Start A Business in 10 Days

With an executive staffing venture about to open, a business loan from the in-laws gnawing at her conscience and a new baby to care for, Michelle Fish was already feeling the pressure. But what really pushed her over the edge was an unexpected communiqué from the IRS demanding immediate payment of a "huge sum" owed from a prior business in which she was a partner.Poof! Her seed money was gone. "All the spreadsheets, all the forecasting, all the preplanning took a back seat once that bill came," recalls Fish, hearkening back to the 2003 launch of her Charlotte, N.C.-based firm, Integra Staffing.

Jeremy Ostermiller didn't need a letter to know that he had to get his Denver-based media-tech startup, Altitude Digital, into the black fast or watch his future take a dispiriting U-turn. "I knew it had to be profitable," he says. "I had put my last $500 into it, and I definitely didn't want to move back in with my parents."

A lightning-fast rise to profitability by their respective startups spared Fish and Ostermiller from going belly up. Neither has looked back since. Now a decade old, enjoying seven-figure annual revenues and flush with Fortune 500 corporate clients, Integra Staffing is the third-largest female-owned business in Charlotte, according to Fish. Meanwhile, 4-year-old Altitude Digital, which matches online content publishers with advertisers using an eBay-like bidding platform, is on target to generate $20 million in revenue this year.

Chances are, neither venture would be where it is today if not for the strategically sound groundwork laid by its founder prior to and right after launch. Trying to start a business and make it profitable in a matter of weeks isn't for the squeamish. Nor is it always advisable. But it can be done. In fact, we've condensed the process into 10 intense, highly focused days. Call it our DIY accelerator to launching a business.

Read on to learn how Fish, Ostermiller and a handful of others did it fast--and, more important, did it right.

Day 1

Draw up a business plan

When launching College Hunks Hauling Junk in 2004, the first move for friends Nick Friedman and Omar Soliman was to dust off the business plan they'd written in college a couple of years prior. "Ultimately, it was a really valuable guide for us," Friedman says. In fact, it helped turn their $80,000 initial investment ($30,000 of which was their own money) into a powerhouse with some 500 employees and 47 U.S. franchises.

Whether written on the back of a napkin or a highly detailed 25-page document, a business plan is critical for startups seeking the fast route to profitability, asserts Ken Yancey, CEO of SCORE, a small-business mentoring organization that offers free, generic business-plan templates on its website.

Day 2

Study the market

Market research is vital to a startup looking to hit the ground running, according to Yancey. You want to create a snapshot of the competitive landscape you're entering: how your products or services compare to what's available, who your target customers are and what government regulations and licensing requirements to expect. The SBA's SizeUp tool provides access to meaningful demographic data, mapping potential customers, competitors and suppliers, as well as identifying possible advertising avenues.

When he was preparing to launch National Storm Shelters in 2010, company president Jeff Turner conducted market research at trade shows and held discussions with potential customers and competitors. This confirmed what his instincts told him: that he had a winning product. The Smyrna, Tenn.-based company, which designs, manufactures and installs above- and below-ground safe rooms and storm shelters, was profitable virtually since day one and now generates about $1.5 million in annual sales.

As valuable as prelaunch research and planning can be, beware of paralysis by over-analysis, especially when you lack the luxury of time, cautions Fish from Integra Staffing. "Defining your sandbox is important. But don't over-think or over-plan, and don't put a lot of stock in sales forecasts."

You're bound to have questions about strategy and practicalities leading up to launch. To get answers without ringing up an expensive consulting tab, enlist someone with the acumen and willingness to provide advice, coaching and skills to augment those you lack. A former boss provided free advice to Ostermiller initially, then became a paid advisor once Altitude Digital could afford the expense.

Day 3

Build out your brand

A brand identity, including a name and a professional-looking logo, can bring instant legitimacy, even before launch. For DIYers, online tools like LogoMaker offer libraries of icons, color combinations and other elements to help develop a logo fast--no design expertise required. Services such as Logoworks are available if you want the work done for you quickly and inexpensively. Once you have your logo nailed down, take your file to a quick-turnaround print service for letterhead, business cards and marketing collateral such as posters, mailers and sales sheets.

In most cases, startups need some kind of web presence to solidify their brand identity (see "The quick-start startup" on page 20). Don't forget to stake out a position on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and LinkedIn. You may not use social media right now, but you want to plant your flag ASAP.

Day 4

Incorporate the business

The nature of the startup dictates the extent to which it should rely on an attorney to incorporate, trademark ideas/products, formalize partnership agreements, etc. While it's best to let an attorney tackle any complex legal matters, Friedman of College Hunks Hauling Junk suggests considering some of the numerous online tools available to help you handle simple undertakings yourself. "Our first bill from an attorney to set up an LLC was $1,500. Little did we know we could have done that ourselves for $300 online," he says.

Day 5

Set up a lean machine

With the clock ticking toward launch, Ostermiller needed help. He found it on Craigslist, taking on two unpaid interns (both recent college grads) whom he immediately put to work--one on sales and one on operations--with the promise to hire them full time after 90 days if things went well.

With no office yet, Ostermiller's interns worked from coffee shops while he did so from his kitchen table. Likewise, Friedman's parents' basement served as the first office for College Hunks Hauling Junk. For Fish and Integra Staffing, a modest office, spartanly furnished with used furniture, sufficed. From the outset, she says, the goal was to "minimize the monthly burn."

Another tip: Beware the glowing promises of efficiency and speed from shiny new technology and software. "Unless technology is part of your core competency, you need to be careful how much you invest in technology early on, because it can become very expensive very quickly," Friedman says. "You really need to fine-tune your model before investing a lot in technology solutions."

Day 6

Start selling

Bringing in profits means making sales. Ostermiller and his interns chased leads even before his company launched officially. Fish's sales efforts began with tireless networking. "I didn't have any money then, so I got my ass out of the chair and into the community," she says. "Any event in town with more than 25 people, I was there. Breakfast, lunch or dinner--it didn't matter."

To lay the marketing and sales groundwork for his startup, Friedman let people in his personal network know about his new venture. "We had a support network, a group of cheerleaders who were really inspired to help us with our idea before we launched."

Day 7

Work the media

To generate buzz and sales, make media relations a priority. As Turner and Friedman discovered, media outreach by a business owner can pay quick and substantial dividends. "I called different TV stations the first day we went to market to tell them about [National Storm Shelters] and ended up on the 5 o'clock news," Turner says. "That was huge!"

Similarly, right around the time of its launch, College Hunks got a major boost from an article that landed in The Washington Post thanks to Friedman placing a call to a reporter there. "We shot high, and it got us on the front page of the Metro section," he says. "Our phone rang off the hook from that article."

Day 8

Fake it to make it

Success is often a self-fulfilling prophecy. However modest your beginnings, however short your track record, think big and act like you belong. "We were scraping by, but we walked, talked and acted like a bigger company," Friedman says.

College Hunks launched with an 800 number, a memorable logo and a website that provided e-mail addresses for a range of company departments (pr@…, marketing@…, HR@…), all of which funneled back to Friedman and his partner. "It made us look like we were an established business," Friedman says. "Having that image not only gave us confidence, it established a level of credibility and confidence in the consumer's mind. I think that's what got us those large corporate accounts early on."

Fish took a different tack. She says she invested in a receptionist prior to launch, primarily to impart a sense of professionalism to callers.

Day 9

Work in and on your business

For startup entrepreneurs, the fast route to profitability often means working in and on the business concurrently--at least in the first days and weeks. It's a constant battle for time between hustling up new business and taking care of new customers with outstanding service. "We were at the dump at 5 a.m., doing all the physical stuff, while also doing all the customer-facing stuff whenever we could," Friedman says.

When the day-to-day workload from the business becomes too heavy--a good sign, because it means you have customers--it's time to move tasks such as strategic planning, hiring and marketing programs to the back burner. Focus on generating cash flow first, Friedman suggests.

Day 10

Throw a party

With the foundation for your business set, invite your network of contacts, vendors, friends, family, customers and prospects to a grand-opening celebration to generate buzz and goodwill within your community. Doing so solidifies your image, telling people you're open for business and you mean it.

At the party, take a breath, sip some champagne, make a speech thanking everyone who's helped and seek feedback from your guests. In short order, you've created your first focus group, one that will likely provide you with a laundry list of tweaks, ideas and improvements that you can start on tomorrow.

source : http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/228659

How to be a Tycoon

Entrepreneurship needs different character than the employee. If you want to become a businessman or an entrepreneur, you need to be flexible and have good planning and organizational skills.

"Starting and running a successful business can be rewarding and challenging. Success requires focus, discipline and perseverance. However, success will not come over night - it requires a long-term focus and that you remain consistent in challenging environments."

1. Be Creative: 
                           Always be looking for ways to improve your business and to make it stand out from the competition. Recognize that you don't know everything and be open to new ideas and new approaches to your business.
2. Get Organized: 
                         Organization will help you complete tasks and stay on top of things to be done. A good way to do this is to create a to-do list each day - as you complete each item, check it off your list. This will ensure that you're not forgetting anything and you're completing all the tasks that are essential to the survival of your business.
3. Be Consistent: 
                             Consistency is key component to making money in business. You have to consistently keep doing the things necessary to be successful day in and day out. This will create long-term positive habits that will help you make money over the long term.
4. Analyze Your Competition: 
                             Competition breeds the best results. To be successful, you can't be afraid to study and learn from your competitors. After all, they may be doing something right that you can implement in your business to make more money.
5. Understand the Risks and Rewards: 
                          The key to being successful is taking calculated risks to help your business grow. A good question to ask is "What's the downside?" If you can answer this question, then you know what the worst-case scenario is. This knowledge will allow you to take the kinds of calculated risks that can generate tremendous rewards for your business.
6. Stay Focused: 
                         The old saying that "Rome was not built in a day" applies here. Just because you open a business doesn't mean that you're going to immediately start making money. It takes time to let people know who you are, so stay focused on achieving your short-term goals and give the rest time to come together on its own.  
7. Ability to become a leader: 
                         It is impossible to do all the job by yourself alone. When your business grow bigger, you need to hire employees to help you. So, in this stage, your main job is to lead. If you don’t have the ability to lead, you won’t be able to be a leader.
8. Great decision maker: 
                        If you need some information, will you be able to get it as soon as possible, without wasting other people’s time and yours? And will you be able to take a fast decision based on information you collect. Most of successful businessman have accurate instinct to take a risky decision, they use it when they feel hesitate, and almost always get succeed.
9. Prepare to Make Sacrifices: 
                     The lead-up to starting a business is hard work, but after you open your doors, your work has just begun. In many cases, you have to put in more time than you would if you were working for someone else. In turn, you have to make sacrifices, such as spending less time with family and friends in order to be successful.
10. Provide Great Service: 
                   There are many successful businesses that forget that providing great customer service is important. If you provide better service for your customers, they'll be more inclined to come to you the next time they need something instead of going to your competition.

source : http://www.codeimagine.com/2011/09/10-tips-to-be-successful-business.html

MESOPOTAMIA, SEMIT, DAN SPIRITUALITAS

      Di antara semua peradaban kuno yang diketahui, Mesopotamia adalah yang paling memiliki tempat yang istimewa. Peradaban ini tberkembang di daerah yang luas membentang dari Gunung Taurus di sebelah utara hingga Teluk Persia di sebelah selatan dan dari Gunung Zagros di sebelah timur hingga Gurun Syiria di sebelah barat. Wilayah ini termasuk ke dalam wilayah Semenanjung Arab, yang, sebagaimana diketahui, menjadi tempat lahirnya agama-agama besar di dunia.

Berbeda dengan sebagian besar wilayah Jazirah Arab, wilayah Mesopotamia atau secara harfiah wilayah yang terletak di antara dua sungai ini – baca : Tigris dan Eufrat – adalah wilayah yang subur akibat endapan lumpur yang dating setelah banjir. Sehingga, wilayah ini menjadi rebutan berbagai bangsa di dunia. Ada banyak bangsa yang luar biasa yang mendiami wilayah itu. Namun, yang paling dominan dan berpengaruh adalah bangsa Semit. Sebuah bangsa yang sedemikian istimewa sehingga memegang banyak peranan besar sepanjang sejarah.

Sehebat dan seistimewa apakah orang-orang Semit itu? Untuk mengetahuinya harus terlebih dulu mengetahui siapa orang-orang Semit tersebut. Secara umum, orang-orang Semit adalah mereka yang termasuk ke dalam bangsa Arab, Ibrani, Babilonia, Khaldea, Assyiria, Ethiopia, Saba, dan beberapa bangsa lain yang hidup di sekitar semenanjung Arab. Banga-bangsa tersebut memakai bahasa yang keseluruhannya menggunakan huruf konsonan yang bentuk dasarnya terdiri dari tiga huruf.

Bangsa-bangsa tersebut terkenal sebagai bangsa yang unik, sebuah representasi dari kemampuan bertahan hidup dari berbagai kondisi dalam waktu lama, dan sebagai sebuah kelompok mata rantai dari sebuah perjalanan spiritualitas yang besar dan agung yang sudah dimulai sejak berlampau-lampau lalu, dan sekaligus mendirikan peradaban-peradaban serta kerajaan-kerajaan yang luar biasa yang meletakkan banyak dasar kecakapan hidup yang paling fundamental dalam hidup manusia. Tapi yang paling dikenang dari orang-orang ini tentu saja pemikiran spiritual mereka yang mengagumkan yang telah mengubah wajah dunia selama periode yang panjang bahkan sampai sekarangpun, kepercayaan dan agama yang dipilih oleh berjuta umat manusia adalah keturunan langsung dari apa yang dikenal sebagai spiritualitas semit.

Kehidupan orang-orang Semit kuno itu paling dapat dilihat pada kehidupan suku-suku Arab nomad yang sampai sekarang masih mendiami banyak tempat di kawasan-kawasan paling gersang di dunia. Orang-orang arab nomad ini adalah kaum yang terlahir sebagai seorang demokrat. Mereka adalah orang-orang yang terlahir dengan semangat individualis dan lebih lanjut menjadi semangan ksukuan yang fanatik dan chauvinistik. Kehidupan mereka sangat menjujung tinggi kewibawaan, kebijaksanaan, dan kesederhanaan. Sebagaimana dikenal umumnya, orang-orang ini memilih tinggal di gurun dengan tenda-tenda dari kulit unta, memakan makanan yang sederhana, dan berpakaian yang sederhana pula yang begitu pasif seperti sikap hidup mereka. Segala macam upaya untuk membebaskan diri dari kehiduppan gurun mereka anggap sebagai sesuatu yang dapat menurunkan derajat mereka serta sebagai wujud penghinaan terhadap Yang Sakral itu sendiri. Sehingga, dengan kehidupan yang seperti itu, tidak heran banyak pemikiran spiritualitas besar yang terlahir dari bangsa Semit sebagaimana orang-orang Arab nomad tersebut. Meski begitu, orang-orang Semit tetap dapat terbuka dengan dunia luar. Sebagaimana banyak di antara suku-suku Arab nomad saat ini yang pindah ke kehidupan masyarakat kota sebagaimana terjadi di Arab Saudi, orang-orang Semit pada masa lalu juga menyerap banyak hal dari sekitar mereka. Sebut saja dalam sistem penulisan di Mesopotamia, meski telah menguasai sebagian besar wilayah Mesopotamia, sistem penulisan yang mereka gunakan tetap saja mengikuti sistem penulisan yang digunakan oleh bangsa Sumeria yang notabene-nya bukan termasuk rumpun Semit.

Meskipun pendiri awal peradaban di Mesopotamia adalah orang-orang Sumeria yang dianggap bukan merupakan bagian dari keluarga Semit. Namun roda pemerintahan selanjutnya dipegang oleh mereka yang termasuk cikal bakal bangsa semit yang merupakan keturunan orang –orang Sumeria tersebut. Dikisahkan bahwa setelah periode banjir besar, anak-anak Nabi Nuh AS yang selamat berpencar ke berbagai wilayah di sekitar tanah Mesopotamia itu dan melahirkan banyak bangsa, seperti misalnya orang-orang Amori – Semit -- yang lahir dari Kanaan yang merupakan keturunan Ham (ada yang menyebut Sam) bin Nuh. Maka, tidak mustahil bahwa pendangan spiritualitas orang-orang Semit periode awal banyak dipengaruhi oleh pandangan orang-orang Sumeria.

Tokoh besar spiritual lainyya dari bangsa-bangsa Semit ini adalah apa yang dikenal sebagai leluhur bangsa Ibrani dan Arab-Ismailiyat (yang berbahasa Suryani dan lalu mengalami Arabisasi; arab Musta`ribah “pendatang”), yang hidup pada masa Babilonia, yang selanjutnya melahirkan tiga agama monoteis besar, Islam, Kristen, dan yang paling tua Yahudi, yaitu adalah Ibrahim AS. Dalam Al Quran sendiri, diceritakan tentang bagaimana proses seorang Ibrahim muda dalam merenungkan siapa sebenarnya Al Ilah itu. Gambaran tersebut menunjukkan betapa luar biasanya pemikiran dan konsep spiritualitas orang-orang Semit itu tanpa mengesampingkan konsep wahyu dan kerasulan itu sendiri.

Tidak berhenti sampai di situ saja, bangsa-bangsa penghuni Mesopotamia juga dikenal sebagai bangsa yang giat merepresentasikan kepercayaan mereka dalam kehidupan sehari-hari. Mereka membangun banyak ziggurat yang luar biasa itu sebagai tempat peribadatan. Nama Babilonia sendiri juga mengandung arti pintu langit atau pintu surge dan kota tersebut, selain menjadi ibukota pemerintahan, juga ibukota agama dan kepercayaan pada masanya.

Tokoh lain yang tidak kalah terkenal dan berpengaruhnya adalah Nabi Yunus AS yang merupakan seorang nabi yang terlahir dari masyarakat di ibukota kerajaan Assyiria kuno di tepi sungai Tigris, masyarakat kota Ninawa (Ninua dalam bahasa Akadia). Nabi Yunus dikenal sebagai seorang nabi yang pernah ditelan ikan besar saat pelayaran. Sedangkan kaum beliau dikenal sebagai kaum yang selamat dari azab karena menyadari kesalahan mencampakkan sang nabi.

Selain itu, juga terdapat Nabi Danial yang makamnya sampai sekarang masih dapat kita luhat di Kirkuk, Iraq, yang dahulunya merupakan medan pertempuran antara tiga kerajaan : Assyur (Assyiria), Babilonia baru, dan Media.

Sementara itu, di bagian lain Semenanjung Arab, banyak pula bermunculan nabi yang meskipun tidak termasuk sebagai pendiri kerajaan-kerajaan Mesopotamia, tapi hidup sebagai keturunan dan saudara serumpun orang-orang itu serta mewarisi kerajaan dan spiritualitas yang sama mengagumkan dengan para pendahulunya. Sebut saja Nabi Dawud dan putranya Nabi, Sulaiman, yang mewarisi kerajaan yang besar dan sebagai penerus kepercayaan Nabi Musa dan Nabi Yusuf – berhubungan dengan sejarah Mesir kuno – yang notabene-nya merupakan keturunan Nabi Yaqub yang merupakan keturunan Nabi Ishak yang merupakan putra dari Nabi Ibrahim. Demikian juga Nabi Muhammad yang merupakan keturunan dari Nabi Ismail yang menjadi saudara seayah dari Nabi Ishak. Jauh sebelum itu juga telah tercatat nama Nabi Samuel yang hidup sebelum masa raja Thalut (rraja bangsa Ibrani sebelum Nabi Dawud).

Sampai sekarang, tidak hanya tiga agama monoteis besar yang kita kenal saja yang menjadi peninggalan mereka. Tapi juga berbagai kepercayaan yang sampai saat ini masih berpengaruh di sekitar kawasan Semenanjung Arab, terutama sekitar Kawasan Teluk. Misalnya kaum Shabiiyyah Mandaiyyah (dalam Al Quran disebut Shabiin) yang banyak tiggal di sekitar Syiria yang mengklaim sebagai kaum Nabi Shaleh AS dan masih banyak yang lainnya.

Penggambaran-penggambaran tersebut menunjukkan bagaimana mengagumkannya pemikiran-pemikiran keruhanian orang-orang Mesopotamia kuno, terutama orang-orang rumpun Semit, yang dikenal sebagai para pengukir sejarah di seluruh dunia dari berbagai masa. Kelebihan dan kedalaman pemikiran serta spiritualitas mereka kemungkinan dibentuk oleh kehidupan yang terus berubah-ubah dan banyak tertekan serta terjebak kondisi sulit baribu-ribu tahun lamanya. Dan hebatnya, mereka menyadari kelebihan pemikiran dan spiritualitas mereka melebihi umat-umat yang lain dan memanfaatkannya untuk menjadi alat-alat Sang Illah untuk menetapkan dasar-dasar spiritualitas yang paling fundamental dalam hidup manusia, terlepas dari semua penyimpangan yang ada.

Sehingga kita sekarang dapat mempelajari dari mereka sebuah semangat spiritualitas yang tidak perbah lekang oleh waktu, banjir besar, atau ganasnya iklim gurun selama ribuan tahun sekalipun. Dan kita akhirnya juga dapat menggunakan metode-metode semitik mereka untuk menciptakan spiritualitas kita sendiri dari dasar-dasar yang telah ditetapkan dalam agama kita serta mengaktualisasikannya dalam kehidupan bukan semata-mata sebagai sebuah ritus, tetapi juga sebagai sebuah penghayatan akan perjuangan kehidupan selama manusia pertama hidup sampai kita saat ini memiliki semua peradaban yang mereka riintis untuk kita, serta sebagai sarana kedekatan kita kepada Sang Illah.

“Wahai Bani Israil, ingatlah kalian akan nikmat-nimat--Ku yang telah Aku berikan pada kalian dan sungguh Aku telah melebihkan kalian dari semua umat di alam semesta ini (pada masa itu).

Q.S. Al Baqarah 2 : 47