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Designing critical elements of training before you sell franchises is essential if your franchisees are to succeed. Not only will effective training contribute to your brand’s quality and consistency, prospective franchisees are impressed when they see you’ve committed to robust training throughout the organization.

Are you in the process of registered a trade mark? Do you know which trade mark symbol to use at each stage of the process in connection with the trade mark?

Artists, artisans, vendors, crafters, home businesses and small manufacturers often find that selling their wares through traditional channels can be too difficult and too expensive. Selling goods on consignment, whether online or through a bricks-and-mortar storefront, can be a workable alternative that costs very little, and gives them an opportunity to obtain exposure for their work in several locations and sell goods through more than one dealer.

The success of your business is dependent in large part on how well you market it. That is why it is vitally important to develop a solid, workable marketing plan for your business. An overview of your marketing plan should be included in your business plan as well, so potential investors and lenders can review your marketing strategy.

Are you thinking of starting a home business? Do you know whether you can do so legally in the neighborhood you live in? Before you invest a lot of money in inventory, supplies and equipment, make sure that your ability to operate your business will not be impacted by zoning laws, bylaws, or restrictions imposed by the local Home Owners Association. If you live in a condo, or if you rent, there may be further limitations imposed by the condominium association or by your lease.

Power lunches are an important part of most executives' weekly schedule. But if you've never arranged a business lunch before, it can be a little intimidating. Here are some easy tips which will help you plan a successful business lunch, and hopefully pave the way to a successful transaction.

Whether you're hoping to generate extra income in addition to a regular job to help make ends meet, or you want to fulfill some entrepreneurial goals, starting your own home business can help you meet those goals. But home businesses can also offer many challenges. Follow these 18 tips from successful home business owners to help increase your chances of reaching profitability without spending every waking moment and every last dollar to get there.

Many people are choosing to start their own businesses these days. Whether they are people who don't want to spend most of their waking hours commuting to and from work, parents of young children who want a more flexible work environment, or retirees who have decided to get back into the mainstream, there are plenty of opportunities for those folks who are considering starting up a home-based business.

If you've ever thought about starting your own home business, there's no time like the present. But what sort of business should it be? How do you get started? How do you find potential customers? Let's go over the essential steps you should follow in order to answer those questions and help you in your decision-making process.

1. Go with what you know.

Almost everyone has skills, knowledge, experience and assets that could be channeled into a marketable home-based business. For instance, if you own a truck or have access to a trailer, you could start a junk hauling or recycling pick-up service. An accountant with space for an office has all the tools they need for a successful home business. There are many types of businesses that can be run from your home. Just to name a few:

• cleaning services,
• babysitting / day care,
• catering,
• photography and videography services,
• data entry,
• bookkeeping,
• dog walking and pet sitting,
• floral arrangement,
• cake decorating,
• tailoring,
• gardening and landscaping,
• direct mail marketing.

2. Do some market research.

Do you know who your target customers are? How large is the potential market within your geographical area? You will need to answer those questions before you invest a lot of time and money into the venture. Find out how many people in your area would be interested in your proposed product or service. Talk to the people in your neighborhood, take several informal surveys over a period of one to three months to determine what percentage of your area would be willing to pay for your product or service. Make the survey simple - just a few key questions. For example:

1. What is the likelihood that you would have a need for _________________ (your product or service) in the next 12 months?
2. Is this a product / service that you would be willing to pay for?
3. How much would you be willing to pay for this product / service?
4. How often would you have a need for this product / service?
5. Would you be more likely to buy it if this product / service was available in your neighborhood?

3. Prepare a business plan.

A business plan is an essential component of the process. It gives you a means to clarify what your business proposition is and how you plan to grow your business, set out your mission statement and goals, and convince potential lenders and investors why they should have confidence in its potential. It is a vital tool for obtaining financing, especially if you require a start-up loan for equipment and supplies.

Your business plan should include:

• estimated start-up costs,
• an advertising and marketing strategy,
• production costs and procedures,
• sales strategy,
• a summary of your work history, skills, resources and strengths as a manager of your own business,
• a breakdown of how your time will be allocated between the home business and the other demands on your time (regular job, family requirements, etc).

Too often, enthusiastic and ambitious entrepreneurs jump into an extra income project and suddenly find that the costs are too high, and the time requirements more than they can meet. It pays to lay it all out on paper before you get involved. The clearer the vision you have of the project before you start, the better your chances for success.

4. Promote, promote, promote.

• Get the word out wherever and however you can. Look for as many free or low-cost ways to advertise as possible.
• Give out discount cards, BOGOs, first-time customer specials.
• Get your website up and running asap. Ensure that customers can place orders / book appointments / ask for quotes easily and seamlessly.
• Set up a targeted local online ad campaign. If you've never done this before, hire an SEO consultant to help you.
• If you have printed materials such as business cards, flyers, etc., make sure they're professional looking and memorable.

5. Be prepared to tough it out for the first 6 months.

Regardless of what type of business you start, you should have enough capital available to sustain the business through the first six months of operation. Do not count on receiving or spending any business income for yourself or your bills during that start-up phase. All revenues obtained in the first 6 months should be reinvested into the business in order to reach your planned Year 1 projections. After that initial 6-month period you can set up a small monthly salary for yourself.

Don't expect instant success. "If you build it, they will come" only happens in the movies.

_{Image by SnapwireSnaps from Pixabay}

Imagine this scenario: You have been offered a position that is a dream job, right in your chosen field with excellent compensation and benefits, maybe some stock options. You and your future employer have agreed to sign an Employment Agreement as a precondition. Don't panic! Keep calm and read on.

An employment contract is the business equivalent of a prenuptial agreement and just about as uncomfortable to ask for. How will you know what items should be included in the contract, or if some important element is missing? All of this can be very anxiety-making.

Of course the wisest course of action would be to review it with a lawyer. But if you decide to go it alone, here are some basic guidelines as to what you should look for in the agreement.

NEEDS: Provisions That Absolutely Should Be Part of Your Employment Contract

1. Parties. The parties (both employer and employee) must be clearly and correctly identified by name.
2. Nature of the Relationship. Is the relationship between the parties described as being an employment relationship, i.e. that of an employer and employee? If not, you could be designated as an independent contractor and that would make you responsible for paying your own payroll taxes, worker's compensation and other required remittances.
3. Job Description. The agreement should clearly define the position and the duties and responsibilities that you will be expected to take on.
4. Scope of Position. The agreement must set out whether the position is full time or part time, permanent or temporary.
5. Start Date. The start date for the position should be stated and if the employment period is for a fixed period of time, the end date should also be stated.
6. Compensation. The starting salary and all other compensation must be clearly stated: base salary, any commissions, bonuses and other remuneration - how much (fixed amounts or percentages) for each type of compensation, and the pay periods for each.
7. Benefits. What type of benefits will you be eligible for? When do they kick in and what is the accrual? Are the benefits taxable?
8. Time Off. The agreement must be clear on vacation time and holidays. It should address how and when you will be compensated for holidays that you worked and for vacation time that you accrued but did not take.
9. Termination of Employment. What are the provisions for termination? During and after probation, minimum / maximum notice by the employer with and without cause; minimum / maximum notice by employee; what would constitute just cause for dismissal.
10. Offer and Acceptance. Lastly, the agreement must state that the employer offers you employment on those terms, and must include a statement that by signing the agreement, you accept employment on those terms.

WANTS: Additional Provisions That May be Negotiating Points

The list below contains just some of the types of additional provisions that may be included in the Employment Agreement. Some of these may actually be required by law in your area. Check the current labor laws to find out which of these provisions are statutory and would therefore apply to you.

1. Performance standards that the employee must meet.
2. Qualifications required for advancement, bonuses or other extra compensation.
3. The reporting relationship - to whom do you report, and how often or under what circumstances?
4. Limits on the employee's authority (e.g. purchasing, order approvals, etc).
5. Performance reviews - how often are they conducted, what is the procedure?
6. Travel and vehicle allowances, reimbursement for other expenses.
7. Moving expenses if the employee has to relocate for the job.
8. Is there a probation period? If so, how long is it, what are the expectations, and what are the consequences for not meeting expectations?
9. Salary increases - how often, how much, what factors determine the amount?
10. Sick days, personal days, maternity leave, bereavement leave.
11. Provisions for disability or long-term illness.
12. Confidentiality, non-solicitation of customers, suppliers and other staff, non-competition provisions.
13. Ownership of inventions or innovations made by the employee during the employment period.
14. Severance pay.

Keep in mind that while items like the company's stock options plan or medical benefits package should be described in the Employment Agreement, it is unlikely that these issues would be negotiable. Your best advice is to review the Employment Agreement with a lawyer. He/She will be able to tell you if it's in our best interests to sign it as is or if there's anything extra that you should be asking for. You can also have your lawyer negotiate those extras with the employer.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

The advantages of joint venturing

Joint ventures are much more common in today's business world as companies strive to gain access to new world markets and improve their profit margins in the face of increasing costs and the need to comply with rapidly changing laws and regulations.

Joint ventures, also referred to as "business alliances", "strategic alliances" or "corporate partnering", offer an attractive alternative to the traditional method of doing business, and there are numerous advantages to co-venturing. For instance:

• A successful joint venture can offer a company access to much broader markets, distribution networks, specialized technology and personnel, while at the same time sharing the costs and the risks with the other parties to the venture.
• Projects that are too large for one company to undertake can be taken on by several firms acting together.
• A group of smaller competitors can band together in a joint venture to keep afloat in a market that is dominated by one giant company who owns most of the market share.
• A foreign company might form a joint venture with an existing company in a market that the foreign company wants to enter, such as China. The foreign entity typically provides new technologies, processes and products to the joint venture, while the Chinese company would provide an existing business and customer base, experience operating in the local industry climate, a knowledge of local markets, and compliance with applicable governmental requirements.

What are the main aspects of a joint venture?

A joint venture is basically a short-term partnering arrangement in which the parties involved jointly undertake a project for mutual profit. Similar to a partnership, a joint venture can involve any type of business transaction or project, and the parties may be individuals, companies or other types of entities or organizations.

The co-venturers share the costs and the risks, as well as any gains and benefits, and each of them contribute money, property, effort and/or know-how to the joint venture. The participants in a joint venture each retain ownership of their individual property, which is returned to them at the conclusion of the venture.

The parties may decide to enter into a contractual arrangement to cooperate with each other (a contractual joint venture), or they may decide that it's more advantageous to incorporate a separate company to carry out the project (an incorporated joint venture). The life span of a joint venture is typically the life of the project for which it was created, although the co-venturers may determine that the joint venture should carry on for an additional period of time, as required by the nature of the business / project.

The laws governing joint ventures differ from country to country. For example, in the U.S. joint ventures are governed by state partnership and commercial transactions laws. In Canada, there are no specific laws governing joint ventures, and the joint ventures are governed by the written contract between the parties. Therefore having a written Joint Venture Agreement is of paramount importance. If the joint venture is incorporated, with the co-venturers as shareholders, the legal status of the venture is governed by the law governing corporations in the jurisdiction in which it was incorporated. It is important to note there have been court decisions where shareholders in a corporate joint venture have been deemed partners.

Managing risk in a joint venture

Like any other business opportunity, joint ventures have their own inherent risks. This is particularly true when you're expanding into a new market or into another part of the world. Before you decide to venture into a foreign market be sure that everyone on your team is well aware of the local laws and the cultural differences, customs, holidays, and social taboos. Be clear on what the purpose of the joint venture is and how your business would contribute to and benefit from the venture. What would be required of you, and what would your expectations be? What contributions would you be expected to make in terms of money, property, resources, and expertise?

Foreign joint ventures are subject to international trade laws and to local laws governing commercial transactions, labour, and consumer rights. Tax laws also differ from country to country, and you should be fully aware of what these laws are in the countries you're moving into. It's also critical to know whether there are restrictions on the amount of investment or capital distribution that foreign entities are allowed to make. Can you freely move money into and out of the business, or are there limits imposed by law? Many problems can be avoided if everyone involved is very clear on the joint venture's goals and objectives and has a good understanding of how those goals are to be accomplished. A well-researched business plan for the venture must be developed with a full analysis of the aims and objectives. Everyone involved should be well acquainted with the business plan and how it will be implemented. All of the participants must also agree on how the venture will be managed and what each party's role will be in that regard. These points should be clearly spelled out in the Joint Venture Agreement.

How to choose the right co-venturers

Choosing the right partner in a joint venture is essential to your success. You want a partner that can supply resources, property, assets, and/or know-how that complement your business. As with any other business relationship, you will want to check out all potential partners before deciding to embark on a joint venture. Do thorough due diligence, and be sure to search online as well - on the principals as well as the company (if applicable). A Google search can bring up a wealth of information, comments, feedback, personal experiences - favourable and unfavourable - that can help you form a fairly accurate overall picture of the other partners.

Putting together a Joint Venture Agreement

Once you have prepared a draft of your agreement, review it with your co-venturer(s) and legal counsel prior to signing it. At a minimum the joint venture agreement should include the following:

• The purpose, organization and structure of the joint venture.
• How the venture is to be financed.
• Each party's initial and ongoing contributions to the venture (whether capital, skills, equipment, property, know-how, expertise, etc.). Each co-venturer's contribution to the project should be of equal value.
• A procedure for parties to make future contributions.
• The participant's right to participate in the control and management of the joint venture.
• Each venturer's responsibilities with respect to handling day-to-day operations.
• Interest of the co-venturers in the products / proceeds of the venture.
• How profits and losses will be allocated.
• A procedure for a co-venture to sell or transfer its interest to another party, as well as a process for admitting new members.
• A procedure for holding meetings and a method of voting at those meetings.
• A marketing plan.
• Restrictions (if any) on venturers' activities external to the venture.
• What events are triggered by a default by a participant.
• Proprietary rights in property and assets.
• Liability and indemnity of co-venturers.
• How and under what circumstances the venture will be terminated.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay