Written by Bob Meyer, Editor of BarterNews

We Want You To Know...When you sign up to receive the FREE weekly Tuesday Report announcement your e-mail address will never be sold, traded, or given to another party.

Breathe Life Into Your Business With These Ideas

Just as there are facts of life that affect us personally, there are facts of business life that affect us as entrepreneurs. Bill McBean, author of the book The Facts of Business Life: What Every Successful Business Owner Knows That You Don't, shares what he has learned over the course of a successful career to help you avoid common mistakes and steer your company in the direction you want it to go.
 
The following is an overview of McBean's seven facts of business life, which he suggests will help you to build a strong, lasting foundation for your business:
 
Fact 1: If you don't lead, no one will follow. Good business leadership begins with defining the destination and direction of your company and deciding how the business should look and operate when it arrives. It also involves developing and continuously improving on a set of skills in order to move your business from where it is today to where you want it to be tomorrow.
 
Fact 2: If you don't control it, you don't own it. Control is the owner's management reality. If you don't control your company by defining key tasks and dictating how they must be handled, then you don't truly "own" the business.
 
Fact 3: Protecting your company's assets should be your first priority. Basically, assets — which include both tangible and intangible assets — are what power sales, profits, and growth. Not the other way around.
 
Fact 4: Planning is about preparing for the future, not predicting it. Nobody knows what tomorrow, next week, or next year will bring for your business. But you can make educated guesses based on the most current, accurate information available as well as your own past experiences, and this should be an ongoing process.
 
Fact 5: If you don’t market your business, you won’t have one. Maybe working to market and advertise your product isn't your cup of tea. Or maybe you believe your product is so great that it should speak for itself. If so, too bad — you’re going to have to do it anyway. The bottom line is, if people don't know about your product, you won't be successful.
 
Fact 6: The marketplace is a war zone. Every company has competitors, and if it doesn't and it's successful, it soon will. Successful owners know they have to fight not only to win market share but to retain it as well. That's why you must develop a warrior mentality and maintain it for as long as you're at the head of your business.
 
Fact 7: You don't just have to know the business you're in; you have to know business. In addition to knowing the inner workings and nuances of your particular industry, you also need to understand the various aspects of business as it is more broadly defined. That includes subjects such as accounting, finance, business law, personnel issues, and more, and how all of these impact each other and the decisions you make.
 
Canadian Bill McBean is the author of The Facts of Business Life: What Every Successful Business Owner Knows That You Don't. A graduate of the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, and Mount Royal College in Calgary, Alberta, he subsequently began his career with General Motors of Canada in 1976.
 
He is currently general partner of McBean Partners, a family-owned investment company, partner and chair of Our-Mentors, a company that works with owners to improve their businesses for long-term success, and Net Claims Now, which provides companies in the restoration industry with invoicing, accounts receivable collections, cash flow services, business coaching, and business lead generation services.

---

BarterNews.com — World's Largest Depository Of Barter Information

Hundreds of valuable articles, techniques, and strategies are found in the following various barter categories:

• Entrepreneur's Corner,
• Travel,
• Media,
• Trade Exchange
• Corporate Barter,
• Offset & Countertrade,
• Secondary Capital,
• Real Estate,
• Community Barter,
• Restaurant & Entertainment

(The Barter Categories are found on the horizontal bar at the top - 3rd button from right.) Money-Making Reports Available From BarterNews Think Barter & Grow Richer. (Click here.) Business-With-Pleasure Trips Can Be Tax-Deductible If you're planning a summer vacation, there are ways you may be able to use the tax code to help subsidize that summer trip to some popular tourist haven. Here are some possibilities:   ⇒Mixing vacation with business. One ticket to tax-deductible summer travel is to tack some vacation onto a business trip you’re scheduled to take. If the primary purpose of your trip is business, you can deduct the cost of getting to and from your destination.   For example, say you have a five-day professional convention in Honolulu this summer and plan on staying an extra few days to lie on the beach and enjoy the view. You can deduct 100% of your round-trip airfare to Hawaii. There is no need to prorate the costs based on the proportion of time you spent vacationing.   In contrast, food and lodging costs usually must be prorated — only those attributable to your five-day business convention would be deductible. There are, however, a couple of situations where you can deduct living expenses for your vacation days.   If you have business to conduct on a Friday and Monday, you can deduct food and lodging for the Saturday and Sunday in between, even if you spend the entire weekend sightseeing.   ⇒Family travel. Taking your family on a deductible trip won't diminish your write-offs. The IRS allows you to deduct whatever it would have cost you to travel alone. So when figuring your deduction for lodging, you can deduct the single-occupancy rate for your room, which will usually be slightly less than the double-occupancy rate you actually pay for a family.   If you drive to your destination, you can deduct the full cost of your round-trip transportation, because you would incur the same cost traveling alone in the car. Of course, if you’re traveling by plane or train, only your fare is deductible.   ⇒Summer school. Professional seminars offer another chance for deductible travel. Continuing-education courses and seminars for doctors, lawyers, and other professionals are often held in popular tourist areas. Travel costs are deductible if the education is needed to maintain or upgrade skills in your job, and is the main purpose of your trip.   ⇒Charitable trips. Volunteer charity work can also lead to deductible travel opportunities. Traveling to an out-of-town convention of a charitable or religious organization can be deductible — but only if you're an official delegate to the convention.   If you're performing charitable work away from home, you may be able to deduct the travel costs. For example, scoutmasters who take Boy Scout troops on summer camping trips can deduct travel expenses as a charitable contribution. ⇒Investment trips. If you own an out-of-town rental property, you can deduct trips to look after your investment. But be prepared to prove that the primary purpose of your trip was to manage or work on the property — not to vacation there. Is Your Trade Exchange Missing Out On Valuable New Business? If your barter company's listing on BarterNews.com isn't current, you are definitely missing out on new business. The web site BarterNews.com receives heavy traffic — with over 150,000 page-views every month. Entrepreneurs and corporate executives check the thousands of articles, the weekly "Tuesday Report," and the "Contacts Section" of our site. They use the latter to find barter companies with which to do business. Is your barter company's listing up-to-date? To keep your listing current is very easy. See the links below to (A) update any changes to your company's listing, such as new location, phone number, web site or other information, and (B) if your company has not been listed. Here's how to get on board: To make changes to your listing click here. For new listings click here. * * ANNOUNCEMENT * * We have packages of back issues still in print, approximately 30 issues in all. To order: Click here What "Problem" Are You Solving? Despite the numerous products and services for sale in today’s expanding barter marketplace, members of a trade exchange like all consumers, will exchange their hard-earned trade dollars for only two reasons: either to feel good or to solve a problem.   To put it in a more personal perspective, your customers don’t buy what your company sells … they buy what those goods or services do for them.   ⇒They don't purchase clothes. They purchase a sharp appearance, style and attractiveness.   ⇒They don't buy insurance. They buy peace of mind and a comfortable future for their family and themselves.   ⇒They don't buy a house. They buy contentment, a long-term investment and pride of ownership.   ⇒They don't buy a book. They buy pleasant hours of reading and the profits of knowledge.   ⇒They don't purchase toys. They purchase happy moments for their children and grandchildren.   ⇒They don't buy a computer. They buy the pleasures of having the most updated technology.   ⇒They don't buy airline tickets. They buy the comfort and convenience of a fast, safe, on-time arrival at a destination feeling like a million dollars.   What does the average consumer buy? Ideas, good feelings, self respect, comfort and happiness — those are the things they want. (Advertisement) How To Get More Sales In Hyper-Competitive Restaurant Industry Our street-smart restaurant marketing report shows proven ways to rapidly boost your restaurant's sales & profits. More--> The Growth and Use of Secondary Capital (New Money) Creates Unprecedented Wealth In Today's New Age Of Possibility There are many forms of secondary capital — which can be defined as any financial instrument that measures and communicates value in a common language. Would you like to see and learn more about the many forms of secondary capital?  We have 70 free, informative and inspiring, articles for you in our "Secondary Capital Section." Check it out... www.barternews.com/secondary_capital.htm. Get New Money-Making Ideas And Valuable Contacts! You can obtain useful, informative ideas and contacts in every available back-issue of BarterNews. Every barter company in the world is listed on our web site, click through to our Global List of Barter Companies. We welcome your comments, questions, and observations. Copyright BarterNews 2015. Redistribution of BarterNews content expressly prohibited without the prior written permission of BarterNews.

 

Top