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Is your business feeling the crunch of a slow economy?

Has your business slowed down 40% or more over the past 12 months?
Have you done anything different with your advertising or marketing?
Do you feel that the main reason for the decline is that people have less money to spend?

That certainly makes sense. All our living expenses are on the rise. Groceries cost more, utility bills have increased – in some places dramatically – and the price of a gallon of gas is through the roof. So it only makes sense that consumers have less to spend on what they may perceive as ‘non-essential’ services.

If you were asked what you were going to do about it, what would you say?
Would you make cut backs, not only within your business, but in your home life?


Maybe your buiness cost for advertising and marketing is your biggest expense OR maybe it is almost non-existent. Maybe you pay for ads in magazines or newspapers or on websites... maybe you don't. No matter which of these two scenarios match your business, YOU STILL NEED CLIENTS!

SO, cutting your advertising or marketing budget can be like sharpening both sides of a sword... it would save you money and affect your ability to reach new clients. "Trimming fat from your business is smart in lean times. But it can also send your business into a downward spiral which leads to going out of business. When revenues are low, you cut back on marketing – which brings less clients, which, in turn decreases revenue further leading to more cutbacks." ~Dawud Miracle

What small business owners seldom think of in lean times is growth. But look at the example of big business and wealthy people. They’re often the most active when the economy is slow. Investors often buy in when times are lean. And they ALL make a killing in the long run.

The small business owner, if they want to stay in business, needs to take a similar approach. In lean times, sure, cut back on unnecessary expenses. Readjust your books so you can loosen up some cash. But even more importantly, GET ACTIVE.

Seems like a simple solution, right? Times are tough… do more. But seldom do small businesses in slight downturns think of this. Or if they think about it, they don’t actually follow through on it. The key to coming out of a difficult financial period is to focus on growing your business. Utilize all the 'selling' techniques you know about to stir your way out of stagnation. Advertise & market through different resources. Local websites such as CraigsList.com, ClassifiedAds.com, pennysaverusa.com, etc., are free and somewhat popular.

Remember that marketing is most effective when you’re solving problems for your clients and customers. Refine your marketing to meet potential customers where they’re facing problems. It might be that you have a perfect solution for their needs.

So how is your business in this economy?
Do you have a growth strategy for slow times?
What would it be?

Despite living in the age of e-mail, wireless networks, smartphones, and tablets, many small businesses are still beholden to paper. There are a variety of reasons for this. Often, it’s the other businesses or government agencies that you interface with that demand paper forms or faxes. Sometimes, it’s just that old habits die hard.

However, there are software solutions to some old paper problems that don’t require the network infrastructure of a large corporation. And making a small technology investment now could save your business a bundle long-term — not to mention reducing its wasteful reliance on paper products.


1. NitroPDF

We mostly see PDF (Adobe’s Portable Document Format) files as immutable documents — the opposite of an editable MS Word file. But PDFs are actually extremely versatile, and can be edited, graphically manipulated, and used as fillable forms — if you have the right software.

The standard in PDF editing software, Adobe Acrobat, will run you $299 for an individual license, but there are alternatives. One of them is NitroPDF, an extremely powerful editor that starts at $99 for a single license. With it, you can easily create PDF forms that clients can view and complete with standard software, like Adobe reader and most web browsers. You can also edit existing PDF documents without resorting to printing and white-out.

Another great paper-saving feature is the built-in and extremely stable PDF printer driver. Instead of sending that important e-mail or website to your laserjet, select Nitro’s printer option and generate a full-color PDF that you can archive digitally on your hard drive and in the cloud (more on that below).


2. PDF995 Printer Driver

On the topic of PDF printing, if you don’t need the full editing suite that comes with NitroPDF, but you’re looking for a way to render important documents as PDFs, check out PDF995. It’s a PDF printer driver, plain and simple — no user interface or controls. Simply install it and it will add a PDF option to the print menu of all your applications.

A PDF printer driver is an excellent way to digitally render invoices, graphic mock-ups, and long text documents that you’d like clients to read, but not change — all without ever touching a piece of paper or a scanner.

PDF995 is free, but it is ad supported. Whenever you generate a PDF, a small pop-up window will appear in your default browser, which you can simply close when the file is done rendering. It may take a few seconds of your time for each one, but it’s a small drawback for an excellent free product.


3. Fax to E-mail Services

In the words of Michael Scott from NBC’s comedy The Office, “Fax? Why don’t you just send it over on a dinosaur?”

Indeed, there is little excuse for using a fax machine in 2010, but many businesses do so because other businesses they correspond with, including the U.S. government especially, still rely on the technology. Your business can break this vicious cycle (and save piles of paper in the process) by switching your fax number over to an e-mail conversion service.

Setting up an account will assign a new fax number, ideally in your business’s area code, and use a web or e-mail interface to send and receive faxes as PDF files. New faxes will come directly to your inbox instead of that paper-spewing fail machine in the break room.

Some of the leading fax to e-mail services include:

**eFax

**UnityFax

**jConnect

Rates and features vary between services, so investigating how much faxing you plan to do each month is worthwhile. Additionally, if you already host your website and/or business e-mail with GoDaddy.com, they offer an integrated fax to e-mail feature for an added monthly fee.


4. EchoSign Online Contracts

Nearly every type of business, from a law firm, to a construction company, to a lone freelance designer, should be using contract agreements to legally protect itself from issues with clients and other businesses. Typically, this means generating paper and gathering a signature in ink, either by mail (even more paper) or in person.

But for over 10 years, e-signatures have been equally binding under the law, and a few companies have made the process of creating and sending secure electronic agreements very efficient.

One of them is EchoSign, a feature-rich and user friendly service for generating and archiving digital contracts. If you’re already working with a paper version of your business agreement, simply upload it to EchoSign and enter the recipient’s e-mail address. They will receive a copy of the document with a link where they can e-sign. The executed contract is stored in your EchoSign account for reference. The software is completely web-based, so there’s nothing to install, and you can access your documents from any Internet connection.

EchoSign has a scalable pricing model, starting with a free account that lets one user gather up to five signatures per month, through unlimited signature accounts with multiple users, starting at $40 per month.

Besides saving paper, the speed at which your business can execute binding agreements via e-mail should be enough to make you part ways with the old mail and ink system.


5. Online Backup and Record Keeping

Even if your company has gone digital in a number of paper-centric areas, perhaps the over-arching challenge, especially for small businesses, is archiving your records and files.

Often this data is disparate, spread between e-mails, computer files, and paper records. But if you’re diligent about maintaining a searchable, web-based archive of the items listed above, the dividends paid in time and money saved will be enormous in the long-run.

Depending on the volume of your existing paper records, it may not be cost effective to digitize older files. But if you start fresh by printing to PDF instead of paper going forward, you can create your web-accessible archive with a number of services, including these highly recommended ones:

**Box.net

**DropBox

**Mozy

**Backblaze

Additionally, if you’re using Google Apps for business, the existing infrastructure of document sharing, collaboration, and large storage capacity makes the system ideal for generating a cloud-based business archive that all of your team members can actively use and update.

Originally Posted By: Matt Silverman on MASHABLE: The Social Media Guide
By Randy Duermyer, About.com Guide

Step 9: Consider Your Break Even Point, Your Cash Flow and Your Funding Options

There are several issues questions you need to consider with this step:
How much will you need to pay your bills until the money starts coming in from your home business?

**Will you be keeping your full-time job or is there another breadwinner in the family that can help you until you develop an income stream?
**What will your continuing outlays be for items like equipment, salaries and/or inventory?
**How many products must you sell or how many hours of service will you need to provide before you reach the break even point?
**Where will the money come from? Will you need to borrow or draw down a savings account or sell some investments and/or assets?
**Will you need a silent partner to help provide working capital, especially until you reach your break even point and being making a profit?
**Are you willing to use your home equity to finance your business?
**Have you checked into SBA loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration?
**Is there any possibility of getting a grant to start your business?

Knowing these answers will help you decide if you can act now. If not, it can also help you to plan to secure the money you need and help you set a target startup date.


Step 10: Gauge Your Family's Support for Your Home Business

Hopefully you won't leave this step for last, but doing so won't diminish its importance.

Members of your family, at least those still at home or any family members who may need to make sacrifices or lifestyle changes in order to accommodate your business, need to know what you're up to and how it might affect them. If you have a spouse or significant other or children living with you, your home business will be a big part of their lives too.

Communication is key to helping them understand. Ask for their support – you'll find that's much more effective than demanding it. Try to understand where they're coming from. If they have questions, issues, or objections, discuss them openly. Caring and open discussions now help you avoid problems later.

Couples who plan to operate a business together need to have a pretty good idea in advance if that will work for them. It's a good idea to discuss who will be responsible for specific tasks. If you can't agree on this now, there's a very strong likelihood you won't agree on it later.

Don't let your business damage your family relationships. We all need an occasional getaway and we all need to keep our priorites straight.

A strained family situation is bound to show in your business activities - work hard to keep everyone happy!
By Randy Duermyer, About.com Guide


Step 7: Learn the Risks and Benefits of the Legal Forms of Business Organization

Before you start a small or home business is the time to understand the various legal forms of business organization. Will you operate your business as a sole proprietorship, a limited liability company (LLC), an S corporation, a partnership, or a full blown C corporation?

You'll want to research issues surrounding the legal form of business organization carefully now, because your decision will affect your startup costs. It will also affect your tax situation and your personal liability for the actions and debts of the business. Take advantage of the IRS for free tax information on the various legal forms of business organization.

Finally, your decision on which legal form of business organization you will use will largely determine what steps you need to take in order to set up your business when you're ready to do so.


Step 8: Determine Your Startup Costs

Calculate your startup costs - the amount of money it's going to take to get up and running. At this point, many of your items are going to be nothing more than estimates, but do the best you can.
By completing the previous steps you should have a much clearer picture of your startup costs than before you started this exercise. Here are some additional questions that may help you not to overlook something:

**Will you need to hire specialists, like a lawyer or an accountant?
**Will you need to buy some office furniture or equipment?
**What supplies will you need on hand for Day One? Do you need to purchase a beginning inventory?
**Are you going to buy a business or franchise?
**Will you have construction costs, and if so, how much needs to be done by professionals and how much can you do yourself?
**What can you do to lower your costs?

Take your time with this step. Do some price checking and look for legitimate bargains. You're bound to think of things and adjust your estimates all the way up to your opening day.

The closer you get to opening day, the more accurate your estimate will be.

~~ TO BE CONTINUED MONDAY, 05/24/2010 ~~
By Randy Duermyer, About.com Guide

Step 5: Understand Legal Barriers to Starting Your Business

Check your zoning laws before starting a small business.

If you live in an area that is subject to the rules and regulations of a homeowners' or community association, check for restrictions. Find out what, if any restrictions exist on starting a small business in your home and how you might work within them before you invest one cent in your home business.

If you plan on starting a small business in your home, you may not be able to do so if you welcome clients or customers into your home, if you will be operating machinery, storing or working with hazardous materials, making noise, etc. These and other issues surrounding the nature of your small business may all have an impact on what you can and cannot do and can prevent you from starting a small business at entirely.

Will you need a special zoning exemption? Will getting one be a difficult and drawn out exercise? Is it even legal to operate the business you're planning? Will you need to secure a license before starting your small business?

Are your products and services potentially subject to patents, trademarks or copyrights?
More on understanding patents, trademarks and copyrights...


Step 6: Review Your Small Business Insurance Needs

When you go into business, you'll potentially be exposing yourself, your home and your family to a variety of risks. You need to think about how you'll manage those risks and find out if you need small business insurance to help handle them before it's too late.

Consider this:

**Will you need health insurance? If so, how can you get it and how much is it going to cost? **When one spouse is still working, the ideal situation may be to get the other included on the working spouse's health insurance coverage if you can. If not, either the cost or the lack of availability, or both may prevent you from starting your business.
More on health insurance...
**If you're carrying inventory, need equipment or are storing hazardous materials what kind of property insurance will you need to avoid suffering financial hardship? Will you need a small business insurance policy for this purpose and how much will it cost?
**Will you need liability insurance? Where can you get liability coverage under a small business insurance policy and how much is it going to cost? Will you need errors and omissions coverage?
**What about your auto insurance? Will you be using your car for business?
Remember, your homeowners' and auto insurance policies weren't designed to cover your small or home business. Your best bet is to shop for small business insurance that can help you manage your exposure to loss, so do your small business insurance and health insurance shopping ahead of time to save aggravation and surprises later.

Small business insurance can be a major expense of doing business, but some coverages like General Liability may be quite reasonable depending on the nature of your business.

Record any small business insurance cost estimates for this step - you'll need them to determine your startup and operating costs.


~~ TO BE CONTINUED TOMORROW, 05/21/2010 ~~