BizWorld Jamaica

Being a small business owner can be rewarding in many ways but can be frustrating as well. Trust me, I know firsthand! Unlike many small business owners out there, I was thrown into this lifestyle without really thinking about whether or not this was a good choice. You know the saying, "If I only knew then what I know now?" Well, that was me! I love saying that statement now to myself.

Leadership is important in your business whether you have 1 employee or over 50 employees. Hopefully, these tips will help you on how to be a good leader for your business if you are not already. All of these tips can't be done just once, you need to practice them daily or weekly or monthly. Repetition of each task will get you in a routine and make your business run smoother.

Tip One: Work on your Business, Not in It

This actually sounds pretty ridiculous because you should know how to do the majority of aspects in your business. This means that you need to focus on your future plan and how your business is going to move forward and grow. You are the mastermind of starting your business. You can't stop thinking and growing just because you are now open.

Sometimes it is a lot easier to focus on the day-to-day operations of your business because I am sure you know it best, but you are not helping your business this way. What did you hire staff for if you are just going to let them sit on their backsides and play games on their phones all day. You need to work on your five and ten-year plans and what steps you need to do to get there.

By working your business and not in it, your business will eventually be able to run itself. As an owner, you need to be able to take a vacation or if you need to leave for an emergency and not have to worry about whether the business will run itself or fall apart without you.

You should be able to leave at any given time and your business should sail smooth. It is very gratifying as an owner to not worry about your business when you are not around. It means you have done your job and have led your employees to be efficient and independent thinkers.

Tip Two: Have a Plan and Work It

Now that you know what your future goals are going to be for your business, don't forget about the actual business. I know I said don't focus on the day to day operations but it is important to find out how each department in your business is doing. Check on the inventory and assess your business on a regular basis.

Work this into your short-term goals. Don't let the business slip out from under your fingers because you were looking at your long-term goals. At the same though, don't micromanage every little detail. Practice your plan and make it work.

Tip Three: Find a Mentor

Wow, this is an important tip! Find someone you trust, is patient and who has success in a similar business as yours. You need to be able to bounce off ideas or call them with questions. I'm glad my mentor was patient. There would be times when I would call my mentor five or more times a day and even at all hours of the night.

I wouldn't go this far if I was you, but I had a great relationship with mine. After getting scolded for waking her up, she was more than helpful. The trick to finding a good mentor is finding one that wants you to succeed. This makes all the difference in the world.

Tip Four: Keep an Eye on the Future

We briefly talked about long-term goals. I always told myself to look for the light at the end of the tunnel during hard days or think about that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. This is important as well because there will be frustrating and long days. Remember why you started the business in the first place and to look forward to brighter days. If you have this attitude you will have more light days than darker ones.

A positive attitude is crucial in succeeding in your business. There would be days when I would have 20 clients needing my attention all at once. Remembering why I was in the business and what my goals were helped me get through the day and focus on my future. Thomas Fuller said "All things are difficult before they are easy." That is definitely true.

Tip Five: Honesty and Integrity

I cannot stress enough how important honesty and integrity is in the business world. I know we have all heard word of mouth is the best advertisement. Well, not if it is negative. If you say you are going to deliver your product at a certain day and time, then do it.

Unfortunately, life happens and sometimes you can't make your deadline. That usually isn't a problem if you are honest with your customer. Tell them why you cannot make the deadline. They will appreciate your honesty even though it was not when you initially told them, but they will more than likely return to your business because you treated them with integrity.

They go hand in hand and can go a long way in your business. This doesn't sound like it would be hard to practice being honest but if you've helped someone learn the piano, then you know that paying attention to detail and communicating with your customers takes the same effort, it's just like learning to read music for the piano. Consistent practice is very important.

Tip Six: Pay Yourself

For heavens sake, pay yourself! I cannot stress this enough. We all go into business to make money, right? Well, how are you going to make money if you aren't paying yourself? It will become harder and harder to stay positive when you aren't paying yourself. There would be months when I wouldn't pay myself because I always needed something else for the business. You are always going to need something new. Make it wait and pay yourself.

I mentioned earlier about practicing these tips and how it is similar to learning to play an instrument. When you are learning to play an instrument you practice the movements and notes in a slow and methodical manner to make sure you are practicing it correctly.

Practicing all of these leadership tips is very similar. Imagine learning to play the piano and you have to practice every day. Eventually you will be able to play with speed from all of the repetition, just like you will be able to run your business much smoother because you have practiced every day.

Several years ago, people started highlighting the green movement as a popular trend among the small businesses. Though it isn’t easy to go green when the economy was going blue, yet according to the financial experts the US economy will look brighter as they hope that most business organizations will be more focused on long-term sustainability. Presently, it is being studied that business practices that are environmentally responsible are becoming a top priority for most business organizations in 2011 as most of them are beginning to realize the multiple benefits and the competitive advantages that come with going green. However, being a ‘green business’ now and in the near future demands more transparency over the green practices and lesser tolerance of fussy green marketing. Here’s a look at the most famous green business trends that you can expect in 2011. Go green to save the environment and also set up a debt advice and fiscally sound business that’ll help you save your dollars during this financial frenzy.

Charting the success and progress of a company: If you study the business practices of the big companies like Microsoft and Walmart, you’ll come to know that they are busy creating separate teams that entirely focus on environment stability and they also employ executives to monitor the effective functioning of this team. As such ‘go green’ practices are adopted by the big shot companies and this is simply raising the bar of every other company, whether small or large. Seeing the bigger companies adopt green business practices, their smaller counterparts will also weave environment sustainability within their business budgets. They will create full-blown environment friendly plans to benchmark their progress.

LEDs will get more play within the green business organizations: As per some reports suggested by the New York Times, the price of some LED (light emitting diodes) light bulbs dropped to less than $20 in 2010 and they are expected to decrease further in 2011. As lighting is one of the biggest energy-costs for most businesses, an increasingly large number of them will start replacing the older lights with LEDs, which use at least 75% lesser energy than the traditional lights. Moreover, there are many utilities that are introducing a number of rebates in order to make the advance costs of LED lights appetizing.

Eco-managing the suppliers of the business: If your consumers find out that your products are sourced in highly environment unfriendly ways, it will not take much time for them to unravel your green image. Dig in deep into the green business practices that are adopted by your suppliers and set higher standards for them to better monitor their practices.

Green business marketing will get smarter: With the popularity of the green business trends, more companies are becoming savvy enough to let their customers known about their environment sustainability initiatives. You must converse with your customers in creative ways and get involved in public awareness campaigns. People should know why and how the green business practices make a difference in the way they run their organization. Companies will devote particular sections of their websites explaining their carbon-saving and resource-saving initiatives.

Is there a myth that going green can cost your business more money?

Well, yes there are many business organizations that think about the profit in terms of short term cash flow. The challenge is set when the small businesses think in terms of long-term growth. If you do it right by adopting the right techniques at the right time, you can save enough dollars in the long run. Make sure you assess each purchase to determine whether or not going green is more cost-effective for your business organization.

What’s the cost of not going green and faking it?

The harsh reality of the green market trends in 2011 is that not going green will cost you as a service provider and will also cost your customers in the long run. As the customers are becoming aware of the green services and products, you may even lose on customer retention if you do not go green. Nothing can be worse than faking it and duping your clients. They can see through the token attempts of adopting green business practices and they will smartly pass you by if they detect that you’re not entirely committed to going green.

Environmentalism is not for the wackos any longer. Consumers, across America are trying to lead more environment friendly ways to stay frugal and save energy. If you’re someone thinking of starting a new business, go green to stay an edge over others. Stay satisfied as you get to make your own contribution in making the world a better place to live in.

Samantha Spuckler is a  writer for various finance related Communities including Debt Consolidation Care. She is a financial writer by profession and has specialization in dealing with financial problems and its solutions.  She is well equipped to write articles on debt consolidation, savings, planning, frugality, debt settlement etc.

Build Brand Awareness

The first step is to use traditional media or word-of-mouth advertising to drive awareness and traffic to your Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Linkedin or Myspace pages, says Jamie Turner, author of How to Make Money with Social Media.

Unless you already have a recognizable brand like Nike or Apple, your brand needs to develop social media magnetism before you can look to make any money. You also need to create circular momentum across many platforms when designing your social media campaign, says Turner.

 By providing multiple channels for users to talk with you, you let customers choose the channel that they are most comfortable with, he adds; and by doing that you increase the likelihood that they'll connect with your brand in any number of ways.

Advice from young entrepreneurs, from successful millionaires

You've got to be passionate about what you are doing. I think people that look for great ideas to make money aren't nearly as successful as those who say, 'Okay, what do I really love to do? What am I excited about?' "  Michael Dell, Founder and CEO, Dell Computers

"Stop just thinking about it, and make it happen. When you’re young is the best time to start your own business, as you do not have the responsibilities you will have when you're older. The worst that can happen if you fail now is that you have firsthand experience to make your next venture a success." Catherine Cook ,Founder, myyearbook.com  

"It is never too early to start. I started when I was 14. There was a lot of great information on the Internet. Just do the research and find a way to do what you want to do." Sean Belnick ,Founder, BizChair.com

"Understand the power of selling, not just things, but yourself and your ideas. Study business. Study those who have come before you, and find people with the same dreams and aspirations as you." Jermaine Griggs,Founder, Hear and Play Music Group

"People who say it takes money to make money are using the worst excuse ever. . . Create massive value for others by providing a solution where no other exists." Matt Mickiewicz ,Founder, Sitepoint, 99designs and Flippa

Find a solid support team who believe in your idea. "If someone starts to doubt your company and what you’re doing, you need to get rid of them." Juliette Brindak ,Cofounder/CEO, MissOandFriends.com

"Education helped polish the inherent entrepreneurs within us. Always be on the lookout for new venture opportunities from the voids and challenges you experience in your life. Success is finding solutions in challenges that help others; money is secondary." David Hauser & Siamak Taghaddos ,Co-founders / CEOs Grasshopper Group

"The main reason people struggle financially is because they have spent years in school but learned nothing about money. The result is that people learn to work for money... but never learn to have money work for them."

This bold statement on the back cover of Rich Dad Poor Dad was very intriguing. I had heard a lot about Robert Kiyosaki's bestselling book, which promised to reveal what rich people taught their children about money that poor and middle-class people did not. I was eager to find out if the publicity hype surrounding it was warranted, so it was one of the first books that I read in my search for ways to become financially successful

I have spoken to hundreds of persons who are, just like I was many years ago, financially distressed and desperate for solutions to their money problems. Unfortunately, too many of them are looking for quick fixes to their financial woes. The question often asked is, "How can I make some more money fast?"

When I inform advice seekers that the most effective way of curing what ails them financially is to educate themselves about money and apply the lessons they learn, sometimes they fail to see how this will help them to address their immediate concerns. They don't realise the tremendous value that will return to them if they invest a little time and money in their own financial training.

It's what you know, not what you earn

Kiyosaki helped me to understand why many people are not able to get ahead financially, thinking that having more money will solve their problems. "Few realise," he explained, "that it's their lack of financial education that is the problem." Kiyosaki pointed out that "one of the reasons that the rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and the middle class struggles in debt, is because the subject of money is taught at home, not in school."

Parents who know nothing about money can only pass on their bad financial habits and poor money mindsets to their children. Our school system concentrates on teaching students how to work for money, but not how to make money work for them. Struggling with money is a way of life for even highly educated professionals, because they have never learned the basic financial skills that are necessary for success.

As a child, Kiyosaki was searching for the secrets of financial success and was lucky to be mentored by his best friend's father. Most wealthy people, he discovered, taught their children important lessons about money that help them to carry on their fortunes. In Rich Dad Poor Dad, he shared many of those principles and introduced ground-breaking ideas that gave me a completely new outlook on money.

Kiyosaki's father, the 'poor dad', had a Ph.D., while his mentor, his 'rich dad', had not even finished eighth grade. Over the years, he observed their opposing viewpoints about money and eventually saw how their thoughts impacted their financial status in different ways.

Financial education is priceless

'Poor dad' said that money didn't matter and encouraged him to "study hard so you can find a good company to work for." On the other hand, 'rich dad' declared that money was power and inspired him to "study hard so you can find a good company to buy." Kiyosaki realised that his poor dad suffered financially "not because of the amount of money he earned, which was significant, but because of his thoughts and actions."

Lesson number one that Kiyosaki revealed was that the poor and middle class work for money, while the rich have money work for them. 'Rich dad' taught him that most people are motivated to work hard as employees because there are afraid of not having any money. Then when they get paid, greed pushes them to buy more and more things with it.

This fear and greed combination, he explained, is what traps most people in a 'rat race' where they "get up, go to work, pay bills" in an endless cycle. 'Rich dad' showed him that if he stopped working just for a wage and instead worked to learn, his brain would uncover many methods of earning money on his own. "The moment you see one opportunity, you will see them for the rest of your life."

I acquired many priceless insights from Kiyosaki's stories about his two dads, and was inspired by his powerful declaration, "Money comes and goes, but if you have the education about how money works, you gain power over it and can begin building wealth." I resolved after reading this book to make it my business to learn as much as possible about money.

Next week, we will look at some more important lessons from Kiyosaki's Rich Dad Poor Dad.

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(c) Cherryl Hanson Simpson

Cherryl is a financial consultant and money coach, and founder of Financially S.M.A.R.T. Services. She is currently writing her first book "The 3 Ms of Money." See more of her work at www.financiallysmartadvice.com

Becoming financially successful involves more than just doing the right things with the money you currently earn. For many persons, the salary they receive from their regular jobs can just barely cover their basic necessities. The reality is that if you want to achieve a healthy financial status, you need to focus on earning extra income.

This realisation came home to me several years ago as I struggled to turn around my finances from a negative position to a positive one. After recognising the importance of budgeting, saving, managing debt and setting goals, it became quite obvious that I needed to make more money in order to accomplish these basic money management strategies.

It would be impossible for me to meet all my bills, save for an emergency fund, pay off my debts, and put aside money for future goals without another source of income. However, figuring out how to create more money was a challenge. I had a full-time job and family responsibilities, so my free time was limited. I also had no idea of what else I could do to increase my income.

found the answer to this financial dilemma as I continued to uncover the wealth of information about money that was contained in books and CDs. As I read and listened to the stories of persons who had built big bank balances, I realised that most of them had one thing in common - they had found success in selling products or services.

The Secret of Selling

Many of these affluent people had initially sacrificed their leisure time, spending numerous hours crafting their skills or developing their ideas into viable products and services. By strategically and enthusiastically marketing their offerings to the public they were able to create a consistent flow of income and eventually created long-lasting wealth.

My research indicated that persons and businesses that excel at selling make the most money. No successful corporation can exist without sales; no money can realistically, honestly and sustainably be created without the exchange of products and services that are demanded by consumers.

Therefore, if I wanted to become an income creator, I needed to think, act and perform just like a profitable business. I had to learn the secret of successful selling.

For many people, the thought of selling conjures up images of annoying insurance agents or unwelcome travelling merchants who push offerings that no one really wants. Selling could mean exposing yourself to rejection from persons who would hurtfully decline your requests, or worse, ignore your feeble attempts at getting them to pay attention to you.

This underlying impression of sales causes many people to avoid the prospect of selling anything to anybody like the plague. Unfortunately, it is also the fundamental reason they are unable to earn the extra income that they require. Unless you learn how to sell something, you will find it very difficult to become truly financially successful.

From Failure to Success in Selling

One essential resource that has been described by best-selling author and sales coach, Dale Carnegie, as “the most helpful and inspiring book in salesmanship that I have ever read,” is How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling by Frank Bettger. This book is a must-read item if you want to discover the secret of selling.

Whether you wish to develop a career in sales or you just need to find out how to create some extra income part-time, Bettger’s timeless masterpiece will help you to get the right framework for selling success. In simple language and with relevant stories, he describes how he changed from failing in retailing to becoming a sensational sales superstar.

Bettger goes through the process of how he discovered the principles that helped him to exponentially multiply his income, and how you can replicate his success. The first key, he reveals, is to act enthusiastically about whatever you are selling. When salespeople have enthusiasm, “they get customers excited, and we get business.”

One of the challenges that hinders people from selling effectively is their fear of approaching people. If you have this problem, Bettger advises you to join a public speaking course where you’re required to speak at every meeting. “When you lose your fear of speaking to an audience,” he confirms, “you lose your fear of talking to individuals, no matter how big and important they are.”

Another principle that’s vital for success in sales and life is efficiency in carrying out multiple tasks. Bettger recommends that you should set aside a fixed time each week to organise the things you have to accomplish in their order of importance. “The whole secret of freedom from anxiety over not having enough time lies not in working more hours, but in the proper planning of hours.”

Bettger outlines in great detail everything he did to make a fortune from selling. His book inspired me to focus more on sales as a route to financial prosperity, and can help you to learn essential strategies to increase your income.

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(c) Cherryl Hanson Simpson

Cherryl is a financial consultant and money coach, and founder of Financially S.M.A.R.T. Services. She is currently writing her first book "The 3 Ms of Money." See more of her work at www.financiallysmartadvice.com

Unless you’ve been living as a recluse for the last few years, or you’ve chosen to ignore the technological advancement of the Internet, chances are that you have heard of the concept of social networking. The way that the world communicates in the 21st century has been completely transformed by this phenomenon.

Social networking is a web-based structure that allows persons who have common interests to interact freely online; sharing comments, ideas and stories. Some of the more popular networks include Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and MySpace. Research indicates that avid social networkers will spend several hours per day communicating with their online friends.

While these online networks are largely used for entertainment and social interaction, the model offers tremendous potential for businesses as well. Recently, AMK Communications hosted the Caribbean SME Business Technology Exposition (CARIBIZTECH) which showcased several experts and presentations about the importance of social networking in the work environment.

Social networking in the Caribbean

DJ Newson, CEO of Newson Consultants, a firm which creates corporate social network strategies, emphasised that Caribbean businesses could not afford to ignore the power of the Internet as a key sales and marketing tool. He explained that social media could help companies to generate public exposure, increase traffic to their websites, and build new business partnerships.

To highlight the wide reach of social networks in our geographical area, Newson pointed to recent studies that showed that the Caribbean, with a total population of about 41 million people, had some 3.9 million Facebook users. This figure represented approximately 9.4 per cent penetration, he revealed, which meant that there were a significant number of people that could be accessed via this medium.

Newson underscored that word-of-mouth marketing - satisfied customers talking positively about a company - was an invaluable method of promoting a business. The very nature of social networking could allow businesses which participate in the process to gain credibility, influence buying situations, facilitate customer-to-customer interactions, solicit feedback, and encourage the selling and promotion of its products.

Getting started in social networking

With over 500 million users, Facebook is the king of all the networks; and it offers the most options for a business to create a meaningful online social presence. Here are some tips for networking newbies to get involved in this opportunity:

1. Start a personal account.

It’s free to sign up with Facebook and you can determine how much personal information you wish to share with the public and which details should remain private. If your primary reason for using Facebook is for business, ensure that you maintain a professional profile.

2. Search for friends and colleagues.

Follow the simple instructions to link your email address books with the site. Facebook’s search tools will find all your contacts that already have Facebook accounts and will allow you to send out friend requests. You’ll be amazed at how many people from your past you will discover in a short time, but you can always refuse to link with specific persons.

3. Create a business presence.

After putting your personal details, you can then create a Facebook fan page or a group to showcase your business. You can invite your Facebook friends to ‘like’ your page or group, which in turn gets reflected on their personal pages. This can encourage persons you don’t know to discover more about your company. Use a search engine such as Google to find a tutorial on the benefits of setting up these group pages.

 

4. Send out business updates

You can publish details about your products or services in the update box on your business page. However, due to the social nature of this arena, do not place basic advertising information with excessive links back to your website. This could be interpreted as ’spam’ and will definitely turn away people from your page. You should create updates that are entertaining and interesting to encourage people to read and follow your posts.

5. Offer exciting marketing promotions

Everybody loves getting something for free, and Facebook users are no different. You can create a buzz about your products and services by offering special discounts and deals for your followers, announcing new offerings first on Facebook, asking for feedback and ideas, and developing online contests where persons can win simple prizes.

 

6. Connect your business website

You can use the Facebook tools to put a link to your fan page on your business website, if you have one. This is a simple way for your website viewers to experience your up-to-date posts and participate in the social interaction that Facebook delivers. They will also see a trendy side to your business that might encourage long-term loyalty.

If you have a small business, you can easily create a presence on Facebook or any other social media by yourself. However, depending on your product offerings and your marketing strategy, it might be useful to hire a part-time worker to post updates or tweets. If necessary, contract a consultant who can help you to make the most of social networking.

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Cherryl is a financial consultant and coach, founder of Financially S.M.A.R.T. Services. See more of her work at www.financiallyfreenetwork.com and www.financiallysmartonline.com.

I hate my nine-to-five job, and I would love to work in a business of my own. I’ve always dreamt of one day leaving a large, vibrant company for my son to carry on, to give him a good start in the world. I opened a wholesale shop once, but I ended up losing a lot of money. I would like to start another venture, but don’t think I can afford to fail again. What can I do to guarantee success in business?”

It’s wise for you to approach starting a business with some amount of caution. A business venture can be a potentially profitable form of investment, and it’s probably the route to eventually achieving financial freedom. Unfortunately, there are many stories of people who have gone into business and lost a lot of money, even ending up seriously in debt.

Even though the failure rate is high for start-up businesses, it is possible for you to eventually achieve your dream if you approach it with careful planning. Here are some factors to consider for your next business idea:

Set A Goal

The first thing you need to do is to set a goal for what you want to achieve in business. Do you have some talents and knowledge that can translate into dollars by offering your services for sale? Are there any products you could provide that can solve a problem, or satisfy an unmet consumer need? What is it that is going to make you different from the rest of persons offering similar services or products? These are some of the considerations that can help you to focus your idea into a workable business venture.

Make A Plan

Would you build your dream house without first getting a blueprint made? Probably not. However, many people jump into businesses, without first designing a plan how this venture will operate. A business plan can help you to create a strategy to carry out your overall goal, identify your target market, see how much money you will need to stay afloat, and identify potential threats before they arise.

The plan doesn’t have to be a large, complicated document. For a small business, a simple, realistic and specific plan can be your road map to guide you through to business success. In fact, it can help you to decide if the business idea is actually feasible or not. You can contact the Jamaica Business Development Centre at 14 Camp Road, Kingston 4, to receive professional assistance in business planning.

Accumulate Working Capital

Many businesses fail, not because the business idea was bad, or that it couldn’t be profitable, but because there wasn’t enough cash flow to meet everyday expenses. Your business plan will help to identify your working capital needs, and if your profit margins will be enough to cover your costs. Once you have identified how much you cash you need to start the business, you can start saving toward that goal. You may also require additional funding. Lending agencies typically require business plan outlines and cash flow statements before they will provide a loan. You can also interest other people to invest in your business idea for an equity stake in your business.

Learn About Business

Success in business is not usually dependent on luck. Like any other skill in life, you must learn how to develop by experience, trial and error, and getting advice from successful business people. If you want to provide a service, become an expert in your field through training sessions, apprenticing, and research. Read entrepreneurial magazines and books. If you are currently working in a thriving company, study the strategies that have been used to grow the business. Identify areas that are not working well. Get professional guidance from an accountant to ensure that your profit margins are sufficient and that you comply with the tax laws.

Be Persistent

Business success is usually not an overnight achievement. Most start-up businesses won’t turn a profit for a few years. Your business plan will show you if you are on target, or if you need to make adjustments in your strategy to succeed. Learn from your errors, but don’t let them defeat you. Persistence and a strong belief in your original goal will help you to survive when the difficult times come.

While you’re planning to start your own business, try to find a product or service to provide while you continue with your nine-to-five. Perhaps you can supply your office with phone cards, or type up documents for a fee. You could start a network marketing business supplying vitamins or household products. Small successes can give you extra cash and the confidence to begin your business venture.

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(c) Cherryl Hanson Simpson

Cherryl is a financial consultant and money coach, and founder of Financially S.M.A.R.T. Services. She is currently writing her first book "The 3 Ms of Money." See more of her work at www.financiallysmartadvice.com

As we continue to highlight practical options of generating income to make ends meet or save towards future goals, today we will look at some of the ways to earn from providing personal services. Depending on your background or natural talents, you may find one of the following opportunities ideal for you:

Self-defence Training

In today’s society, there is a high level of anxiety caused by crime and violence and the perception that personal security is at risk. While others focus on worrying about the problems that exist, true entrepreneurs pay attention to the opportunities that they present. One possibility for income earning is teaching others how to defend themselves in the event of an attack. If you have training in the security field or excelled at a self-defence course, you could provide this worthwhile service to help persons overcome their fears.

Weight-loss Coaching

For many persons, the battle of the bulge feels like a never-ending war. Unfortunately, it often takes more than just personal desire to succeed at eating properly and exercising consistently. If you are lucky enough to be a self-motivated fitness buff, why not provide a service to encourage others who may find it challenging to achieve a healthy lifestyle? You could be an accountability partner who accompanies them to the gym and helps to monitor their diets. The great thing about this opportunity is that you would earn while doing something you normally do anyway!

Life/Personal Coaching

In this age of Oprah, people are more conscious of their personal shortcomings and are constantly seeking ways to improve themselves and experience more fulfilling lives. This self-awareness has led to the growth of the life or personal coaching industry. Life coaching can help persons to improve their careers and relationships, deal with stress and overcome time challenges. If friends are always asking you for advice and you have a desire to help people to reach their full potential, then this sideline could be ideal for you. Search online for details on becoming a life coach.

Chauffeur/Errand Service

The ability to move around easily to accomplish basic chores is something that many of us take for granted. However, there are several elderly and incapacitated persons who don’t enjoy this flexibility. If you have a patient and caring personality along with careful driving habits, you could offer a chauffeur service to meet this growing need. You could take your customers to their desired locations, or carry out their errands such as supermarket shopping or bill payments for them. If you have a valid driver’s license but don’t own a car, then simply look out for clients who do.

Personal Organising

If you have a passion for keeping things neat and orderly, and you instinctively straighten items in the homes and offices of your friends and colleagues, then you could make money from this talent. Many people are now realising that disorganised personal spaces can negatively impact their efficiency and productivity. You can gain a satisfying income by helping customers to de-clutter closets and rooms, create space plans for small areas, design custom storage units, develop filing systems and eliminate waste.

Clothes Care

Isn’t it wonderful when we discover someone who loves to do things that we absolutely hate? Doing the laundry would probably rank high among the list of necessities that most people dislike intensely, yet there are some persons who find this task relaxing. If you consider pressing a perfect pants pleat to be a pleasurable pastime, you may be well suited to launder clothes for extra income. Some persons are reluctant to have strangers working in their home, so providing a service where you take away dirty clothes and bring them back clean might be an irresistible offer.

Beauty Care

Even in a cash-strapped economy, people will always have the need to look and feel beautiful. The challenge with many businesses in the beauty industry is that service prices usually reflect the inevitably high overhead costs. If you’re thinking of earning money part-time in the beauty business, you can have the advantage of providing great care at lower costs. Hair styling, nail care, spa treatments such as facials and waxing, as well as make-up sessions for special occasions, are all practical services that you can offer for less, right in your customers’ homes.

Therapeutic Massages

If you love helping people to feel better physically, then another opportunity for extra earning is the provision of therapeutic massages from your home or as a travelling service. Whether your clients have health concerns such as muscle injuries, or just need to de-stress after a hard day’s work, this option has tremendous potential to bring supplemental income. There are several places available locally where you can get training on therapeutic massage techniques, or look online for instructional videos.

The key to making money in personal services is to search for people’s unmet needs or urgent problems and figure out ways to resolve them within your natural capabilities. Next week we continue to reveal more exciting ways to earn more.

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(c) Cherryl Hanson Simpson

Cherryl is a financial consultant and money coach, and founder of Financially S.M.A.R.T. Services. She is currently writing her first book "The 3 Ms of Money." See more of her work at www.financiallysmartadvice.com

The telephone is an indispensable tool in today’s fast-paced society. With the rapid development of telephone technology over the past 15 years, this instrument has moved from being an under-utilised home device to an essential communication hub for many people. The booming telecommunications industry in Jamaica suggests that we have an almost insatiable need to talk!

While some persons may spend entirely too much money paying for idle chatter, the telephone can actually be turned into a profit-making machine. If you are searching for opportunities to earn extra income, you may find these suggestions useful:

Virtual Secretary

Providing services for small business owners is one of the ways to earn sustainable part-time profits, as most entrepreneurs do not have the resources to hire several staff members to cover different job functions. If you possess a pleasant telephone voice, you could offer a secretarial service where you make appointments, follow up on calls and perform other telephone-related tasks for a virtual boss who is not in the same location as you are. If you are organised and efficient, you could easily manage four or five clients per day.

Sales Calls

There are several tasks that can be accomplished with a telephone, and selling products is one such option. You could work in tandem with businesses to market their products and services to prospective customers on a commission basis. You will need to have strong sales skills to be successful with this opportunity. Another option is to provide an order-taking service, where your clients’ customers can phone in their sales requests directly to you.

Answering Service

Many small business operators are frequently out of office, or they may not even have a physical workspace. Dealing with incoming calls can often be challenging for them, so you could offer an answering service to meet their needs. You could either use your own phone number, have your clients’ phones forwarded to your phone, or have dedicated phone lines for different clients. With the proper structure, this could even become a rewarding full-time business!

Reminder Service

Another possible part-time earning option is supplying a telephone service to certain businesses that need to keep in contact with their existing customer base. Very often, business owners lose potential sales by not informing their past patrons about current offerings. Other businesses, such as garages and medical practitioners, can benefit from using a reminder service to prompt more consistent business from repeat clients.

Debt Collections

One unfortunate challenge from the current tight economy is that several businesses are facing large receivables and huge bad debt portfolios. If you have a stern and intimidating voice and don’t mind asking people for money, you could provide a debt collection service for businesses. With a persistent and disciplined approach, you could earn a percentage of outstanding debts that you help to clear up, or receive a set fee for simply making calls to remind customers of their balances.

Surveys

In this competitive business environment, companies need to be customer-focused by constantly looking for ways to address their needs. One method of gathering information to support new products or services, and gauging customer satisfaction, is by conducting surveys. How about designing a service to carry out telephone surveys for businesses and institutions? You could also help them to create relevant questions and analyse market responses.

Counselling Service

It seems that more people are suffering from depression as we become more disconnected and impersonal in our everyday relationships. Many persons yearn to talk to someone who can understand their needs and help them to address their personal issues. If you are a trained counsellor, you could reach more clients by providing a telephone support service, especially late at nights or on weekends.

Technical Assistance

Another way to use the telephone to advise people is by creating a hot line to provide technical assistance in your area of expertise. You could receive retainers to help clients with accounting issues, legal advice or management decisions. With the assistance of the internet, you could offer a remote service to troubleshoot computer problems, or teach clients how to use basic programmes and systems.

Phone Credit Sales

Prepaid phone credit is big business, with billions of dollars being spent annually on airtime. You can take advantage of our need to keep in constant communication by selling phone credit via your own mobile phone. Technology has spawned the development of transaction portals that can allow you to electronically top up your customers without the hassle of dealing with physical phone cards. One such service provider can be found at Coolbizja.com.

As you continue your search for practical and viable ways to increase your income, remember that earning opportunities can sometimes be found right at your fingertips!

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(c) Cherryl Hanson Simpson

Cherryl is a financial consultant and money coach, and founder of Financially S.M.A.R.T. Services. She is currently writing her first book "The 3 Ms of Money." See more of her work at www.financiallysmartadvice.com