Cheap Educational Toys

The market today is flooded with a number of educational toys both branded and locally manufactured. Educational toys are very popular among parents, as they provide a good medium to educate their children. No matter how rich or poor, parents want to purchase educational toys for their children. However, the high price tags restrain many people from buying them. The offer of cheap educational toys by retailers and shopkeepers has been a solution to this dilemma.

Many companies on the Internet offer cheap rates on educational toys. Their web sites carry details of the products such as the toy description, learning objectives, pictures and prices. Customers typically register on these sites, place an order and pay online. There are also companies that provide toy rental services at affordable rates. Toys can be rented on a monthly basis.

There is a wide range of inexpensive, quality educational toys for children who are as young as three months. Wooden toys are a favorite with parents as they are cheap, safe, durable and high quality. Cheap educational toys also include storybooks, learning activity kit, construction toys, puzzles, craft kits and baby toys. Books, games or animated movies are also categorized as educational toys and are available at cheap rates. The most popular categories of toys among little children are organic stuffed animals, dolls, block-games, cars, and wooden toys. They are carefully designed and crafted to help shape young minds.

Social service organizations that concentrate on children?s welfare believe that it is essential to regulate the prices of toys and make them affordable for everyone.

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What’s a Winning Home Based Business

Allow me to relate a story that just may sound familiar. I remember the time when a friend of mine, let’s call him Bob, called me up and said something like “Hey…I just started my new home based business and would really like for you, as a favor to me, check it out and tell me what you think. There is a meeting coming up this Thursday and one of the speakers is the guy that sponsored me so if you don’t mind I would stop by and pick you up and we can ride together?” Since Bob was a close friend and I thought it would be good to help him out, and I agreed to go.

First of all, we pull into a Ramada Inn where I later discovered this is where they held a meeting every week. The place is pretty nice as we walk into the lobby, but I noticed right off the people behind the counter did not seem to be overly happy with working there. They were two young girls and a young man who were either still in high school or the first few years of college. They were huddled in behind the counter giggling while it appeared the guy was trying to score a date with one of the women. There was nothing in the lobby to give any indication that a meeting was about to happen, and upon finally getting the attention of the young women behind the counter we discover the meeting room was somewhere down the hall. Walking into this meeting room we notice the room was a bit warm and there were probably 15 people. Bob asked me to follow him over to the person who sponsored him into this business. Shaking hands Bob introduces me to him. Now this is the guy who’s really excited and been in this business awhile and is probably making a good income goes into explaining how the air conditioner is out but they are working on it and we should be fine. Bob asks if there is anything he can do to help and the sponsor replies with “If you don’t mind could you help them set up some chairs?” To which Bob replies “no problem” The gentleman walks off to greet others as everyone in the room knows this guy because he has sponsored most of them in there, and he is really excited about it and wants others like you to join into the fun, as they put it. Bob and I finish up placing all of the chairs in order.

Soon the meeting gets underway, and like most of these meetings, it starts by acknowledging all of the people in the room who are starting to make some headway in this particular business and just starting to actually make some money at this stage. Each one stands up and everyone claps and cheers. Then, the master of ceremonies, who is the sponsor, begins his presentation about the product and program. For Bob’s sake I listen intensely during his presentation as the sponsor describes for him to be the best product on the market and no one will have to sell a thing…it will sell itself. He uses an example whereby this product is so good you can just place a note in a dog’s mouth and have him take it up to people and they will buy…it’s a no brainer. The meeting ends with the sponsor trying to get everyone in the room pumped up and ready to go out and make a million dollars, and he did a fairly good job, but keep in mind with the exception of me there was one other person in that room that was not, as they called it, a distributor.

For the sake of this article the product was health related and at that point in my life I was not all that concerned about my health, the compensation plan seem to be alright, but I was just not ready to jump into this kind of business. After the meeting Bob asked “so what do you think”? I returned with “well I really don’t know enough about this to really get a good enough knowledge base to make a decision…I’ll have to do some research on it”. Just my luck the sponsor heard what I said and quickly came up saying “I understand you need more knowledge but what is it you would like to know because I can probably answer your questions”? “Nothing against you but I like to do my own research because to be quite honest you could be just a bit one sided, so I will see what I can find out”. “Well that is fair enough, if you need any help with anything just let Bob know and he can get in touch with me and I will help in any way I can”. We left the meeting and all Bob could talk about on the way home was how he was going to make millions.

I was excited for my friend but was not sold on the idea and it just kind of left my mind but over the next few months every time I see Bob or talk with him all he could do was talk about how I needed to get into this business. One of the times we were talking I ask Bob, “So how’s it going”? Bob replied “I got two other people into the business but they’re struggling a bit.” “Really why do you say that” Bob responded with “well they really don’t know very many people and they have a small family so not many people to talk with” I couldn’t help myself so I had to say “but I thought you could just put a note in a dog’s mouth and it would sell itself” We both laughed. A few months later I ran into Bob and during our conversation he said nothing about his business. Finally, I had to ask about how his business was going and he said he wasn’t really doing anything with it. I asked why and he told me how he had run out of friends and his sponsor was kind of hard to get in touch with so he just got frustrated with trying to sell people all the time because he just wasn’t a salesman.

Does this story sound familiar to many of you out there…I’m sure it does…but it doesn’t have to be that way any longer. There have been some pioneers out there in the field of “Home Based Businesses” and they have figured out if they want their business to grow they needed to change some things around, and that is exactly what they have done. They have altered the programs in a way you no longer need to go to family and friends and you no longer have to sell a product. Yeah I know it sounds like it will sell itself doesn’t it”? Well not really, but what they have done is altered things in a way that instead of going out and trying to find people to take to some meeting place and have them sit through a presentation in metal chairs as your sponsor tries to sell your product and convince your friends to come join the business. How would you like to be able to be extremely successful in your home based business but never ever have to take anyone to a meeting or sell them anything? But how you ask…well they have figured out how to use the World Wide Web or more commonly called the “Internet”.

Through the use of education this small group of people, referred to as coaches and leaders, have discovered a simple way to help people train is the way of the future, but not in the art of a specific product, but better in the art of a simple step-by-step process of using web pages to expose the business not the product, and to take this just another step what you will learn is how to promote you and your business, not the product and someone else’s business. This is accomplished through web sites which can be called landing sites, business sites, training sites and blogs. They are using videos they have made and placed out onto YouTube, Squidoo, MySpace, or Facebook. Next, they teach their team how to use ad words on Google, or many of the other search engines out there in order to get their web sites to place higher up on the list of responses. They have figured out a simple step-by-step process to do this and they are training their team on exactly how to accomplish this…and it’s working…and working well. Why you ask…

People in this arena are morphing if you will into individuals who are not selling a product but are setting up themselves and their business to help people to have more than one product available. For example; back in the day you would be associated with one business and your sold their product which meant that if you talked to 100 people about it you might find 10 people that would talk with you and of those 100 people you might find that 3 are interested, and of the 3 interested if you’re lucky 1 would actually join. That is some really bad odds. What these coaches or leaders are doing is showing people how they can have a home based business that is theirs, controlled by them, owned by them and no matter what happens to a specific company with the many different products they are hosting one company does not affect their business. This gives them the ability to have more than one product; for example, you could have products related to health and beauty, travel, automotive, jewelry, and many others. Buy advertising on the web and adjusting things like tag words your business comes up on the first page of a Google search when someone within the world does a search for something you have. Ultimately, the 100 people coming to you now are calling your phone interested it what you have and you no longer have to sell you simply allow them to buy.

I know this probably sounds easy and it’s not because you have a learning curve that you, like everyone else, must endure. The web is far from becoming saturated however there are more and more each day with these so called coaches and leaders so the first thing you need to do is do some research on them. Go to their web pages and read about them…are they trust worthy, what about their family, are they team oriented. Do they really want to help you…do they have training they will give you for free…you must do your due diligence and find someone who meshes with your personality so your able to create and great synergy with them and the team you want to build for yourself. Go out on Ezine and see if they have written any articles and try to get a feel for them. This is probably the best time ever to start a home based business so I urge you to research the web and find something that you will be happy with because there is some work involved and there is nothing that will guarantee your success better than to be doing something you love to do.

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3 Myths of Building a Successful Home Based Business That Could Bankrupt You

There is a lot of advice out there about building a successful home based business. While some of it is sound, usually the stuff offered by veteran entrepreneurs, most of it is bogus information perpetuated by greedy amateurs that can do your business more harm than good.I’m going to talk about three common myths of building a successful home based business that will lead you to bankruptcy if you believe them.Myth #1 – If I Build It, They Will ComeThis is one of the most common myths about running a successful home business. Yet people continue to believe that all they need to do is set up shop or throw up a website and customers will come flocking to them in droves. What they usually end up getting is months of frustration before eventual business failure.The truth is every profitable home based business requires active development even businesses that are primarily internet based. Think about this: Your prospects are bombarded with marketing messages thousands of times a day. If you are not proactive about getting your business in front of their face you will be overlooked which means no sales and eventually a trip to bankruptcy court.Myth #2 – The Product Sells ItselfThis myth ties into the previous one except this time some entrepreneurs believe they don’t have to market their product. They think their product is so great that people will naturally see its benefits and buy. Therefore why should they spend the time creating a marketing plan when the product practically sells itself?There are tons of awesome products on the market that have redefined our way of life. But there are equally as many good products out there that failed miserably because they were not marketed properly – if at all – and didn’t attract enough interest from consumers. A marketing plan is an extremely important component to building a successful home based business. It doesn’t have to be anything elaborate. Even the simplest marketing plan is better than no plan at all.Myth #3 – Everyone Must Be My CustomerBy far the easiest myth to believe is that in order to have a successful home based business, then everyone must be your customer. After all, the more customers you have the more money you make right? Technically that is true. However, your focus should not be on the quantity of customers you have but on the quality.Ideally, you want customers whom you can profit from so you want to avoid people who cost you more than they generate in revenue. These are people who require an excessive amount of your resources (mainly time) in order to meet their needs. It is true what they say, time is money and if you are spending all of your time servicing low income producers then you might as well headquarter you business at the poor house.It can be a challenge separating fact from fiction when listening to advice about building a successful home based business. If you want to learn some tried and true tactics for running a profitable home business then visit http://www.myawesomehomebusiness.com

How To Find Home Based Business Leads

Working from home has become the goal for many individuals. They want to get away from the every day office job. They want to be their own bosses. Before they can quit their jobs, though, they need to have a job lined up. This is where knowing where to find legitimate home based business leads can come in handy. This short guide will give you the tools you need to make it in the home business world.Before you can start looking for leads, you need to know what kind of businesses are out there. For almost every interest you will have, there will be at home business to match it. Writers, and those interested in the medical field have a head start, as there are many home jobs available in those fields. That does not mean you won’t find something for you. Take the time out to do some researching. It’s certain you will find something that will interest you.Now you need to figure out what businesses are legitimate. This a two step process. The first thing you want to do is talk to someone who is already successful at a home business. They can provide a wealth of knowledge that will be useful in your own search for a career to succeed at from home. They will be able to guide you past the scams, and straight to the top successes.Then you are going to want to do your own research on the subject. Check the Better Business Bureau or other agencies that keep records on legitimate businesses. This is your first step to weeding out the scams out there. Once you have done that, you can search through the remaining jobs to see if anything catches your interest.You can also find legitimate job leads through various sources. One of the major sources these days are social networking sites. These sites attract thousands of users all over the world. Many of these people are recruiters, looking for people to work on things from home. This is a great place to start.You can also check out blogs on the topic. Many people write blogs about their work experiences with various companies. These are the blogs to visit. They will be sure to mention the good and bad points about working for various people and agencies. You can get brilliant insight from these individuals.Finding home based business leads is fairly simple if you follow these tips. Many people have found success in the home. They are their own bosses, and the set their own hours. It just takes a little bit of time and patience to get started. Once you have gotten set up, your success will depend solely on you.

3 Ways to Build Your Home Based Business Opportunity

Where are all the good people? I often get asked this question when new people first join me in a home based business opportunity. You see, we have been conditioned to follow the pack and do what everyone else is doing, even if its the wrong strategy. I see many leaders preach about duplication and follow along on how they made their fortune in network marketing. The problem with that strategy, is what worked well for them, may in fact not work well for you.In today’s article, I will outline 3 areas of where you can go to find and locate good quality people. Many people are probably familiar with the first two areas, but not necessarily realize the advantages of organic search results, especially if you are just starting out.1. Warm Market – Is this still a good way to build?We have all heard the stories about making a list of 25 or 50 people that you know, get some training and start calling them to build your home based business opportunity quickly. Hey, I am the first to suggest doing this only if you feel comfortable doing so. That may be a contradiction to the super star network marketers advice, but here me out.Let me repeat, call your warm market (circle of influence) if you are OK doing so. If you are not, then you will need to explore other effective ways to build your home based business. The fact is, you will likely utilize a variety of methods to build your business opportunity anyways. I am just tired of the 1 approach fits all mentality to this business. I am still in the trenches day in and day out. Over the years, I have found that I no longer want to approach too many of my friends. Its a personal choice, but one you should consider as you build a business.2. Social Networking Sites – Are they effective?Several years ago, I reached out and started working the social networking sites. I really knew little about the process and wanted to make sure before I tried building my home based business opportunity by this method, that I understood the rules and how to maximize my time. What I learned over time, you should never try and sell something to someone in social networking sites. It is far better to get to know people, make friends and in time, people will ask you what you do.I have seen too many people try and come in, make up a MySpace, Twitter or Facebook page only to fail. The problem is there approach. Their home page is a like an advertising billboard. Most people ignore them because they have become conditioned seeing them all the time. If you want to stand out, build a nice profile, without all the in your face approach and reach out daily to make friends. In the course of a year, you could have several hundred close contacts and some may even join you in your business.3. Organic Search Results – What is this all about?In the past couple of years, I had a desire to finally start learning about driving traffic to my websites via organic search results. The problem was I didn’t know, what I didn’t know. So after searching around, I found some good people to educate me on the fine art and science of SEO. You see, I believe this is by far the best strategy overall for my situation. But there are some really good reasons for it.During the past 10 years, I have been involved in a few home based business opportunities. I really never made a lot of money, but I certainly learned a tone of skill sets by some great mentors. The problem was after I made a decision to leave, I had to start over. Well, I’m tired of starting over each time and decided that if I went with another company, I would build my home based business much differently this time.I wanted to only build by organic search results. You see, what happens in 2 years down the road if the company I am currently involved in goes bankrupt, they change the compensation plan or I simply decide this is not a good fit for me. Well, what do I do if I build the traditional ways. You got it, I am left to start over yet again.So this time, via search engine optimization (SEO), I have decided that no matter what happens with Company A in the future, by having my websites at the top of the search engines, I will always be able to make money in a home based business. If Company A goes under, all I need to do is look for another company that I like, change the links on my websites and within a short period of time, I am back in business because of traffic coming to my website.Each of us has to decide what methods we should use to build our particular home business. For many people, they enjoy the one on one interactions, doing home parties and building by traditional methods. Hey, that’s OK with me too. Many people are choosing to go online and look for ways to make money. You need to take some time, educate yourself and understand there are pros and cons for each method. No matter which method you choose, understand it will likely take 2 to 4 years before you make any serious money. None of the methods are instant wealth creation methods, but rather long term viable options.Make it a great day,Darrell Lischka

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Best Home Based Business Ideas: Free Training, Simple Strategies and Support Communities

Our greatest ideas always seem to come when we do not have a pen to write them down. With the Internet, the pen is no longer needed. All you need is your search engine. When searching for your home-based business ideas you should search for specific criteria. First, you should be able to learn about the business for free. Second, the business should include strategic plans that are simple to follow. Third, your business should have a community of support.When you search for home based business ideas online, millions of results will be returned. Focus on businesses that offer legitimate, free training. You are not expected to know everything immediately and you should not be expected to pay oodles of cash before you get to try out the business. There are legitimate companies available online who do provide free training and help you get off your feet at the same time. Legitimate companies offer free training because they need you to be successful. They are willing to invest in you and they want to invest in you.Strategic plans that are simple to follow are monumental assets to the business you choose. Starting a home-based business is scary enough. What you do not need is something so overwhelming you are afraid to try it. Read the reviews covering the business ideas you are considering. You want to go into a business that people like. Positive reviews should help you make your choice. Reviews are written by the customers the business serves and by those actively involved in the business. If the customers and members of the business are happy, chances are you will be happy too.Community support is another critical component of narrowing your home-based business ideas. You can venture out all alone, or you can find a business with a community. Communities are made of members participating in the business. Members are your best available mentors. They can teach you what they have already learned. Guidance is crucial to your success. Also, members support you. Not only can you partner up and be mentored, they offer encouragement. Encouragement is important because no matter what home based business idea you choose; it will be tough in the beginning. Do not give up! Your fellow members can coach you through your anxiety. Stick with your business and you will see the results you expect.When you are searching for the best home based business ideas ask yourself what criteria you need. Again, free training so you can earn while you learn. Investigate the strategies so you can find plans that you will be able to follow successfully. Always, find a business that has a community that will support you on your journey to success. With these criteria, you will narrow your search and find the best home based business idea that is right for you.

Small Business Loan Calculator Features and Benefits

The small business loan calculator has proven to be one of the most useful devices when it comes to calculating a number of commercial real estate investments. Mortgage calculators can be especially important tools of the trade in a few different areas; whether figuring out interest payments only or going with the ebb and flow of adjustable rate contracts, keeping an eye on these figures throughout the duration of most any given property transaction can be beneficial in many ways.Those who’ve used SBA loans in the past have been able to rely on small business loan calculator settings to carry them through each phase of the commercial loans process. No matter the case, having access to a number of online mortgage calculators can make life much easier when dealing with a variety of lending scenarios.Even when dealing with small loans, the price of doing business can eventually work to the advantage of the borrower. The same principle applies to those who qualify for unsecured loans and the like, when payment schedules may include higher rates. Because of the fact that some small business loan calculator setups have a few additional features to offer, the unexpected can often be handled; with commercial loans especially, unforeseen circumstances may change the game in a hurry.Forecast Early Payoff With Your Small Business Loan CalculatorDepending upon which lending institution is handling the loan in question, the idea of paying off the loan early can become a reality. Prospective borrowers may want to make sure that an early pay-off clause is included in their SBA loans without having prepayment penalties; for example, those who qualify for unsecured loans can save thousands of dollars by paying off the balance a little faster than anticipated.A small business loan calculator with this extra added feature can factor in additional amounts to be paid and apply them towards the total balance. In the past, commercial loans without this feature have ended up costing borrowers a bundle.Not all mortgage calculators come with this feature. In addition to entering the standard information pertaining to small loans, such as the balance, interest, and monthly installments, entering in the extra payment amount will display how much loan recipients can save by paying their commercial loans off earlier than expected. Even though these small business loan calculator functions are becoming more commonplace, it’s vitally important to find out which lenders are offering this additional service.Use Your Small Business Loan Calculator To Determine Best Financing OptionsThose who are ready to refinance their first-lien mortgages may be able to take advantage of their SBA loans by seeing whether or not this early payoff condition applies, sans the penalties. Successful business owners should have a certain amount of clout as it stands, meaning that this type of leverage can be used to switch mortgage companies, if necessary.Contacting other lenders isn’t a crime, and some may have this particular small business loan calculator function already in place. Having this type of leverage can put business owners in the driver’s seat while searching for the best available deals concerning their commercial loans.In effect, renegotiating a second mortgage while saving thousands of dollars is more than possible; in fact, paying lower interest rates and monthly payments on a number of refinanced small loans just isn’t enough, especially when mortgage calculators with multiple features will be able to clearly indicate how much additional money can be saved in both the short-term and the long-run. A small business loan calculator with all the bells and whistles may be worth looking into.

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Home Based Business Leads

Starting a home-based business is only the beginning of a home-based career. The real headache of the business starts after the business is started. It is difficult to figure out how to attract new customers to make the business successful.

There are many leads generating systems available that help accelerate the size of your opt-in list, thereby boosting the sales and profits of your business and sending traffic to your web site. It is through these systems that you will get more visitors to your website at no cost. If you venture into creating a banner ad or a brochure, some expenditure is needed to implement them. Some of these systems also help you make money by referring Gold members.

Other benefits of these systems are that you can choose to view leads from any of the programs that you may have joined. There is an auto responder system that you have to setup in such a way that it sends personalized emails to your leads every 3 days. Not only that, it can also hold an unlimited number of email messages. For greater publicity, you can also advertise through their top sponsor banner system, wherein your banner shown throughout all six traffic portal websites. You will also be given a free user id to use for your business communications.

Through the home business leads generating systems, you are sure to receiving quality fresh real-time leads everyday emailed to you. You also receive fee traffic to your website on becoming a member of the program.

10 Good Reasons Why Small Enterprises (Small Businesses) Fail

You’ll agree with me that there are so many small businesses which have contributed a lot to the growth of economy. They have created employment opportunities for many families although some remain to be small throughout their operational life.

It is obvious that those who are starting new ventures have objectives to achieve. And to mention each business has got its own objectives to achieve such as maximization of profits and sales, minimize costs, maintain a certain level of production and labor force etc.

Failing of a business opportunity is what an entrepreneur won’t want to happen. Inasmuch as we agree with the fact that there are firms which have succeeded, we should also accept the fact that a good number of them have failed even before two years lapse after they commence business.

If aspiring entrepreneurs addressed the reasons why small businesses fail, then they will not fall to be victims of the same causes of failure. This is because they’ll be in a position to identify these causes and fix them before it’s too late.

Now you may be asking yourself as to why some businesses remain to be small throughout their operational life despite some of them making profits or are capable of growing.

4 Reasons Why Small Business Remain to be Small

1.) The owners of these businesses prefer not to expand their businesses. Some sole proprietors do not want to be bothered with the challenges of managing a big business. They don’t want to employ people to assist them in running their businesses but instead they prefer to be assisted by their family members.

2.) The nature of the product/service the business is involved in doesn’t allow expansion. There are people offering products/services which make it difficult for their business to grow.

3.) Lack of capital for expansion. There are small businesses which are viable and have the potential of growing but they lack enough capital. Such businesses have the challenge of securing funds from financial institutions. Lack of capital plays a negative role in hindering the growth of small businesses.

4.) Very low demand. If the business has a very low demand for its product or service, then at the end of the fiscal financial year/trading period the business won’t realize profits, and if it does, it’s very low, therefore the chances of it expanding are very minimal. Just to mention, realization of inadequate profits as a result of very low demand hinders the growth of small businesses.

However, there must be a starting point and as such, every business starts as a small entity and it gradually grows to a medium entity and eventually it becomes a big business entity which is either a private limited company or a public limited company. Note that a partnership business can also grow to become a big business.

Reasons Why Small Businesses Fail

1.) Wrong Reasons For Commencing Business: People who start a business for wrong reasons haven’t succeeded. Just because another person is making high profits in a certain line of business doesn’t mean that you will also make the same amounts of profits as him/her if you start the same business.

2.) Poor Business Management: When there is poor management of the business it becomes difficult for such a business to succeed in its operations. Finance, marketing, purchasing and selling, planning, hiring and managing employees is what most new business owners fail to execute effectively thus making their small businesses to fail.

3.) Lack of Commitment: Starting a business requires someone who is committed in ensuring that it succeeds. Neglecting the business will cause the business to fail. Many small businesses have failed because the owners didn’t take their time in monitoring performance and in marketing them. Some business owners leave their businesses to be managed on their behalf by incompetent people who lack book keeping knowledge and the knowledge of managing a business.

4.) Lack of Finances: Small businesses have failed because of lack of adequate finances. Some of the owners underestimated the amount of capital required and as a result of this underestimation some ended up running out of operating capital thus ending the operation of their businesses.

There are those who have no reserves which has led them not to be able to take care of loses and disasters when they occur thus making them to quit business.

5.) Over-Expansion of the Business: This has led to failure of many small businesses. This happens when there is borrowing of too much money beyond what the business requires so as to expand the business. Moving to markets that are not profitable is also over expansion of the small businesses.

An ideal expansion is the one that is driven by customers due to their high demand for the products and services which leads to high sales thus the business experiences good cash flow.

6.) Location: The place where the business is located is critical in determining its success. Small businesses have failed because of them being located in areas that are not ideal for business. They should be located in areas that are accessible, populated with people and has demand for their products and services.

7.) Personal Use of Business Money: This is the biggest challenge facing many small business owners. They withdraw money meant to operate their businesses to meet their personal wants and needs. If they continue to withdraw money from their businesses without returning it, their businesses will eventually run out of finances therefore forcing them to end the operations of their businesses.

8.) Lack of Delegation: Small enterprises have failed due to owners not delegating some of the duties to their employees. They think that if they delegate them, then their employees will not perform these duties as they would personally perform them. When such owners fall sick or are away from their businesses, then the operations of some tasks will be paralyzed till they resume to work.

9.) Not Diversifying: Small enterprises which have only one product/service to offer are prone to fail easily compared to those that have a variety of products/services.

10.) Procrastination and Poor Time Management: Postponements of tasks which the small business owners feel to be unpleasant to perform has made the small businesses to fail. An example of such tasks include following debtors to pay their debts (debt collection).

Time management remains to be a challenge for many people who own small businesses. If important tasks like delivering products to customers, purchasing stock etc are not handled in the appropriate time, then the business will lose its customers.

The above are not all the reasons why small businesses fail, there are more reasons.

Visit our website today and learn how to ignite your entrepreneurial spirit [http://www.nikenya.com/entrepreneurial-spirit.html] and make the difference between dreams that come to fruition and those that decompose on the drawing board.

The Finer Points of Internet Auctions

WHAT IS A PENNY AUCTION?

Penny auctions have exploded in popularity with the massive growth of the internet. However, few people know the true origins of penny auctions.Beginnings actually stretch back to the Great Depression. Those were hard times for everyone, but even harder for farmers. Farmers struggled to bring in steady income because of droughts and crops not selling as well as they had previously. As a result, the banks would foreclose on the farmers who couldn’t keep up with their mortgage payments.

The banks weren’t satisfied with just repossessing the house, they wanted to raise as much capital as possible, so they resorted to selling off the possessions of the owners of the repossessed houses. There was not much the farmers could do about it so they began bidding ridiculously low prices, pennies, on the items while threatening others who dared to bid higher than a few pennies.

The auctions of today hardly resemble their tremulous beginnings. Being part of a penny auction today is exhilarating, fun, and addictive. It combines the selling format of auctioning with a little bit of chance factored in.Auctions are a game of strategy but also a game of luck.

The premise behind penny auctions is giving people the chance to win an item at a drastically reduced price.Auctions make that possible by spreading out the cost of the product among multiple bidders. In order for a person to take part in an auction, they must pay a set price for each bid. For example, if a person wanted to bid on a fifty dollar Amazon gift card then he would spend a dollar for each time a bid placed. If he ended up winning the gift card, then he would only have spent a few dollars for a fifty dollar gift card. Usually penny auctions sell bids in packages.

HOW PENNY AUCTIONS WORK!

The main foundation of penny auctions is the pay-per-bid format. It is the key that allows bidders to win items at the fraction of their retail value and allows the auction owners to keep their site profitable. Most y auction sites run on the same premise: people pay a set amount for each bid, whenever a person places a bid within the closing seconds of the auction time will be added, the last person left with a unique bid after the clocks runs out will win the item. There are a large variety of items that can be won, but they tend to be popular electronics or gift cards to popular stores.

There are two types of auctions: lowest unique bid auction and highest unique bid auction. Lowest unique auction sounds confusing but it is actually quite simple. A unique bid is when only one person has a bid at a certain price. Bids usually start at one penny, a bidder can then place a bid at two pennies. Until another bidder places a higher bid, the most recent bidder will be the lowest unique bid because that was the only bid at two cents and nobody bid higher. However, penny auctions generally don’t stop at one penny. It is not uncommon to find auctions that end up at a couple hundred dollars based on the popularity of the item being auctioned. However, the same principles apply for those auctions. Highest unique bid auctions follow the more traditional auction format such as eBay. The person with the highest bid at the end of the auction wins the item.

Auction site owners turn a profit by selling bids. Say twenty people are bidding on a ten dollar gift card at one dollar per bid, at the end of the auction if there were twenty bids placed in total then the site owner would have made twenty dollars with a ten dollar profit.Auctions do seem like a win-win situation:The site owner makes money while the bidder gets an item for dirt cheap. However, not everyone wins in penny auctions. The people who paid one dollar each bid but left with nothing to show for their investments will not be so happy.

HOW TO WIN!

Penny auction has a lot of chance mixed into it, but one can incorporate strategy that will help raise the chances of winning. Playing smart can make all the difference between gambling and auctioning.

The first crucial tip to winning penny auctions is to know how to manage your bids. Your goal should be to win as much as possible without spending a ton of money buying bids. Managing your bids means that you should already know how much you are willing to risk in order to win an item. The amount of capital you are willing to risk will determine how many bids you can use. Once you know how many bids you have to spend on an item, then you will be better able to manage how and when you place a bid. That will keep you from blowing away all of your bids in the first few seconds of the auction.

The next tip is to practice time management. When fighting in the trenches of penny auctions, you have two enemies: other bidders and time. Knowing when to bid is a must if you want to have success. Placing a bid when there is a lot of time left on the clock is never a good idea. You have to remember that the key to winning a penny auction is being the last one standing when the clock runs out and that each bid increases the amount of time left. It would be a good practice to wait until the last few minutes of the auction before you begin to bid.

The final tip for successful auctioning is to keep your emotions under control.Auctions have a lot of similarities to gambling, and just like gambling, your spending can get out of control. If you keep your emotions level, it will keep you from making rash decisions and blowing loads of cash. Keep your mind clear so that you can gage the behavior of the other bidders and outsmart them.

HOW TO AVOID SCAM SITES!

Penny auctions are a great addition to the web whether you want to win an item that otherwise you wouldn’t be able to afford or if you simply enjoy the thrill that comes with bidding in auctions. Unfortunately, scam sites have tarnished the reputation of the legitimate penny auction sites. However, there are ways that you can protect yourself from scamers and enjoy your auctioning without having to worry about losing your money due to dishonesty.

Checking the reputation of the auction site before you start spending your hard earned money is always a good idea. Chances are other people have tried the site before you and some of them have left reviews. The reviews are your way to gage whether a auction site is trustworthy or not. If a site is getting overwhelmingly negative reviews, then that is a clear indication that you should steer your business elsewhere.

Another tool you can use to protect yourself is checking the Alexia ranks of the auction sites. Alexia rank will give a solid view of how much traffic the auction is getting. If you see a huge difference in the amount of traffic Alexia is projecting and the amount of active bidders on the site, then warning signals should be ringing in your head. Some auction sites have been known to set up robots that automatically bid on projects in order to keep the auction going and inflate the price. That is known as shill bidding. You can sniff out those sites by comparing the traffic the site should be getting to the amount of users using this site.

CONCLUSION!

New legislation may come out later down the road that will officially make penny auctions gambling, but until then, it is a fun, exciting auction that allows one to win the item they’ve always wanted but couldn’t afford.Auctions are also quite lucrative for the site owners because of the pay-per-bid strategy they’ve incorporated. Penny auctions had humble beginnings with farmers who just wanted to get back at the banks who kicked them out of their house. More recently, auctions have enjoyed an explosion in popularity with the rise of the internet.

There are two main formats fora auctions, lowest and highest unique auction, however they both run on the same premise where the last unique bid wins the item. Winning a penny auction will require a certain amount of mental tactic and a bit of luck. However, you can increase your odds of winning by practicing certain techniques such as managing your bids wisely, learning how to work with the time, and keeping a level head and your emotions under control. When you combine those three strategies to your bidding plan, you will find that you win a lot more often.

It is important that you do your due diligence to protect yourself when participating in auctions. Not every auction is run by honest and trustworthy people. There are people out there who just want to take your money. You can protect yourself by ensuring that you only bid on sites that already have a very positive reputation from real users.

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