Tips on Starting a Business in 2014

Here are a few things to think about when you are considering starting your own business:

• Get together a business structure with the basics of what you want to do with your business.

• Conduct market research to find out what people are interested in buying and what they think of your ideas. You can use questionnaires like SurveyMonkey.com to send surveys to your friends and family.

• Name your business something catchy and short so that people will have an easy time remembering the name.

• Find an investor who will help you fund your business or save your money to fund your own business because you have to start with some money in order to make more money.

• You will always need more money than you think. There are hidden costs and fees sometimes that you haven't known to account for until you get to the point of needing to pay for them.

• Set up your office space or area you will work in.

• Research your ideas and find out what is best for you and avoid quick "easy" seeming money making online scams. Nothing is free and it does take capital to start up. Putting your money into inventory to sample type businesses is ok, just be careful if it seems too much like a pyramid.

• Find out the business trends and competitors out there and decide who your market is, who you're going to be selling to and how much they're willing to pay for your products.

These tips will be helpful to think about before you get started. The more information you can gather the better off you will be.

Entrepreneurs Explain Why They Started Their Businesses

Check out the blog post "Entrepreneurs Explain Why They Started Their Businesses" on Hearpreneuer and see some reasons why people started their own businesses including a response from My Accessory Business President Megan Andrus:

Starting with Excitement & Passion

I started my own business because I was designing advertising and doing marketing for a variety of other businesses and was helping them to become successful, so I figured, why not start a business involving something I’m excited and passionate about- jewelry and accessories- and make it successful for myself. I realized that there was a need in the market for all-inclusive accessory sales kits. No one else was selling anything like this online. The way I figured this out was because I myself was looking for this type of sales kit and couldn’t find what I wanted, so I created it.

See the article here: http://hear.ceoblognation.com/2013/10/24/start-business/

Questions to ask yourself before starting a business

Before you start any type of business, you should ask yourself these questions in order to prepare for the work ahead. Don't get discouraged by the number of questions and if you don't have the answer to them right away. Just asking yourself these questions is the first step to getting started. You can figure out the answers along the way and find new answers as you go. This list of questions comes from sba.gov a good source for advice on starting a small business. 

1. Why am I starting a business?
2. What kind of business do I want?
3. Who is my ideal customer?
4. What products or services will my business provide?
5. Am I prepared to spend the time and money needed to get my business started?
6. What differentiates my business idea and the products or services I will provide from others in the market?
7. Where will my business be located?
8. How many employees will I need?
9. What types of suppliers do I need?
10. How much money do I need to get started?
11. Will I need to get a loan?
12. How soon will it take before my products or services are available?
13. How long do I have until I start making a profit?
14. Who is my competition?
15. How will I price my product compared to my competition?
16. How will I set up the legal structure of my business?
17. What taxes do I need to pay?
18. What kind of insurance do I need?
19. How will I manage my business?
20. How will I advertise my business?

Why start a business selling to women?

There are many reasons to start a business where the main focus of your sales focus is selling to women. Women born between 1946-1964 referred to as "Boomer Women" represent an important portion of the buying public. Most have successful careers and inheritances from parents or husbands. These women are more financially empowered than any previous generation. Women ages 50+ also have great financial wealth and account for about 3/4 of the nation's wealth. Many of these wealthy women acquired their wealth through a business or professional practice.

Over the next ten years, studies show that women will control 2/3 of consumer wealth in the United States. The number of women investors is growing at a faster rate than that of men. Women today want a mix of both family and career. Use of the Internet has increased while use of radio, TV, newspapers and direct mail have decreased.

Women represent the majority of the online market

Digital Divas By The Numbers• 22% shop online at least once a day
• 92% pass along information about deals or finds to others
• 171: average number of contacts in their e-mail or mobile lists
• 76% want to be part of a special or select panel
• 58% would toss a TV if they had to get rid of one digital device (only 11% would ditch their laptops)
• 51% are moms
Source: Mindshare/Ogilvy & Mather

It's easy to see why starting a business with the focus on selling to women is a good choice.

The new book "101 Ways To Start a Business For Less Than $1,000"

The new book 101 Ways To Start a Business For Less Than $1,000 is now on Amazon.com. Grab your copy here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ATF533K

You do NOT need a Kindle to read the book! You can still read it for free on any computer or tablet using Amazon's free software available here: http://amzn.to/Wlt9kn

In the book, you'll learn wisdom, advice and business strategies from over 100 entrepreneurs, including advice from "My Accessory Business" entrepreneur Megan Andrus. You'll learn both what to do when starting a new business without much money and what not to do.

If you live in the UK you can download it on the UK website here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00ATF533K

Woman-run business profile: Green Dreams (All Natural Kitchen & Home Makeovers)

A great modern business model can include a health topic that is on a lot of peoples minds today such as eating healthy and nutritiously. Angela Russell of Green Dreams is helping you make your kitchen and home into a more healthy and nutritious place.

Green Dreams provides in-home nutrition consultations and kitchen & home product makeovers.  They work with people who are looking to eat and live more natural, healthy lives and don’t have the time or know-how to get started.  They are 100% one-of-a-kind business!  


First, start by getting an idea of your goals and then raid your kitchen to see what stays and what goes!  Next is a shopping trip to replace items to donate or pitch with healthier options.  Their services are customizable from basic kitchen makeovers to home overhauls including kitchen, household items and personal care items from Salmon to Sandwich Bags to Soap. Depending on the size of your pantry, this can take from 3-5 hours. 


The business is a sister service to the Naturopathic Physician’s office that Angela manages.  Dr. Matt sees patients primarily with gut & intestinal issues. He’s a licensed Naturopathic Doctor; a food chemistry and nutrition expert. They also have a recruitment business in the Natural Products Industry, so both of them are experts in natural products. "We know there are so many people who are confused about how to cook and shop for nutritious foods, especially since there are so many choices in the “natural & organic” market." says Angela, "The goal is to empower & educate others about the benefits and accessibility of nutritious, sustainable food and non-toxic products."


Angela says that the business didn't take a lot of money to get started. She worked with a friend to 

create the logo themselves and spent $30 on business cards.  Advertising is done through Twitter and Facebook.  They planned a very organic growth strategy, working with satisfied customers for referrals.  As for the website, Dr. Matt is hosting the page on his website and luckily, he is handy with creating web pages.

Her background is a Bachelor Degree in Sales & Marketing, but her passion is in cooking healthy, delicious food and living as naturally and low-impact as possible.  She says that friends and family love her recipes & meal creations and she wants to show others how EASY it can be to spice up vegetables and other healthy food staples and get excited about wholesome food!

Angela says that her partner Matt, her father, and her cousin Jared helped inspire her to start the business. She said " Dr. Matt has taught me most of what I know about nutrition; he’s a wealth of information!  My father has always been one to cook without a recipe, and his meals are fantastic!  Jared, a former fast-food junkie with a new child came to me recently, asking for advice on how to eat and shop more nutritiously. Together, this all inspired me to help others realize that they can “let food be thy medicine” and have it TASTE good too."

When asked what advice she would give to other women who want to start their own business, Angela said, " Do what you love & be true to yourself.  I believe that it’s that special FIRE inside that shines through to customers, helping business owners succeed.  Sit down and hash out pros and cons for your business idea to make sure you have realistic expectations and try to start out as low-budget as possible.  Don’t listen to all of the “noise”.  People love to chatter about how hard it is to be self-employed, how expensive it is, how you need all of these expensive things to start.  It’s JUST not true.  When we started our first business a couple years back, we slashed any and all expenses and took the LEAP into independence!  I am very happy to chat about these things with anyone who is thinking about starting their own business."

If you are interested in having Angela come and give your kitchen a makeover, here is some more information: "Makeovers are done Friday through Sunday and are completely customizable to your needs.  We understand dietary restrictions and concerns like gluten-free, diabetic diets, vegan and vegetarian, etc. and have a very well-balanced, non-extreme approach to nutrition. We’re not coming in to TELL you what to eat, but to educate you so that you have the tools to plan, shop and cook so that you are meeting your personal nutrition goals. Pricing is based on your individual situation. Our general service area is Metro Detroit. "  

The easiest way to get in touch with Angela for her service is to call and talk to her about your personal goals. See below for the best ways to contact Angela through her website, blog, social media, and directly. 

http://www.drmattnd.com/services/greendreamsdetroit.htmlhttp://adventurouspalate.blogspot.com/Email: angela@drmattnd.com
Twitter: @GreenDreams313

Direct: 248-469-8111

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greendreamsdetroit

Your New Years Resolution: "I want to start a Business!"

It's time to start thinking about New Years resolutions for 2012. If one of your resolutions includes a career change or a plan to make more money this year, why not make a resolution to start your OWN business. It's not as hard as it sounds. The hardest part really is to start! It takes some motivation to get started so I have come up with some ideas on how you can get motivated by asking yourself these questions:

- Ask yourself what kind of business you want to start? Selling jewelry? Baking? Creating items you can sell? Doing a service based business?

- Who will benefit from my business? women? men? single moms? working women? kids? animals? businesses?

- Where will I be able to sell, advertise, get hype for my business? Stores? craft show booths? expos? door to door? home parties? online? in a newspaper? in a magazine? in a blog? through email? social media sites like facebook?

- How much will I have to put into starting up my business? inventory? displays? advertising costs? rent costs? cost for extra help if needed? storage costs? supplies? computer programs? special training?

- How much time am I going to need to spend on my business to start it up? Will it take a month to start up? 6 months? 1 year?

- How much time will I need to spend on my business each day? each week? each month?

- Who will help me get the word out and support the idea for my business? my family? my significant other? my friends? my children? my neighbors? my online friends? friends of friends?

- Will I partner with anybody or start out on my own? And will I hire someone to help me now or in the future?

Once you start asking yourself these questions, you will come up with more questions for yourself that you never though of, but don't get too overwhelmed. Just start by writing down the answers in your own words and begin your plan. Start researching what other people are doing in your field. Looking online is a good start. Start figuring out where you will get your supplies from, who you can ask to help you, and where you would like this business to be at in the next 6 months to a year. Start setting your goals and stick to them!

If you are unsure what kind of business you would like to start, selling jewelry is a great way to get involved in making sales. Even if your primary goal is to do any kind of business, you are always going to be selling! The My Accessory Business jewelry sales kits include everything you need to start selling jewelry on your own. They include the jewelry to sell, business, cards for you to write in your information, price labels, container to store your jewelry, and expert advice for any questions you may have. This is a great way to get comfortable making sales and learning about pricing your items, locations to sell at, who to sell to and how to close a sale. The jewelry included in the kits can be resold for double, even triple the cost. Why wait to get starting on your New Years resolution to start your own business? The kits start at only $49 and can be purchased online at www.MyAccessoryBusiness.com Visit the website for more information.

Whatever your New Years resolution may be, stick to it and never give up on your dreams. Check back to this blog often for more inspirational stories of women entrepreneurs, tips on starting your own business, jewelry giveaways, and more!

Tips for starting a business & pricing your items and services

Starting up your own business can be a fun and exciting process, but it's definitely not an easy route most of the time. It takes dedication, persistence, and a willingness to keep going even if it starts out slow. Starting a business is like building up from the bottom to reach your goals at the top. You have to have a plan. You plan what you are going to sell: reselling items like jewelry, a service, selling handmade items, etc...

Let's say you are selling jewelry or reselling items. You want to price your items about 2.5- 3 times the amount that you purchased it for in order to make a profit. So if you buy an item for $3... you want to try to sell it for at least $8-$9, possibly more.

If you are selling a service like design or sewing, you want to base your price on a time rate. For instance, if it takes you 2 hours to do a design, and you charge $20 per hour, you will need to quote a price of $40 for the design.

If you are reselling an item and working on it, say your making jewelry or clothes. You must price your item based on about 2.5-3% more than what you paid for the materials plus the amount of time you spent on making it. For example: you spent $5 on materials, and 2 hours of your time with a rate of $15 per hour. You should then price your item at $45. ($5x3= $15 + $15x2= $30 total= $15+$30=$45)

Building your clients

No matter what you are selling, whether it's a service or an item, you want to make sure to have as many return customers as possible. Make sure you collect email addresses of the people who buy from you so that you can email them and let them know when you are having a sale or to remind them about your service or new item. The people that buy from you once are the most likely to make another purchase, so be sure to keep them happy! Send a thank you note or email to know that you appreciate their purchase. Make a facebook fan page for your business and add friends and clients to remind them about your business. Give them a reason to come back.

Never give up!

A big hint I would like to give you is to remember that huge overnight success is not very likely. When you are trying to make an extra couple bucks by reselling items, it is possible to reach your goals in a short time, but keep in mind that long term success on a regular basis takes time to achieve and you have to tell yourself to not give up. The majority of people who have started their own business kept a part time or even full time job also for months, even years before their own business venture was able to supplement their income. So basically, don't quit your day job right away. You may need to spend money upfront to cover the costs of buying inventory, supplies, shipping materials, ads, etc... to get started and keep going strong. Don't let it discourage you though. Many businesses have been started on a small budget. You have to be creative, think outside the box and keep reaching for your goals. The main ingredient in a business is always to do what you love!

Why start your own business?

Maybe you have a full time job but you'd like to make some extra money on the side to pay for some new clothes or a vacation?


Maybe you are a stay at home mom wanting to bring in some money without having to leave the house.


Maybe you are a student looking to make some extra cash on the side as a fund raiser for tuition or rent.

There are many reasons to want to have your own business. Finding the right type of business to start can be a challenge. It's good to pick something that you're interested in so you can enjoy it while you make some extra cash.
-You can buy and sell collectables on ebay
- Create a product that you can make by hand and sell it on etsy
- Have home parties where you sell jewelry and accessories out of a catalog
- You can use a "My Accessory Business" kit where you get all of your accessory and jewelry inventory up front, along with displays and price tags, and set the products out on a table at your home while having a party to sell to your friends. You can also take the accessories to shows or clubs that let you set up a booth or table and sell the accessories to customers without having to take orders.

A "My Accessory Business" Kit can be bought on the website www.myaccessorybusiness.com

Some advantages of starting your own business:

- You can incorporate your business and make it official and then write off your business related purchases on your taxes. Having this will give you the option to get a sellers permit that allows you to buy many products at wholesale prices.

- Having a business set up means that your learning first-hand about the ins and outs of being a business owner. As much as your hear advertising about going to school to learn to start a business- (having a higher education can be beneficial) but is not mandatory to have a degree in business in order to start a business for yourself. Getting the real-world experience of dealing with the challenges of starting a business can be more of a learning experience then reading it from a book or hearing a lecture about it. You may want to gather knowledge by attending classes or seminars along the way, but not having a diploma won't stop you from getting started.

- Friends and family will be excited to hear that you are starting up something new. You can hype up sales of your products just by telling your friends and family through conversation and online communication, what wonderful products you have and how excited you are to be selling them.

- There are several businesses types that you can start with little investment. Under $200. As I mentioned, a basic "My Accessory Business" kit will cost you under $200. There are several other options for working with specialty sales companies that require this minimal investment also. Just a small business investment like this can double triple, or make you profits beyond triple your investment.

- I've never heard of anyone who was ever disappointed that they started a business. Even those who have had minimal success still admit that it was a great learning experience.

Without starting your own business, you'll never know what it is like to experience the creative learning process that happens when starting your own business. For more information on how to buy a "My Accessory Business" kit, go to My Accessory Business