolled out on Aug. 5.

The dresses were inspired by eight "muses" led by Pond’s model Rissa Mananquil and Plains & Prints endorser Celine Lopez as well as Divine Lee, Apples Aberin, Kelly Misa, Patty Betita, Mai Kaufmann and Bianca Valerio.

The women are mostly models and lifestyle writers with their own sense of style. The collection that bears their names is based on their personality and style predilections.

Plains & Prints owner and head of creatives Roxanne Farillas told BusinessWorld that the goal of the collaboration is to foster a "better understanding" of beauty and fashion in the consumer, highlighting that the two are inseparable.

"While Pond’s offers the latest in skincare innovation through revolutionary beauty products, Plains & Prints offers the latest styles for fashion-forward women... a tandem that will make any woman feel beautiful inside and out," she said.

This campaign takes to the next level the apparel brand’s practice of naming separates after personal friends. Ms. Farillas said that tying a dress to a personality would at the very least heighten brand recognition.

"There’s grandeur in having this group of women all together rather than just a single endorser; it gets the message across that this is the biggest collaboration of ’fashion’s finest and beauty’s best,’" Pond’s Senior Brand Manager Jacqe Yuengtian said in a separate interview.

"We need to communicate this the right way and these muses ensure that the campaign lives up to its name," she added.

Ms. Yuengtian is the proud owner of the Jacqe, a sleeveless white shift tailored to her specifications. The dress is also part of the new collection.

Red and white are the colors of the collection because these are Pond’s colors. The two brands share the same customer base of 25- to 35-year-old women although Plains & Prints has been carrying menswear separates in their stores since February.

The style of the Pond’s-Plains & Prints collection is typical of the brand: simple, streamlined and structured into silhouettes such as the A-line, drop-waist, tulip cut, ’stingray’ cut, overlap draping and peplum hems.

The fabrics -- mostly satin and chiffon and a bit of eyelet and linen -- were imported from Hong Kong and took six months to finish, supposedly because of the meticulous attention to detail. The creation of the collection was an opportunity for the apparel brand to use new techniques such as heat-pressed stamping and digital printing on sequins.

"We are the pioneers in tying up with fashion," said Mr. Gollayan. "In fact, it is considered a good practice and is currently being studied for replication [by our counterparts] in Indonesia."

The Pond’s-Plains & Prints collection ranges from P1,300-P2,000 per item. The standard retail price for Pond’s Age Miracle (50g) is P499 while Pond’s Flawless White Day Cream (50g) is P199.

For every purchase of specially marked Pond’s Age Miracle and Pond’s Flawless White Day Cream (50g), Night Cream (50g), or Serum (30ml), the shopper will get P200 off the Pond’s-Plains & Prints dresses or P100 off any regularly-priced apparel until Sept. 15

Businessman

Businessman

ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun 1. businessman - a person engaged in commercial or industrial business (especially an owner or executive)
man of affairs
amalgamator - a businessman who arranges an amalgamation of two or more commercial companies
arb, arbitrager, arbitrageur - someone who engages in arbitrage (who purchases securities in one market for immediate resale in another in the hope of profiting from the price differential)
big businessman, business leader, magnate, top executive, tycoon, baron, mogul, king, power - a very wealthy or powerful businessman; "an oil baron"
bourgeois, businessperson - a capitalist who engages in industrial commercial enterprise
industrialist - someone who manages or has significant financial interest in an industrial enterprise
oilman - a person who owns or operates oil wells
operator - someone who owns or operates a business; "who is the operator of this franchise?"
owner, proprietor - (law) someone who owns (is legal possessor of) a business; "he is the owner of a chain of restaurants"
small businessman - a businessman who runs a business employing less than 100 people
suit - (slang) a businessman dressed in a business suit; "all the suits care about is the bottom line"
syndicator - a businessman who forms a syndicate
transactor - someone who conducts or carries on business or negotiations

Businessman

Businessman

ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun 1. businessman - a person engaged in commercial or industrial business (especially an owner or executive)
man of affairs
amalgamator - a businessman who arranges an amalgamation of two or more commercial companies
arb, arbitrager, arbitrageur - someone who engages in arbitrage (who purchases securities in one market for immediate resale in another in the hope of profiting from the price differential)
big businessman, business leader, magnate, top executive, tycoon, baron, mogul, king, power - a very wealthy or powerful businessman; "an oil baron"
bourgeois, businessperson - a capitalist who engages in industrial commercial enterprise
industrialist - someone who manages or has significant financial interest in an industrial enterprise
oilman - a person who owns or operates oil wells
operator - someone who owns or operates a business; "who is the operator of this franchise?"
owner, proprietor - (law) someone who owns (is legal possessor of) a business; "he is the owner of a chain of restaurants"
small businessman - a businessman who runs a business employing less than 100 people
suit - (slang) a businessman dressed in a business suit; "all the suits care about is the bottom line"
syndicator - a businessman who forms a syndicate
transactor - someone who conducts or carries on business or negotiations

Fashion Business

BoF Daily Digest | Empire state of fashion, Burberry interactive, Coach goes for guys, Bluefly’s viral push, Suits lose their sting



By ELVA RAMIREZ
Young labels like the Row, Jason Wu, Nellie Partow, Waris Ahluwalia and Prabal Gurung are trumpeting their New York roots on apparel and labels in an effort to create a sartorial version of the locavore movement. The idea: to link locally-made clothes with artisanal values to promote stitched-in-New York sales.

As New York's Garment District struggles to survive, a consortium of designers and manufacturers have launched a campaign, Made in Midtown, in hopes that clothing shoppers will become more conscious of the impact of their purchases.
A prominent tag on a Jason Wu dress reads, "This garment has been completely hand assembled in New York, using fabrics of superior craftmanship." Mr. Wu says that keeping his operations in New York, where his design studio is located, is vital to his business. Close proximity to his pattern makers, cutters and suppliers allows him to more easily experiment with designs as well as keep tabs on the work, says the designer, who rose to national fame when Michelle Obama wore a dress designed by him to the presidential inauguration.

Online Business Ideas & Plans, Ways To Make Money Online

Nine Things to Know Before Selecting

the Web Host for Your Business

It may seem simple yet it is often times overlooked. When it comes to

choosing the right Internet hosting provider for their websites, the majority

of business owners or companies know very little about making the best

Internet/Web hosting decisions.

• What makes a good Internet/Web hoster for a business website? What makes a bad one?
• How can the wrong Internet/Web hoster help/harm your business?
• What are the different types of Internet/Web hosting services?
• Which ones are best for which industries?

Here are some tips to help you make the right decisions:

1. Understand the types of hosting.
   Know the distinctions between shared, collocated, unmanaged dedicated, and managed dedicated hosting so you can choose the one that is right for your business. It is crucial to understand the difference between the types of hosting offered. As the hosting industry has matured, hosting offers have split into several distinct categories, each with its own strengths and weaknesses.

2. • Shared hosting (sometimes called virtual hosting), means that you are sharing one server with a number of other clients of that company. The host manages the server almost completely (though you maintain your site and your account). They can afford to charge you little since many clients are paying for use of the server. However, companies other than yours are using the resources of that server. That means heavy traffic to one of the other sites on the server can really hammer the performance of your site. Also, you are typically not able to install special software programs on these types of machines, because the host will need to keep a stable environment for all of the clients using the server.
   • Collocated hosting means that you purchase a server from a hardware vendor, like Dell or HP for example, and you supply this server to the host. The host will then plug your server into its network and its redundant power systems. The host is responsible for making sure its network is available, and you are responsible for all support and maintenance of your server. Good hosters will offer management contracts to their collocation clients so that you can outsource much of the support to them and come to an arrangement similar to managed dedicated hosting (see below). Most collocation hosts do not offer this service, however.
   • Unmanaged dedicated hosting is very similar to collocation, except that you lease a server from a host and do not actually own it yourself. Some very limited support (typically Web-based only) is included, but the level of support varies widely from unmanaged dedicated host to unmanaged dedicated host. This type of server can be had for around $99/month. Support levels are typically only provided in general terms.Ask the host to go into specifics about what support they will provide — e.g.,will they apply security patches to your server? — before signing up. This service is typically good for gaming servers (like Doom or Counterstrike servers) or hobbyist servers, but not for serious businesses that need responsive, expert-level service.
   • Managed dedicated hosting means leasing a server from a host and having that company provide a robust level of support and maintenance on the server that is backed by quality guarantees. This maintenance typically includes services such as server uptime monitoring, a hardware warranty, security patch updates, and more. Be sure your managed dedicated host gives you specifics about the managed services included, so that you can be sure they are not disguising an unmanaged dedicated offering as a managed dedicated server. This has been known to happen, unfortunately, which is why it is important to do your homework and ask the right questions.
3. Ask if your potential host’s network has blackholed IPs.
   Many hosts care little about who is actually hosting on their networks, so long as the clients pay their bill. That means many hosters will allow porn sites, SPAMMERS and servers that create security issues on their network for the sake of the dollar. Even if you are to place ethical issues aside, this does, however, have a negative impact on customers in general, when a network gets blackholed for spamming, for example.Getting blackholed means that other networks will refuse e-mail originated from IP addresses that are blacklisted. Some hosts have a number of entire class C (up to 256 IPs) networks blackholed, and will try to redistribute these tainted IPs to new clients. That means if your business relies on legitimate closed loop opt-in e-mail marketing to drive sales, being on such a network can severely cut response to your campaign because your e-mail may never get to its destination having been blocked and filtered out because of the activities of the previous IP users. And you’ll likely be unaware that it is happening.Check with any hosts you are considering to see if their networks are blackholed. Also, here is a link to a third party source that tracks blackholed networks and lists them: www.spamhaus.org/sbl/isp.lassoThe following URL is a good resource to help you understand what is labeled SPAM and what isn’t: www.spamhaus.org/mailinglists.html
4. Don’t confuse size with stability.
   Just because a Web hosting company is big, does not mean it is stable and secure. In fact, many of the biggest filed for bankruptcy protection or were saved by being sold to some other company, in some cases causing uncomfortable transitions in service for their clients. How do you protect yourself? Ask some key questions: How long has the host been in business? Is current ownership the same as always? Are they profitable and cash flow positive from operation-generated revenue?
5. Don’t make price your only priority.
   The old saying “you get what you pay for” applies to most things in life, and hosting is certainly one of those things. When you over-prioritize price, you run the risk of ending up with a host that will provide you with a connection to the Internet and little else in terms of support (and even that connection may be running at maximum capacity or have uptime issues).
6. Make sure your host has fully redundant data centers.
   When dealing with smaller vendors, make sure that they have their own data centers and that those data centers are fully redundant in terms of power and connectivity. Here are a few questions to ask:
   • How many lines do they have coming into the facility?
   • What is the average utilization of their connections? (No matter how large the connection, it if is running at maximum capacity it will be slow.)
   • Do they have redundant power to the servers?
   • Do they have a generator on-site?
   • How often do they test their generator?
   • What sort of security measures do they have in place for the network?
   • What physical security do they have?
   • What type of fire suppression systems do they have in place?
7. Find out if they have actual experienced systems administrators on their support staff.
   When you call in for technical support, it can be a frustrating experience to be stuck talking with a non-technical “customer service” representative when you really need to talk to a systems administrator who can resolve your issues. Find out the structure of their support department, how quickly you can get to an actual systems administrator when you need to, and which systems administrators can help you when you need help.
8. Make sure the host is flexible.
   It is important that the hoster understands how important quality servers are to their clients’ businesses. Even most managed dedicated hosts will not go near supporting applications that are not part of their initial server setup. Find a hoster that has a vast amount of experience to support a wide variety of applications, and one that can bring that expertise to you through their services.
9. Find out what their former/current clients say about them.
   Can your prospective host provide you with success stories for clients with similar configurations to yours? Are they able to provide references from clients who can tell you about their experience using that company?
10. Make sure the host’s support doesn’t include extra charges.
    Make sure any host you consider provides you with a comprehensive list outlining the support they offer so that you can have an understanding of what is supported for free, what is supported at a fee, and what is not supported at all. Many hosts will try to hide a sub-standard level of free support behind non-specific statements of high quality support, so make them get specific to win your business.