There is both good news and bad news when it comes to the level of small business financial literacy possessed by the average Canadian small business owner. The results of a recent small business financial literacy quiz conducted by Intuit Canada show that more than 8 out of 10 respondents failed to achieve a score of “good or basic knowledge” or better. Nearly half of these respondents revealed “well below basic knowledge.”Put another way, only 17 percent of respondents achieved a score of “very good knowledge” or better, and only 2% said they have “great knowledge.” The quiz consisted of 10 questions about business financial fundamentals, such as what is the role of the balance sheet and how can short-term cash flow be improved?What’s the Good News?That’s the bad news. The good news is that a majority of the respondents said they understand that financial management is important to the success of their business and they need to start closing the “knowledge gap.” Specifically:
42 percent said they wanted to spend more time with an accountant.
24 percent said they would benefit from information sessions with other small business owners.
22 percent said they would benefit from online tutorials.
The study indicates that small business owners’ use of financial literacy tools and resources increases their financial management confidence. Three-quarters of respondents who use financial software are confident that they have a good knowledge of accounting principles. Only 16 percent of respondents who rely on their own financial knowledge expressed this same level of confidence.Up Close and PersonalIn our position as small business financial consultants, we see the reality of these statistics up close and personal every day. Most entrepreneurs start businesses because they have particular talents or skills when it comes to manufacturing and delivering a product or providing a professional service – not because they are financial experts. However, they quickly learn that a good level of financial knowledge is very important to achieving success.It’s not uncommon for an entrepreneur to have a great business idea or product, a strong distribution system and/or sales force, a crack customer service team and raving customer reviews – only to fail because it suffered from poor cash flow.You’ve probably heard it said before that “cash flow is the lifeblood of a business” and it’s true. Companies can often withstand short-term periods of slow sales, and even unprofitability, but a lack of cash flow can prove fatal – even to companies with strong sales and high profits.Cash Flow SolutionsIf your company is suffering from poor cash flow, you owe it to yourself to speak with a small business financial consultant willing to sit down with you and help analyze your situation and suggest solutions. Often, these involve asset-based lending (ABL) solutions like factoring and accounts receivable (A/R) financing.A full-service factoring company will purchase selected receivables on an ongoing basis for a small discount to provide immediate cash flow for your business. This form of financing is widely used around the world – credit card companies are essentially doing the same thing. The elimination of a “receivables lag” can mean the difference between success and failure for businesses with a lack of working capital, or those that are operating with long or unreliable cash conversion cycles.An A/R financing company will lend to a business based on the total value of its eligible receivables. There is a subtle but important difference between this and factoring receivables outright: With A/R financing, the receivables become the primary collateral, a workable advance rate is established, and the company is able to call upon funds based on the “borrowing base” of eligible receivables.Many business owners fail to seriously consider these two options because they are unaware of how they work. They don’t realize how quick and easy it is to qualify, or the many advantages of these options over traditional financing. And many think they are simply too expensive but fail to ask themselves, “Compared to what?” The result of doing nothing is sometimes the loss of the business or bankruptcy.Don’t Be a Statistic Statistics indicate how hard it is to be a successful Canadian small business: While 85 percent of Canadian small businesses make it through the first year, only 51 percent are still around after five years. How many of these failures could have been prevented with a bit of knowledge and a stronger grasp of business financial management?If you own a business or know someone who does, you are in a position to alter the statistics directly. Start by learning about or improving your knowledge of alternative financing solutions. The success or failure of many Canadian small businesses may depend on it.

Today many people are currently unsatisfied in their careers and are looking for opportunities to work at home. A home based business can have so many rewards, no boss, more income, less stress and spending more time with your family to name a few. The solution for this desire is quite simple, find the perfect work at home opportunity that meets your goals and interests.

Locating the right work at home opportunity isn’t very difficult. Everyone is unique and has their own gifts and talents. Learning your gifts and talents in the business world,will help you decide what type of home based business you will do best.

The perfect home based business should include your interests. Any home based business requires that you be a “Self Starter” and motivate yourself to do better then working for that lousy boss you had at your last job.

Anyone can easily create a work at home opportunity, but finding a home based business that can financially support you is a lot harder to come by. You can look for a business that offers telecommuting opportunities that allow you to work at home The benefit of working at home in these types of careers is a safer, more secure revenue stream then owning your own business. The down side, your still working for someone else.

So your ready to start your own work at home business, and you have a concept you may like to do, then your ready to do some research. It’s very important that you, focus on what you want to do before going through the vast amount of home based business opportunities advertised all over the Internet. A great place to start is with a reputable work at home directory, such as [http://homebasedbusinesslistings.com]. A legitimate home based business directory can save you a great deal of time and energy as they have already done the research for you and will help steer you away from online scams.

Although running your own business may sound easy, motivation, determination and initiative are all very important characteristics of a successful home-based entrepreneur.

Here is the basic concept for running any successful home based business.

1st – Have an idea of what kind of items or service you would like to offer

2nd – Do the research on your competitors and see how your business can get noticed and stand out.

3rd – Getting started, how to get your plan in motion.

4th – Bigger is better, knowing your competition is key. Your goal is always to be bigger and better.

The setup process in building a lucrative business seems like it gets more difficult as you go, but if your committed and stay the course your business will soar.

In the first step of creating a home based business you need an idea or a concept and determine what you would like to do. The types of home based businesses vary greatly. You can take any interest or idea and turn it into a sales and service oriented business. You can also find a preexisting home based business opportunity that has a well thought out business model with great support and use it as a stepping stone. One of the hottest ideas right now is selling products through auction sites. Home based opportunities like http://eprofitsource.net have taken this idea to the next level, allowing you to sell any type of products or services that your interested in. Partner yourself with a business opportunity that you are interested in, and success is sure to follow.

The next step in creating a home based business is researching other businesses that offer what you are planing to offer. Market research can help you to figure out what will make your home based business idea unique. Whether it’s just finding out price points or marketing strategies, knowing your competition is a key to success.

The third big step with setting up a successful work at home business is getting paid by your customers. This area generally requires the ability to get people to understand why your service or product is important . If it’s your low cost, let them know what your competitor is selling it for, if it is a service , let them know the benefits of choosing you over your competition.

The fourth step is how you keep your business a success. Non stop research for what other businesses are doing will help you to provide better services and products for your customers. Always remember to scout for any new competitors, because if they’re as smart as you, they’ll be watching you too.

You may find that one step is usually simpler for one person than another. The simplest way to guarantee that your home based business allows you to reach your goals is to plan well and always be ready to meet your customers needs. As change is always inevitable, the work at home business that can change and grow, will always be the one that stays on top.

The last ingredient to running a successful home based business is you. If you want to keep your home based business going you must believe in yourself and what it takes to succeed. Its always a huge step when your making the decision to start a home based business, but use that “old” fuel of frustration and failure to remind you that you have what it takes to succeed, desire & determination.

Marketing your business online is all about showing that you have something to offer your visitors that your competitors do not have. Marketing your small business online means reaching out to your current customers as well as prospective customers and setting yourself apart.

Successful small business Internet marketing is all about establishing relationships. Just as customers in your brick and mortar store have a chance to come in and get to know you, online customers need to be given the chance to learn more about what you do and to decide that they want to do business with you.

This is where the concept of your small biz online marketing funnel comes in. Your small biz online marketing funnel is a means by which you can – over time – find new customers and increase your small business sales.

Your small biz online marketing funnel is not unlike the local small business marketing that you undertook when you first opened your business in its physical location. First you needed to choose a location and to get that location ready. You ordered the supplies you needed. Then you started advertising. On opening day, it’s likely that you had a product giveaway – a keychain, a coffee mug or maybe even a t-shirt – as well as a coupon giveaway, something that would entice your customer to come back.

Your small biz online marketing funnel works in much the same way: you choose a domain name and build your website, or have your website built for you. You’ll get everything that you need in order – including a free or low-cost giveaway. And then you will begin marketing your small business online.

It is important to remember that your website is your virtual business. All of the Internet ads that you place will bring traffic to your page, so be sure to use the page wisely.

Use your homepage to tell prospective customers about your business – share your mission statement, share customer compliments. Use a page of your website to let your current and prospective customers know more about who you are and what you believe in. Focus both on your business and on establishing a relationship with your customer.

Drawing prospective customers in to your website brings them into the widest part of your small biz online marketing funnel; allowing them the opportunity to get to know you begins to draw them down into the funnel.

However, you do not want them to make it to the second level of the funnel and stay there, just as you do not want customers at your physical location to walk in and walk back out again. This is why you should plan – as part of your small business Internet marketing campaign – to draw them into the next smallest area of your small biz online marketing funnel.

You do not need to offer a physical giveaway. Instead, continue to build relationships with your site visitors by offering them something of value. Offer them free articles about products and services that your small business offers. Set up a newsletter that will allow you to communicate valuable information (as well as special offers) to them at specified intervals.

Doing so allows you to take an important step towards increasing sales: it allows you to establish a relationship. By consistently providing your subscribers with information or coupons that are valuable to them, they will begin to recognize you and your company as a company that they want to do business with, and they will look forward to hearing from you.

You will be able to encourage them to do business with you by promoting low-cost front-end products. Now, rather than a free article that gives your prospective customers a little bit of information, turn them into your new customers by offering low-cost products. Low-cost front-end products such as e-books that provide useful information about important topics within your industry – and further establish your credibility and the customers’ trust – will help to draw those customers down to the smallest level of your small biz online marketing funnel.

For instance, let’s say you own and operate a local floral shop. A perfect low-cost front-end information product that you could offer to your customers to draw them further into your sales funnel would be an e-book with planting tips for growing flowers in your local area. Customers who purchase your low-cost e-book will find value in the information, increasing the likelihood that they will purchase additional, higher priced products from you as well.

The last level of your small biz online marketing funnel is the place that you want your new customers to be: it’s the stage where your free and low-cost front-end items, along with your newsletters and other marketing, will increase sales of your high-cost, back-end products and services.

This is the goal of your small business Internet marketing: to find prospective customers, establish a relationship and increase sales. To recap, your small biz online marketing funnel works like this:

o Build and Market Your Website to Draw in Prospective Customers

o Engage the Prospective Customer

o Establish Trust with a Giveaway

o Establish a relationship using a newsletter and special offers

o Encourage small, low-cost front-end sales

o Make the big-ticket sales of your products and services

Through this process, and by continuing to market your site to new prospective customers, you will find that the small biz online marketing funnel is a technique that allows you to consistently and reliably get new customers and increase sales for your small business.