AllFreelanceWork.com is an 8 year old Freelance Projects Board offering freelancers Freelance Jobs Search, Free Portfolios,& articles. AllFreelanceWork is also a great small business resource for starting a home business & looking for home business opportunities (no scams). AllFreelanceWork is filled with freelance resources, including small business startup tips, self-employment articles, how to start a freelance or small home business, articles about self-employed health insurance offers, promoting & marketing your small business, finding small business & freelance business opportunites for graphic designers, web designers, writers, screenwriters, programmers,artists, editors, & other careers & professions.

	Search Career Schools Zip Code: Subject: Digital & Media Arts Fashion Design Interior Design Photography Graphic Design Animation Web Design Business Culinary Arts Education Healthcare Law & Justice Psychology Technology Technicians Degree: - Select All Degrees - Associate's Bachelor's Master's Doctoral Certificates Diplomas Coursework Online Campus Both

5 Steps To Help Fail-Proof Your Growing Freelance Services Small, Home-Based Business

by "Dangerous" Debbie Jenkins

Business startup and failure rates are scary... In The USA...

- Every Year Over 1 Million People Start A Business

- By The End Of The First Year 40% Of Them Will Be Out Of Business

- Within 5 Years More Than 80% (800,000) Of These Businesses Will Have Failed

(Source: The eMyth Revisited, Michal E Gerber, US Department of Commerce)

In The UK...

- 2003 Saw 423,100 New Businesses In England & Wales Startup

- Over Half of All New Firms Fail In The First 3 Years

- At Least 211,550 Of These Businesses Will Have Failed Before The End Of 2006

(Source: Barclays SME Market Research Team England & Wales Statistics Based On Business Current Account Customers)

Unfortunately more and more people are being encouraged to go it alone by government agencies and banks while being given out-dated advice that doesn't actually work.

The advisors in these organizations typically have experience in larger production / manufacturing / financial businesses and share marketing advice that really doesn't work for the majority of small service-based businesses today.

Their text-book marketing principles simply do not translate to businesses with limited money to invest in advertising, direct mail and telesales.

In many cases these advisors are telling people how to run a business even though they're actually working for a bank or government agency themselves. They have no real experience spending their own money to grow a business.

Survival and inevitable success means being lean, mean and focused on getting a genuine result (in the form of profit) from the time and money you invest.

So here are 5 tips you can use to take the power back and begin "fail proofing" your growing business today.

1. Question "Experts" Thoroughly

Be wary of government funded trainers and / or advisors put forward by banks.

These people, in many cases, don't have a clue what its like to run and grow their own business. Make it your job to "suss them out" before taking anything they tell you too seriously.

Some questions that I like...

What's your experience of starting and running a small business?

Have you actually spent your own money trying to make a business work?

What mistakes have you made? What lessons can I learn from your experience?

Will this advice / support / idea cost me money or make me money?

Who really benefits when I take the course of action you're recommending?

2. Model Excellent Small Businesses

Now by this I don't mean simply copy random things they do.

Just because the boss of a successful firm like yours drives a brand-new Bentley it doesn't mean you should rush out and buy one too. That won't guarantee success.

You're looking to find the things that she did in order to afford the Bentley in the first place.

So find out as much about their processes and systems as you can and then look for evidence to support applying similar things that work for them to your business.

Subscribe to their mailing list. Visit their premises. Talk to their staff. Talk to their customers. Read their ads (or notice that they don't advertise). Network with them.

You can learn just as much from non-competing businesses too. So why not set up a support / learning group or see if a successful entrepreneur would be able to mentor you.

3. Have A BIG Goal

Big goals, by definition, should be easier to hit than small goals. So don't think small - think big.

After nearly 8 years in business I still like to set regular, big, 90 day goals. I call these goals SHAGs - Short Hairy Audacious Goals.

Too many businesses focus on surviving. They think in terms of what they don't want. They miss the opportunity to really succeed and then get what they were desperately trying to avoid - failure!

Focusing on what you don't want really doesn't work. If you don't want to fail you should focus on succeeding in a big way.

4. Improve Constantly

Have goals and set targets. Know what outcomes you want and quantify them where possible.

Then work towards your goals using the following cycle...

1. Implement (Do Something) 2. Measure (Test & Review) 3. Improve (Learn & Adjust)

As my friend and firewalk trainer Sanjay Shah says, if you simply improve by 1 percent a day, you'll have improved 300 percent (allowing for holidays) in a year!

5. Don't Follow The Crowd

Look, we both know most businesses fail so don't do what most other businesses do or you'll get the same results.

Don't just advertise because every other business seems to advertise. Make sure advertising will make you money.

Don't just do telesales because that happens to be the service your local Chamber of Commerce is selling.

Don't measure turnover when profit and cash flow is usually more important.

Don't take on staff just because other businesses believe more people equals growth. More people often just means less profit!

Don't do the same thing, in the same way, to the same people as every other business like yours.

Do something different!

"Dangerous" Debbie Jenkins may be contacted at http://www.debbiejenkins.com "Dangerous" Debbie Jenkins is a marketer, author and stand-up comedian who helps the owners of small expert businesses get more success by doing and spending less. Join her F^REE Lean Marketing eZine here ==> http://www.leanmarketing.co.uk/free-news.php

 

Please suggest a site here

Freelance Billing Help

Graphic Design Portal

Adobe Photoshop Tutorials

sister sites :

Freelance Self-Employed Jobs Directory

Graphics Software Information

All Work At Home Ideas

Tutorials Directory

All Freelance Work is a freelance jobboard, small business community, consulting business article base, and freelance self-employment business information zone (and also great for people who have home-based businesses). All Freelance Work has been around since 2000 and is the home to over 170,000 freelancers. With 100s of freelance articles and 30,000 registered employers of freelancers, we have helped 1000 of contracted independent professionals find the perfect consulting jobs. Spend some time on this freelance site and see why so many freelancers keep coming back to All Freelance Work day after day. We welcome all self-employed professionals and we welcome all employers looking to hire our independent professionals. (Employers Can Search or Browse for Portfolios from the bottom or top of this page).

CONTACT US ------ ADVERTISERS ------ FAQ ------ ABOUT US ------ PRIVACY POLICY ------ TERMS OF USELinks -----> folios--Adobe Photoshop Tutorials--All Work At Home Ideas--Freelance Jobs --Graphic Designers Resources--All Advertising Online--Artists Helping Children--Blue Sfear--ContractedWork--Family Travel Destinations -- Schools and Learning -- Find Dentists --Web Design Resources -- Graphics Software & Photoshop Tutorials -- Web Design -- Web Designers -- Web Design Portfolio

ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A FREELANCER - BROWSE THROUGH OUR FREELANCER'S PORTFOLIOS BELOW:

Freelance Graphic Designers Portfolios -- Freelance Animators Portfolios -- Freelance Multimedia Artists Portfolios -- Flash Artists Portfolios -- CAD Professionals Portfolios -- Freelance Copyeditors Portfolios -- Proofreaders Portfolios -- Creative Direction Portfolios -- Freelance Creative Directors Portfolios -- Fashion Designers Portfolios -- Film / Video / Audio Artists Portfolios -- Game Artists Portfolios -- Freelance Desktop Publishers DTP Galleries -- Illustrator and Illustration Galleries -- Free-lance Cartoonists Galleries -- Free-lance Industrial Designers Galleries -- Free-lance Interior Designers Galleries -- Marketing and Promotional Designers Galleries -- Muralists Galleries -- Faux Finishers Galleries -- Free-lance Photographers Galleries -- Powerpoint Artists Galleries -- Free-lance Presentation Artists Galleries -- Free-lance Translators Galleries -- Free-lance Web Designers Galleries -- Writers Galleries -- Journalists Galleries -- Contracted Web Developers Galleries -- Database Developers Galleries -- Contracted Web Copywriters -- Web Animators Portfolios -- Contracted IT Testers -- Contracted Tech Trainers -- Programmers Portfolios -- Contracted IT Networkers --Database Programmers -- Contracted Tech Writers -- System Administrators and Admins --Engineers -- Contracted Data Processors -- Contracted CPAs -- Contracted Accountants -- Financial Planners -- Contracted Bookkeepers -- Contracted Lawyers and Attorneys -- Financial Analyzers -- Investors -- Contracted Legal Assistants -- Contracted Paralegals -- Contracted Managers and Strategists -- Contracted Analysts -- Contracted Brand Strategists -- Contracted Customer Service Agents -- Contracted Business Development -- Self-Employed Advertisement Managers -- Self-Employed Marketers -- Self-Employed Sales -- Media Buyers -- Self-Employed Web Promoters -- Self-Employed Public Relations Agents -- Self-Employed Architects -- Self-Employed Engineers -- Event Planners -- Self-Employed Musicians -- Self-Employed Politics Advisors -- Recruiters -- Self-Employed Scientists -- Self-Employed Coaches and Trainers -- Entertainers -- Self-Employed Fitness -- HR Human Resources -- Self-Employed Real Estate Agents -- Self-Employed Retailers -- Self-Employed Trainers -- Self-Employed Data Administrators -- Self-Employed Transcriptionists -- Virtual Assistants