Five Startup Ideas to Help Others Beat a Tough Job Market

The job market hasn't been this crowded for over 26 years. An estimated 10.2 percent of the U.S. population is unemployed. The U.S. workforce has seen 15.7 million jobs vanish since the start of the recession in November 2008. In this environment, many job seekers are looking to support services to give them a competitive edge. Answer their call by parlaying your skills into a business helping others get hired.
The following small businesses draw strength from a competitive job market, providing a lifeline of professional support services to job seekers.

1. Career Coach
Help people discover the color of their parachute by setting up a private practice as a career coach. Unlike personal counselors, career advisors are not licensed by an outside body. The only credentials you need to hang your shingle as a career coach are a positive attitude and access to an arsenal of career assessment tools. If you have a background in human resources or professional counseling, so much the better. Some career coaches possess intimate knowledge of a particular industry such as law, and specialize in helping clients find their place in this universe.

Professional and Business Networking is critical to a thriving career coach practice. Team up with corporate recruiters, institutions such as universities, business networking sites such as LinkedIn, Tradeseam, and counselors as a valuable source of client referrals. To create a buzz for your services online, construct a well-designed Web site with the help of a website design and SEO specialist. A career advice blog can also help draw attention to your coaching service.

2. Temporary Staffing
Recession is boom time for the staffing industry, as businesses rely on temp agencies for greater flexibility. According to the National Association of Personnel Services, temporary staffing agencies have emerged as a "full-fledged human resources business partner to corporate America." The industry has averaged a steady ten percent annual growth for the past seven years.

As the administrator of a temporary staffing agency, you handle recruiting, placement, and benefits. In exchange, you charge a premium over the hired employee's base wage. Temporary staffing agencies require little overhead and due to their regional focus, can compete effectively with the industry's titans. It's possible to fund an agency startup on a shoestring budget of several thousand dollars. You'll need a small office, a computer system with accounting and database capabilities, and a Web presence. Credit Card Processing and E-commerce services can help you get the ball rolling at minimal cost.

3. Graphic Design
Job seekers depend on a couple of self-marketing tools to land a job: an effective resume, a cover letter, a portfolio, and increasingly, a personal Web site. Your freelance graphic design business can help go-getters develop visuals that get noticed in today's competitive marketplace.

Graphic designers need little overhead funding to set up shop. Word of mouth and an Internet presence are the keys to building a client base. To make the most of your online storefront, consult a search engine optimization expert for specific keyword and web design strategy advice.

4. Career Skills Training
Employers with their pick of qualified candidates can demand on advanced, up-to-date technical skill set. Help prospective employees get up to speed and back in the race by setting up a specialized training institute. You may draw on your own technical skills to develop a niche curriculum. Or hire experts to pass on their trade to a new generation.

Startup requirements will depend on how you decide to deliver career training to students. For a traditional classroom approach, look for real estate and equipment leasing. Or opt for an online approach, investing in an e-learning module to deliver lectures and host class discussions.

5. E-commerce Support Services
Help out-of-work professionals help themselves. This business-to-business e-commerce support venture allows you to partner with an entrepreneur who has a great business idea or product, but lacks the skills to bring it to market.

To launch a business in e-commerce support solutions, draw on your experience and outsource other functions to external experts. For example, you might want to focus on the business side, developing strategies and proposals to attract investor interest. Contract the technical logistics to an independent expert, and you have a full-service e-commerce support solution. Medical Billing, Telemarketing, Call Center, Web design, SEO, and/or pay per click management are good candidates for outsourcing.

The rising unemployment rate indicates the need for a new type of business--support services for job seekers. Your skills and experience could offer the unemployed the resources they need to get back on their feet. Business ventures specializing in career counseling, training, placement, and self-presentation extend a crucial lifeline to displaced workers, helping them evolve with the changing times.

Path To Early Retirement For Under $5K

As 68 million American baby boomers start to retire, they are redefining what retirement means. For many, it doesn't mean they've stopped working, but rather that they are exercising more choice over how they work. According to a 2009 survey, some 67 percent of people who chose to engage in some form of work found it to be satisfying, and in three out of five cases, they were able to find jobs for what are known as "encore careers."

Picking the perfect second act for your career can involve trying an industry or a field that's always interested you, helping out with a cause that you believe in, or getting a chance to run your own business.

If it's running your own business that appeals to you, chances are you don't want to invest a large chunk of your retirement savings into a new business venture at this point. Therefore, the key is getting started with minimal  up front investment. This is very possible these days, depending on how you set up your business, and what type of business you choose to go into.

Getting Started on a Shoestring Budget

To start a business with relatively little up front capital, the key is to minimize fixed costs. Variable costs--expenses of the pay-as-you-go variety--are preferable because they allow you to ramp up your investment depending on how the business is going.

Here are some key tools for keeping fixed costs low:

• E-commerce Solutions. Who needs a business location when you have the Internet? The ultimate low-overhead storefront, the Internet gives you access to a world of potential customers. Utilizing e-commerce solutions is much cheaper than having a physical place of business where you receive customers. For example, it allows you to avoid the many expenses of having a retail outlet, such as rent, utilities, staffing, and insurance.

• Outsourcing Back Office Tasks. Rather than building a complete organization from scratch, try to outsource anything that isn't central to the unique value proposition of your business. For example, functions such as customer support, credit card processing and human resources are only needed occasionally or periodically. Therefore, it makes more sense to utilize outsourced call center services for telemarketing or customer support or HR outsourcing for human resource activities than to try to staff it internally.

• Use Social Media Strategies to Promote Your Business. Developing a full scale online social media strategy can seem overwhelming at first. But you can implement simple things by hiring interns to do the leg work such as starting a business blog or using Twitter, and tracking different programs making adjustments along the way.

Low-Cost Entrepreneurial Business Ideas


If the above are some techniques for structuring a business with minimum up front investment, what are some lines of business which lend themselves to getting started with minimal capital?

One rule of thumb is that services generally require less investment than manufacturers or retailers, though with e-commerce some re-sellers can operate cheaply if they have tight supply lines and add value in the process. Focusing on services, the following are some examples of businesses that might be right for the current environment, and can be started on a shoestring.

• Business consulting. If many retiring boomers are going to be starting their own businesses, why not use your business experience to help show them how to do it?

• Green consulting. People are striving to become more energy-efficient, for economic and environmental reasons. If you have expertise in this area, consulting with businesses and homeowners on how to reduce their consumption is a natural.

• Public relations. If you have media and promotional experience, you could be in demand with the new wave of entrepreneurs starting their own businesses. In particular, bringing knowledge of modern promotional techniques such as social media strategies could be valuable to these new businesses.

• Employment counseling. Between a weak economy and an aging population, there are many people facing a career crossroads these days. Helping them find the right niche can be a good way to make use of any personnel experience you have.

• Lead Generation. Sales Lead Generation is growing by leaps and bounds as far as start up industries are concerned. This is a very special industry that affords flexibility and freedom that is unparalleled. And, there is even a significant demand for highly specialized lead generation consultants to help companies generate qualified sales leads in this market.

Running your own business may not have been your parents' idea of retirement, but things are very different today. If you have the entrepreneurial itch, starting a venture might just give you the satisfaction and extra income to make your "golden years" more than just an expression.

Hot New Entrepreneurial Enterprises

Sometimes, smaller is better--just ask the micropreneurs flourishing in today's marketplace. A growing set of entrepreneurs are building successful businesses by serving a niche market. Micropreneurs aren't trying to become the next Bill Gates or Larry Ellison. They're thriving small-scale on the strength of a loyal customer base and utilizing social business networking and utility tools to help with sales lead generation.

Micro-Enterprises Rely on E-Commerce Solutions

Micropreneurs are rewriting the rules of small business--and they're relying on the internet to make their business model work. A New York Times feature on startups explains: "the Internet has given people an extraordinary tool not only to market their ideas but also to find business partners and suppliers, and to do all kinds of functions on the cheap: keeping the books, interacting with customers, even turning a small idea into a big idea."Thanks to a range of online small business resources, today's micropreneurs have the resources to build their venture on a shoestring budget.

With minimal upfront investment, you can:

1. Create an Internet storefront for retail sales. E-commerce solutions can create a Web site with point-of-sale (POS) capability. Online POS systems enables secure credit card processing on your site, allowing you to keep the doors open 24/7.
2. Reach your niche market. Online sales lead generation and marketing tools excel at targeting interested consumers and businesses.
3. Communicate with your customers via online business networking tools, a blog, or social networking tools. Social business networking sites offer powerful resources for finding your needle in the haystack, also known as your niche customers and partners. They can also help you keep in touch; today's customer service agents use online media such as twitter, facebook, tradeseam and email correspondence to connect with the public.
4. Need niche supplies or equipment to launch your niche business? Tradeseam connects entrepreneurs and suppliers of all stripes. You'll find business resources including manufacturing companies, international suppliers, and everything under the sun online.
   Web-based technology offers a range of resources for small business owners. Time-tracking software and online accounting programs are just two examples of today's affordable, productivity-enhancing business tools.
5. The Internet offers the reach and low startup costs to support a niche business.
   Spotlight on Niche Enterprises
6. For many micropreneurs, the Eureka moment--the business idea--derives directly from a personal passion. The following entrepreneurs built a following--and a profitable business--catering to like-minded individuals.

Specialty Food Carts
El Dorado tacos? Chow Fun to go? More and more specialty food carts are cruising urban neighborhoods, with offbeat menus to serve the random craving. Restaurant consultant Clark Wolf notes: "Mobile food is one of the hottest things going all over the country. Brooklyn has its ribs truck, Manhattan has its dessert trucks, and now Los Angeles has the cupcake patrol."
Specialty food carts rely on social networking tools such as Twitter, Facebook to broadcast their coordinates. The strategy seems to work. L.A.'s Kogi taco truck draws between 300 and 800 by tweeting its location in advance, "setting off a taco-minded flash mob."

Pedicab
A physically fit duo in Spokane, Washington has pedaled to success with a pedicab service. Cheaper and more eco-friendly than a cab, the bike-based taxi is finding no shortage of riders around the downtown area. To get the wheels rolling in your own leg-powered cab service, you'll need pedicabs, licenses, insurance, and a local marketing campaign. Once you've gained a loyal ridership, you can establish a call center or online-based dispatch service linking riders to your mobile phone.

Guerilla Marketing Agency
Seattle businesses looking to make a unique statement can count on Wexley School for Girls to get the job done. The agency uses off-the-wall guerilla marketing stunts to build publicity for clients. For example, they created a buzz around Copper Mountain ski resort by staging a National Snow Day with improv ski-patrol actors and fake snow. The stunts aren't for everyone; "either you get what Wexley is selling--a very particular sensibility and approach toward marketing--or you don't," comments an admirer. But the agency isn't looking for mass appeal: "Wexley is biting off little pieces, looking to take on a particular niche of a business."
Build your own businesses staging publicity events for businesses. Start with an eye-catching Website Design and online marketing campaign to get the word out. As the costs of running a business come down, micro-enterprises are flourishing. These small businesses focus on a loyal niche, taking advantage of online business networks to communicate with customers, source, distribute, and to manage the venture.

In today's Internet-driven economy, it's no longer necessary to chase the next big thing. A great small idea can take you even further.

Is Recession a Good Time to Start a Business?

While it might seem contrary, starting a business in a recession can actually be a good idea. With so many people out of work, people are struggling to find sources of income While many with that entrepreneurial drive are starting new businesses.

Is it time for you to start a new business? Here are some questions to ask yourself:

• Can this type of business thrive in this economy? People aren’t spending on luxury items, so that spa idea might not be ready to bear fruit. But think about what people are spending money on, or how you could save them money with a business idea, and then you have a winner.
• Do you know how to start a business? It’s not necessary you know all the ins and outs of running a business, but starting one in a recession means you need to be better prepared than at any other time. Read some articles on how to start a business, or take a class or two at your local community college. It’s important that you see beyond the idea to what it takes to start and manage a business such as the business resources required: accounting, human resources, internet marketing and recruiting that will go into your business. If you’ll have a retail or office location, overhead may be more than you originally guesstimated. Do your homework first.
• Do you have sufficient resources to help you? Resources might mean finances or financial services firms that helps you get commercial loans, business cash advance or a small business line of credit, . Or maybe it’s staff. Is your husband willing to help you get started until you can afford to hire help?
• Do you really want to start a business? If you’re just looking for a way to make some quick money, starting a business probably isn’t your best option. You might not even make money (most don’t for a few years; factor in the economy, and, well, you get the picture). But if you genuinely have passion for something, and are willing to put in the time and tears, by all means, get a plan and get going.

Bottomline

Start with a business plan before anything. Figure out what kind of investment you need for your business idea, who your customers are, how you plan to get customers for your business. Finally, how you will make money. Talk to other entrepreneurs, small business owners about your business idea, join an online small business networking site to see what they think of it. And most of all: good luck!

Normally Small Businesses Lead the Economy Out of Recession

Despite signs that the economy is bottoming, the small business community are less optimistic about their prospects. At the end of July, 56 percent said they were optimistic about the small-business economy, down from more than 70 percent who were optimistic in May and June.

In a recent survey, confidence among the small business community is falling amid concerns about the cost of government health care reform and salaries at small U.S. companies are at their lowest level since March 2006. The survey, based on payroll services data from small businesses that are listed on the official US small business directory, found salaries fell by 0.8 percent in July from June and are down more than 5 percent since the start of the year.

The average annual paycheck for small businesses resources in the United States is now $29,995, compared with $32,290 a year ago. The last time salaries dipped below $30,000 was in March 2006.Those surveyed cited the cost of rising healthcare insurance costs as a major concern.

Small Business Loans Dry Up

Increased scrutiny from financial regulators and pressure to grow capital levels in response to the mortgage crisis means many troubled banks aren't in a position to hand out any new commercial loans or have largely cut back on lending. But some banks that are still lending money have shifted at least a portion of their lending to federal Small Business Administration loans, which are set up to help small business owners obtain business financing so that they can continue to manage their small business resources when they can't otherwise qualify for conventional small business loans, and carry less risk for the banks if the borrower defaults.

That's good news for all small businesses in the US business directory that no longer qualify for conventional loans under banks' stricter lending standards, but it also means that the small businesses community further down the chain, which would normally receive SBA loans, are being bumped from the market in favor of more-stable borrowers. This is making it more difficult for small business owners to spend on key small business activities such as customer acquisition, business lead generation programs, internet marketing, hiring etc.

If a bank has capital constraints, it can't grow the balance sheet very much, and putting on a new loan grows your balance sheet, it's a challenging time for any business to get credit.

Some commercial banks and commercial lending companies including Bank of America, Capital One, CIT, Heritage Bank and Pacific Continental Bank have stopped lending altogether in order to shore up their balance sheets.

Those numbers represent a gloomy outlook for business and lending into business. If the confidence in the economy goes up, we should see a return to higher lending levels, and that's particularly true in small business.

Those banks that are lending have increasingly turned to SBA loans. Factoring Services and Business Cash Advances became a more attractive option for banks after a $730 million allocation under the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act eliminated or reduced the program's fees for borrowers and increased the guaranty for participating banks from 75 percent to 90 percent. Combined with lower interest rates, the loans are a good deal compared to conventional loans in which the banks shoulder all of the risk. Nationwide, SBA lending increased 45 percent since the recovery act passed in February. More than 750lenders that had not made a loan since October are suddenly participating again, according to the SBA.

First Independent has tightened its credit criteria and as a result has a very low volume of small-business loans, which are mostly focused on existing customers. Some 30 percent to 40 percent of those loans have an SBA guarantee, a higher proportion than in the past. The bank will consider loan requests from new clients, but it's limiting lending to established businesses that can demonstrate at least two years of profitability and aren't relying solely on property as collateral for the loan, she said.

Filling the gaps

Community banks in particular have filled in where larger national banks fall short in small business lending. Many smaller local banks are still loaning to "viable" businesses.

Effects of Healthcare Reform for Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs)

The current health care system is not working well for small businesses and their employees.

1. The current health care system imposes a heavy “tax” on small and medium businesses (SMBs) and their employees. Due to high broker fees, fixed administrative costs, and adverse selection, small businesses pay up to 18 percent more per worker than large firms for the same health insurance policy. Some of these higher costs are passed on to small firm employees in the form of lower wages, and some eat into the profits of small businesses that could otherwise be used for research and development and for much-needed investments. This implicit tax disadvantages small firms in both the market for the best workers and the market for their products.Because of their higher health care costs, small businesses are far less likely to provide health insurance for their workers than larger businesses. Only 49 percent of firms with 3 to 9 workers and 78 percent of firms with 10 to 24 workers offered any type of health insurance to their employees in 2008. In contrast, 99 percent of firms with more than 200 workers offered health insurance. Consistent with this pattern, 29 percent of non-elderly adult workers at firms with fewer than 25 employees were uninsured in 2007. In that same year, just 10 percent of workers in firms with 500 or more employees were uninsured. Workers at small firms that do offer health insurance also tend to have less generous plans than workers at large firms.

2. The fraction of small firms offering health insurance has been declining in recent years. From 2002 to 2008, the fraction of firms with 3 to 9 employees offering health insurance to their workers declined from 58 to 49 percent.

Health care reform as envisioned in current draft legislation would reduce the current burdens on small firms and their workers.

1. Small businesses that meet certain criteria would be able to purchase health insurance through an “insurance exchange” – allowing them to choose among a multitude of plans that would provide better coverage at lower costs than they could find in the current small group market.

2. Many small businesses that provide health insurance for their employees would receive a small business tax credit to alleviate their disproportionately higher costs and encourage coverage. The tax credit would be targeted to those firms with employees whose average wages fall below a certain threshold.

3. The current reform options include financial incentives for medium- and large-sized firms to provide health insurance coverage through so-called “pay-or-play” provisions. Firms with payrolls or employment levels below a certain threshold, which would include the vast majority of small businesses, would be exempt from the pay-or-play provisions.

4. The creation of an insurance exchange would also provide better and lower-cost options for workers in small businesses that do not offer health insurance. Low-income individuals and families would receive sliding scale subsidies to help them purchase insurance. Additionally, health insurers would not be allowed to screen potential enrollees for pre-existing conditions.

5. The proposed reforms could help spur entrepreneurial activity by increasing the incentives for talented Americans to launch their own companies, and could increase the pool of workers willing to work at small firms. Further, successful reform would reduce the phenomenon of “job lock,” in which workers are reluctant to leave a job with employer-sponsored health insurance out of fear that they will not be able to find affordable coverage. Small firms that are unable to provide health insurance for their employees bear the greatest cost of this phenomenon.

6. Reductions in absenteeism and improvements in worker productivity resulting from better health outcomes because of expanded coverage would particularly benefit small businesses.
Please share your thoughts with us.

source: TradeSeam The Official Small Business Community Resource

How To Recession Proof Your Small Business

Small businesses are crucial to our economy.

Small and Medium businesses (SMBs) are an important source of job growth. Small businesses account for a large majority of jobs in start-ups, a key source of innovation and economic growth.

Here are some tips for you on how to prepare for the worst—stay lean, talk to your customers, and don't stop hiring and marketing, get listed in the small business directory so you can be found.

To keep your company lean, you should set and measure inventory targets and keep in daily or weekly communication with your sales and operations staffs. You may also want to weed out unprofitable customers (BusinessWeek.com, Oct./Nov., 2007). Every company has customers that cost more than they add to the bottom line. Identify them, evaluate how to make them profitable customers, and if that's not possible, politely hand them to your competition.

To keep from losing business, keep in close touch with your customers by connecting with them on the small business network. Show that you care. Understand how their business is being affected and look for ways you can help. Lasting relationships are built in hard times. And look for new market opportunities, recognizing that when the business climate changes, customer needs will change as well. That may mean new markets will open up for you.

Develop strategies to land more customers. I counsel my clients that if they want to make their companies grow they will have to steal customers from their competitors, period. The pie is shrinking. For the auto repair shops, cars are more reliable and need less frequent service. In the restaurant world there's been overbuilding and the average number of meals eaten out has declined for the first time in a number of years. The successful small business is going to have to win a bigger share of that shrinking pie. The way to do that, particularly for small businesses, is to get listed on the small business directory and use effective lead generation and marketing solutions to connect with new customers, partners and suppliers and create a positive experience. Make sure you give every customer the best experience you can. That means clean restrooms, courteous staff, eye contact, handshakes. You've got to do this better than the other people out there. Another good option for local businesses is community involvement. Join a small business community or the Chamber of Commerce. Sponsor a Little League team. Let the Girl Scouts do a car wash in your parking lot. This is part of bonding with your community and becoming an established part of it.