How Do I Start A Business As a First-Timer

“How Do I Start A Business As a First-Timer” Help from our Community “How Do I Start A Business As a First-Timer?” * Satya has made her career-change decision; she wants to start her own business. She's great at what she does and is excited to start providing her services, but the ins and outs of launching a business feel really intimidating (and a little boring, too). Can you help her get started? What's your career history and current job? I trained as a physiotherapist twelve years ago, and have been working for a range of healthcare providers since then; predominantly as a physio and occupational health advisor. How do you feel about your work? There are aspects that I enjoy, and others that I don't. I like the 'meat and potatoes' of my work; I enjoy interacting with clients and patients and I love being a part of their recovery. Watching someone's physical health improve over time and seeing the impact it has on their quality of life is fantastic. But I've always had a bee in my bonnet about the limitations of employment in general. Things like having to clock in and out at certain times of day, do things the way someone else wants me to do them, and arrange my life around my work make me feel like a child, like I'm not in charge of my own life. I've always had a bit of a rebellious streak, and working for someone else seems to feed that aspect of me rather than tame it. Over the past few years I've also grown a little bored. I've been in this line of work for a long time now, and although every patient is different, it's started to feel like I'm just going through the motions. What would you like to be doing instead? I've always had a real interest in alternative therapies and nutrition, and my friends all come to me for advice when they want to make a change to the way they feel every day. I've done a few extra qualifications in my spare time, and I've recently decided that I want to work for myself as a holistic well-being coach. I want to help people who feel slow and out of balance, through nutrition and exercise, and I'd love to release my own range of herbal remedies. My family and friends think it's hilarious that this has only just occurred to me, given the amount of time I spend whining about employment and the fact that I kind of do it already on a voluntary basis for everyone I come into contact with! What's the biggest obstacle you're facing? I simply have no idea how to start a business. I’ve read a lot of vague articles online, but as soon as I touch on the nitty-gritty nuts and bolts of it all, I get freaked out and back away. Taxes, marketing, a company name, figuring out how much to charge for what, how to find someone who will make and send out my remedies, designing a logo... none of these sound like any fun, nor are they the parts of my business that I want to leave my current job to do! I can't bring myself to hand in my resignation until I'm prepared to start making some money from my business, but until I figure out the dry stuff I also can't get started. Everything I read either sounds too simple to be true, or really scary and complicated, so I end up doing nothing at all. I'm stuck. Can you help Satya? Have you been in a similar situation, or are you in the same boat right now? How could Satya go about setting up her new business? Do you know of any great resources, or anyone she could talk to? Share your thoughts in the comments below and click the thumbs-up button to show your support. Give Satya a cheer of encouragement by hitting the thumbs-up button here:

Guest Post Never Work For FreeExcept Under These Four Circumstances

Guest Post Never Work For Free…Except Under These Four Circumstances The temptation to hand over your precious time, labor, ideas, and energy in exchange for $0.00 dollars per hour might sound ridiculous, especially to those who are currently working and earning a regular paycheck. But for those who have been out of work for a few months or longer, your perspectives may begin to shift. After all, you might value work experience and new career opportunities over financial securityâ€"in the short-term. Big picture, though, you’re fully aware that you need to eventually feed your bank account. So what do you do? Take an unpaid job and eat ramen for a few weeks? Or say no thanks and keep searching for work? In general, we’d recommend never accepting unpaid work. But of course, every rule has a few important exceptions. If any of the following four circumstances ring true for you, working for free may actually benefit your career.  The organization is non-profit group with a positive impact on the community. Blood drives, community gardens, animal rescue operations, and historic preservation sometimes operate with no business model holding them up (rescued animals can’t pay for their own care). But steer clear of for-profit companies (banks, hedge funds, publishing firms, law firms, etc.) that could easily pay you and simply choose not to.  You see a clear pathâ€"not a hypothetical pathâ€"from this opportunity to a paying gig. A company that promises to give you full-time work if you successfully complete one short-term project may be legitimate. A company that wants to publish your article in exchange for “valuable exposure” (instead of money) is not.  The work you’ll be completing will take under 30 minutes to finish. Some companies want candidates to complete work samples as part of the application process. If you really want the job, you can probably afford the effort of jumping through this hoop. Just keep your time investment under a few hours or so.  You really don’t need money. If you won’t graduate for another two years and your parents are still paying your bills, there’s nothing wrong with accepting an unpaid internship for the summer. Just keep an eye on your own interests and don’t allow yourself to be abused, manipulated, or exploited. LiveCareer, home to America’s #1 Resume Builder, connects job seekers of all experience levels and career categories to all the tools, resources and insider tips needed to win the job. Connect with us on  Google+  and  Youtube  for even more tips and advice on all things career and resume-related.

A Sure Way to Fail Being Ms. Independent

A Sure Way to Fail Being Ms. Independent I must have spent days upon days in my cubicle dreaming I could be self-employed and working from my adorable home office. I wanted independence. I did not want to have to rely on other people so much to make a living. Now I AM self-employed. My home office is NOT adorable. And, I’ve learned that being 100% independent is the fastest way to sink my business. There is nothing more important than relying on other people. I love the following quote from Keith Ferrazi’s book “Never Eat Alone:” Autonomy is a life vest made out of sand. Independent people who do not have the skills to think and act interdependently may be good individual producers, but they won’t be seen as good leaders or team players. Their careers will begin to stutter and stall before too long. I saw it every day at JPMorgan: people in my department were fantastic at what they did. Unlike my accounts, their interest fees always came out perfectly calculated down to the penny. Mine were sometimes a mess. Often times these brilliant Excel afficionados would miss team meetings or skip out on team lunches to put their head in the sand and do great work. This is what they thought would help their career. I’d argue that it didn’t. And from what they told me, none of my co-workers took advantage of JPMorgan’s amazing mentorship program like I did. I become friendly with the Commercial Bank’s head of HR. When I put in my resignation, I received a call from her within minutes. She urged me to stay and asked if I’d be interested in a position they had created within their department that I could interview for within the next few days. I decided not to go down that path but I still feel comfortable reaching out to this woman today. I was dying to get one step closer to an independent, entrepreneurial career. After all, entrepreneurs are “independent,” right? Over the last 6 months I’ve tested a lot of products and services with the goal of independence. I decided on offering social marketing services. Sounds 100% fun, creative and independent, right? It’s not. Nor do clients just come right to you. I’ve had to really adjust my mindset from “you’re a marketer,” to, “you’re in sales.” A few years ago when I was hell bent on growing the readership of this very blog and learning all about online marketing, I got into the habit of meeting at least 2 people for coffee every week before, after or during lunch at my day job. It was during this time that I was writing my best work and also what lead to me getting two book writing opportunities by age 25. PEOPLE got me there, I didn’t get there myself. Im adopting the same mentality and taking the same networking actions again today for my marketing business and it is working fantastically. You will never reach the highest levels of your career or personal life without the support of others. Believe it. I didn’t say that depending on others would be comfortable or natural. I just said it’s crucial. How many of you connect your goals to PEOPLE who can help you achieve them? Probably not many of you- I never used to associate my goals with people either. Here’s the secret: focus on helping people achieve THEIR goals. The more people you help, the more people will help YOU some day or introduce you to someone who can. Don’t keep track, don’t meet up with high expectations, don’t meet for coffee only when you need something. Start depositing into your social bank account today and make it a regular habit. When shit hits the fan, these people may be all you’ve got. And, trust me, shit WILL hit the fan. Have you deposited into your social bank account lately?   Do you have any equity in others right now? If not, what are you going to do to change it?

On the Job by Anita Bruzzese How to Grow Your Business and Not Burn Out

On the Job by Anita Bruzzese How to Grow Your Business and Not Burn Out Scaling a businesscan be thrilling and exhilarating but it also can be exhausting. Its not unusual to hear those in the midst of growing a department, division or small business talk about how theyre working 60 to 80 hours a week, rarely seeing their friends or families. They may even admit theyre not sure theyve brushed their teeth in the last week. When reaching this point, alarms should begin to sound. Not just because no one can keep up such a pace, but because it means the person is actually hurting the business instead of helping it. Growth will actually stall instead of accelerating when one person is putting too much into scaling efforts, claim authors of a new book, Scale: Seven Proven Principles to Grow Your Business and Get Your Life Back. AuthorsJeff Hoffmanand David Finkel say that when one person is trying to do it all, then quality suffers. We kind of get into this mindset that no one could do this as well as I can, Finkel explains. So you end up partially doing a lot. But then you reach a point where you cant give everything all of your attention and you start to take shortcuts. Another problem is that the manager or business owner who wont let go of any of the work is seen as a micromanager, damaging the morale and productivity of other team members. Finkel adds that while you may believe you can add value to a particular scaling idea or process, the reality is that your two cents worth might make the job 10% better, but you lose 50% of the buy-in from others. We often overvalue our own ideas. Let other people do it their way. It may be different, it might not, he says. The authors also stress that a business owner or manager who is trying toscale a businessalone will soon find its a formula for disaster. To illustrate the point, they say you should ask yourself this question: If you were hit by a bus tomorrow (or otherwise incapacitated), what would happen to your business? They say that in a survey of more than 1,000 business owners over the last five years, they found the average business owners enterprise would fail in 30 days. Of course, some people balk at even thinking about their own vulnerability, Finkel says. Then, they begin to worry that theymustbe indispensable or they will be replaced. Finkel explains that once they understand that creating a stable organization will protect their position, not eliminate it, they begin to see how the Lone Ranger attitude is harmful to them and to others. 7 Principles of Scaling a Business without Working Long Hours Hoffman, former CEO of the Priceline.com family of companies and Finkel, CEO ofMaui Mastermind, have both successfully scaled their businesses. They say the way to scale a business without working longer hours means following seven principles: Build a business, not a job. Remember the hit by a bus lesson? If you want a life, youve got to reduce your businesss reliance on you (see more here)

Need a Resume Writer? Check Out Resume Writing Services in NJ

Need a Resume Writer? Check Out Resume Writing Services in NJMany companies, whether big or small, turn to professional resume writing services in NJ to help them write their resumes. They rely on a team of experts who have years of experience and who are fully qualified to do the job. With an experienced team behind you, your resume will speak volumes about you and your abilities to the hiring manager.But if you're considering taking the time to hire a professional resume writing service in NJ to help you out, you need to know that the quality of the service will not be as high as you might think. That's because each company is different. There is no one that is like the next. There are many ways that you can weed out the companies that are not worth your time.First of all, you can look at their online portfolios and browse through their profiles in online forums. If they're in NY, check out some of their posts. You might see something about working for a computer consulting firm. A good portion of resume writing services in NJ will not be able to write custom resumes. They're not quite sure what they're doing yet, so they leave the bulk of the work up to an outside consultant.As soon as you see posts on New York resumes, you should see the same about the company in NJ. This is only because New York has more people than NJ, and they have more people working in this field. If you take a closer look at the online portfolio of a reputable resume writing service in New Jersey, you'll find that they have the actual person in-charge of writing your resume.Another way that you can determine which ones are the best in NJ is by checking out their track record. The ones that have plenty of reviews and testimonials from customers can be trusted. If you find someone with a bunch of bad reviews, you shouldn't hire them.One of the more popular forms of resume writing services in NJ are copy writing services. These are the types that hire employees. You might be surprised t o learn that most of these companies actually pay their freelancers to write resumes for them. Some of them use a third party contractor who writes the resume on their behalf.When writing a resume, freelance writers are usually paid on a regular basis for their work. If you get an offer from a freelance writer, read the contract carefully. Most contracts require that the writer retain all copyright ownership to the finished product.Keep these tips in mind before you consider outsourcing your resume writing services in NJ. It will be a better decision in the long run.

Does Your LinkedIn Network Make You Feel Limitless Mine Does

Does Your LinkedIn Network Make You Feel Limitless Mine Does 17 Flares 17 Flares I love LinkedIn.  But I also love putting work into LinkedIn. The bold should tell you that the second sentence is far more important.  Unfortunately, far too many job seekers complain that LinkedIn hasnt worked for them, so they end up failing to put in the proper work/time that building a LinkedIn network requires. Sure, LinkedIn can be a short term solution to your job search, but its far more powerful when you consistently build up your network, and use it as a career tool.  Dont mistake career tool, for job search tool.   When you have more connections in your network, the possibilities have you feeling more and more like Bradley Cooper in that movie Limitless.  A massive amount of connections gives you the power to connect with almost anyone, from any company, and from any location.  Limitless.  Oh, and a big shout out to Philly native, Bradley Cooper. Connect.  Connect. Connect. Connect. Connect. Then connect some more. If any of this is new to you, I do believe that I covered much of the basics, and then some in my Ultimate Beginners Guide to LinkedIn.  Read it. I am certainly not bragging by showing you the following screen shot of my network connections, but youll see that my LinkedIn statistics do give me the luxury of connecting with a fairly large amount of people.  Over 16 million to be exact.  Still, I do know many folks (mostly recruiters) who have a much larger network than I have.  Take a look at the shot: Just by having a direct connection to 2,000+ people, Im able to get in touch with and contact some 16 million people.  Hell yes. Are you ready to start committing to your LinkedIn network?  

Job Hunting Season is Open, Take Aim for Targeted Job Search - CareerAlley

Job Hunting Season is Open, Take Aim for Targeted Job Search - CareerAlley We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners. January (January 5th this year) marks the official opening of the Job Hunting Season. The season typically ends at the end of November and becomes really quiet from Christmas through New Years Day. Most people are back to work on Monday, November 5th and we all get serious about work again after winding down over the holidays. Most companies have finalized their 2009 budgets and know their hiring needs. So do you have your weapons of job search ready to go? Time to review some recruiter websites. Bankstaffers.com As you might suspect, Bankstaffers.com focuses on the Banking Industry. As mentioned in yesterdays post (Whos Hiring in Finance?), Financial Services and Banking in particular is a fairly distressed industry at the moment. That being said, this site has a number of open job postings. This recruiter covers New York, Emerging Markets, International and Domestic markets with the links for each at the top of their page. They have information on banking news, a tab for candidates and a listing of current assignments listed down the remainder of the page. You can email your resume by clicking on a job and the email link. Sales Resource Group This recruiter specializes in placing sales executives within the Technology Industry and they are a retained search firm. Their main page has tabs about the firm, Job Seekers (lists current positions), Career Resources (sign-up for updates and review interview questions) and Submit Resume. RSMR Global Resources, Inc. RSMR is a global retained search firm focused on the Construction Industry (Architects, Engineering, etc.) as well as HR consulting. The main page gives an overview of the firm with a link to practice areas and a candidate link. The candidate page has open positions, interview materials, submit resume and a candidate FAQ. Lucas Group Lucas has 18 locations around the world. They cover several industries, but are known as the largest source of of military personnel transitioning into Corporate America. The main page has links for Expertise (industries covered) as well as Job Seeker Resources. The Job Seeker page allows registration (you can submit your resume and profile), job search, articles and upcoming events. This page also offers descriptions for each area of coverage. On the lighter side . . . More Funny Applicant Stories Assorted funny job applicant stories from Vault.com. Good luck in your search. What's next? Ready to take action? Choose the right tools to help you build your career. Looking for related topics? Find out how to identify and land your dream job. Subscribe and make meaningful progress on your career. It’s about time you focused on your career. Get Educated Contact Us Advertise Copyright 2020 CareerAlley. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy + Disclosure home popular resources subscribe search