Starting a franchise has become a popular method of starting a small business in South Africa. Most good franchises will help you with your business plan, finding startup finance and provide you with support during the start-up process. Apart from that, as the business is already proven to be working, the risk on the entrepreneurs side is dramatically reduced.
Cheap franchise opportunities are highly sought after due to their low investment costs. These opportunities are available across several different industries. In addition, some of these cheap franchises are for people who would like to operate one on a part-time basis. Vending services are popular franchise choices and are relatively cheap to join. There are several costs related to franchises that need to be evaluated and researched prior to joining one.
Franchises can be started for as low as R10,000 in liquid cash and can go up to over R1000, 000. Some cheaper franchises have similar attributes such as they can be operated from your home and they require no additional employees other than yourself. Operating a franchise from your home can save you a lot of money because you do not have to worry about leasing or building a separate office for your business. Some examples of these types of franchises include cleaning services, landscaping services, travel planning, vending services, tutoring services, and more. Some franchises, such as vending ones, may require you to negotiate or lease space at a retail store (i.e. supermarket, drug store) or shopping mall.
Many of the cheap franchise opportunities can be operated by you with no additional employees. This can be a major cost-savings because you do not have to pay salaries or benefits. For example, if you start a franchise of vending services that rent DVDs then you may be able to manage the machines yourself from your home. Vending services allow you to operate a franchise without actively having to be present to make money. You may only be responsible for setting up the machine, negotiating the space, and ensure that it is operating correctly. This kind of part-time franchise may leave you with time to pursue another business venture, hobby, or family time.
Vending service franchises have increased substantially over the past few years. Vending machines now sell items ranging from candy to energy pills to DVDs. You have many choices in deciding which industry you want to get involved with. Consider your market and the people who visit the retail space you are going to place the vending machine in to help you decide which product may sell the best.
There are many types of cheap franchise opportunities available. Most franchise programs will state how much liquid cash is required to join the franchise program. Vending services that sell candy or rent DVDs are very popular and inexpensive to join and operate. These types of services can be operated from your home and possibly on a part-time basis so that you can enjoy other ventures.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5865051
Wednesday, 6 April 2011
Thursday, 24 March 2011
Making sure your idea is viable
Few things are as exciting as coming up with a new business idea. You lie awake all night thinking about the opportunities as results that the new idea will bring into your life. The mind is an interesting thing and one idea leads to the next and soon you are running your own business empire. But of course you have to start with the basics, and the basics for almost every entrepreneur I know is establishing a need for the business or concept after which you can start thinking of the business plan. You can of course come up with an entirely new product idea for which there may not even be a need as of yet, in which case you will need to invest heavily in marketing to educate your potential clients on why they should be buying your product. If yours is not the next iPad though, chances are that you need to start with finding out if clients will be interested in buying your product and the actual terms related tot heir interest.
So how do you go about testing your own business ideas?
Well there’s several approaches, ranging from asking friends, family and anyone down the pub for their opinions (not recommended) to actually going out there and doing it – if it succeeds it’s a good idea, if it doesn’t it’s not (again not recommended as it’s a very expensive way to test a business idea). Instead I favor testing any ideas for your own business in several ways. Firstly desk research and when it comes to that in a recent post ‘The 2-Minute Opportunity Checklist for Entrepreneurs’ on the Harvard Business Blog, Prof. Daniel Isenberg (of the The Isenberg Entrepreneur Test) described a pretty good test:
1. Does your business idea soothe someone’s pain, discomfort, frustration, or dissatisfaction?
2. Are there lots of those people out there?
3. Do these people (or companies, or governments) have money to pay for it?
4. Will they be able to decide quickly to buy your product or service?
5. Does your idea exploit something about you that is outstanding or unique?
6. Are there important assets you have that no one else has? (money, access to customers, technology, leadership skills, execution, location, salesmanship, etc.)
7. Can you think of at least two people who might join you?
8. Do their skills complement yours?
9. Do they have the same values as you do?
10. Do the majority of people whose opinion you highly respect think your idea is a good one?
11. Does at least one person (and not more than three people), whose opinion you highly respect, think your idea is a bad one?
12. Is there something about the idea or its implementation, that compels you to really devote yourself to it?
13. Can you sneak by the big competitors without them noticing you for awhile?
14. Can you find a potential customer who will take your calls, give you feedback, try a pilot out?
15. Can you start up without huge gobs of money?
16. Can you keep your fixed costs low during launch?
17. Does your idea lend itself to small incremental steps that can inexpensively generate valuable information as well as at least a little cash?
He suggests that if when you evaluate business idea against this criteria it scores 16 or more ‘yes’ answers then you should get on and start a business around your idea. He expands on a few points noting that great ideas are those that attract detractors, explaining:
…unless you have at least one major detractor, then you are probably not on to something big. In fact, if everyone thinks it is a wonderful thing to do, then probably a legion of competitors is on the launch pad.
Then provides a great description of a good business opportunity:
Opportunities consist of:
1. the alignment of a market need,
2. a personal competence,
3. values or motivation.
If your business idea passes that desk research stage, then it’s time to start failing fast, failing cheap! By which I mean find cheap ways to develop prototypes and test your ideas. Where cheap doesn’t necessarily mean low cost, but rather that they use a relatively low proportion of your start-up capital. The point being that you will make mistakes and get things wrong in the early days of any business and if the first mistakes uses all your capital it’s game over, in contrast if the first mistake costs you just 10% then you have nine more chances to get the idea right and start a successful business.
Once this is done you can start to put your business plan together and ensure that your knowledge of the product and market is expressed in such a way that you can attract business finance, should that be needed. In every step of the way the excitement will of course be growing and the better you know that the demand is really there for your forthcoming business the more confidence and excitement you will take in to the next stage.
So how do you go about testing your own business ideas?
Well there’s several approaches, ranging from asking friends, family and anyone down the pub for their opinions (not recommended) to actually going out there and doing it – if it succeeds it’s a good idea, if it doesn’t it’s not (again not recommended as it’s a very expensive way to test a business idea). Instead I favor testing any ideas for your own business in several ways. Firstly desk research and when it comes to that in a recent post ‘The 2-Minute Opportunity Checklist for Entrepreneurs’ on the Harvard Business Blog, Prof. Daniel Isenberg (of the The Isenberg Entrepreneur Test) described a pretty good test:
1. Does your business idea soothe someone’s pain, discomfort, frustration, or dissatisfaction?
2. Are there lots of those people out there?
3. Do these people (or companies, or governments) have money to pay for it?
4. Will they be able to decide quickly to buy your product or service?
5. Does your idea exploit something about you that is outstanding or unique?
6. Are there important assets you have that no one else has? (money, access to customers, technology, leadership skills, execution, location, salesmanship, etc.)
7. Can you think of at least two people who might join you?
8. Do their skills complement yours?
9. Do they have the same values as you do?
10. Do the majority of people whose opinion you highly respect think your idea is a good one?
11. Does at least one person (and not more than three people), whose opinion you highly respect, think your idea is a bad one?
12. Is there something about the idea or its implementation, that compels you to really devote yourself to it?
13. Can you sneak by the big competitors without them noticing you for awhile?
14. Can you find a potential customer who will take your calls, give you feedback, try a pilot out?
15. Can you start up without huge gobs of money?
16. Can you keep your fixed costs low during launch?
17. Does your idea lend itself to small incremental steps that can inexpensively generate valuable information as well as at least a little cash?
He suggests that if when you evaluate business idea against this criteria it scores 16 or more ‘yes’ answers then you should get on and start a business around your idea. He expands on a few points noting that great ideas are those that attract detractors, explaining:
…unless you have at least one major detractor, then you are probably not on to something big. In fact, if everyone thinks it is a wonderful thing to do, then probably a legion of competitors is on the launch pad.
Then provides a great description of a good business opportunity:
Opportunities consist of:
1. the alignment of a market need,
2. a personal competence,
3. values or motivation.
If your business idea passes that desk research stage, then it’s time to start failing fast, failing cheap! By which I mean find cheap ways to develop prototypes and test your ideas. Where cheap doesn’t necessarily mean low cost, but rather that they use a relatively low proportion of your start-up capital. The point being that you will make mistakes and get things wrong in the early days of any business and if the first mistakes uses all your capital it’s game over, in contrast if the first mistake costs you just 10% then you have nine more chances to get the idea right and start a successful business.
Once this is done you can start to put your business plan together and ensure that your knowledge of the product and market is expressed in such a way that you can attract business finance, should that be needed. In every step of the way the excitement will of course be growing and the better you know that the demand is really there for your forthcoming business the more confidence and excitement you will take in to the next stage.
Wednesday, 2 March 2011
Find a business opportunity
Selecting the right business opportunity in which to invest your time and energy may be one of the more important decisions you will make. Not only of course do you want to ensure that you safeguard your business investment and that you will have a good return on the business plan that you invest in but it is also important that the idea excites you and that you are not going to be miserable every day while working on it. Create a business plan template or a mind map outlining what you are interested in, what your values and passions are and perhaps use this as a starting point.
Here are a few further tips on how to get started.
Step 1
Are you ready to tackle new small business opportunities? While working from home and being your own boss sounds great, not everyone has the entrepreneurial spirit, drive, and business knowledge to make it work.
Step 2
Decide if your new business opportunity is product or service oriented. If you are a professional, such as a dentist or lawyer, this is an easy choice. If you choose to enter the product market, decide whether you will sell directly to customers (retail) or to other businesses (wholesale).
Step 3
Choose online or local business. Will you sell your product or service locally, or on the internet? The overhead and start-up costs are often lower for e-commerce companies; however, you also need to think of your own knowledge of internet business and marketing, the location and accessibility of your target market, and more.
Step 4
For local business opportunities: Word-of-mouth is often the best way to find a business opportunity in your area. Perhaps an established small business owner is considering retirement, or wants to move out of the area. Also, check newspaper listings and visit your local small business center for business for sale listings.
For online business opportunities: When searching for small business opportunities online, it is important to recognize small business scams. Use reputable business listing services such as Entrepreneur.com's Opportunity Finder to review available franchise, online, and home-based business opportunities.
Step 5
Match small business opportunities to your start-up budget. Compare the cost of each new small business idea to your available capital and any funds you can raise or borrow. Franchises and turnkey businesses may provide an estimated return on your investment, while new business ideas require financial forecasting. Compare the cost of starting each new business with the anticipated return to see if the idea is feasible.
Prepare a formal business plan before moving forward with any new small business idea. Even if you choose a different opportunity, the business planning stage gives a realistic overview of the business idea and whether or not it will work for you.
Once you select an idea, consult a business lawyer, accountant, and small business resource center to ensure all licensing, tax planning, and other considerations are covered. Do not forget to include the cost of these professional services in your start-up budget.
Here are a few further tips on how to get started.
Step 1
Are you ready to tackle new small business opportunities? While working from home and being your own boss sounds great, not everyone has the entrepreneurial spirit, drive, and business knowledge to make it work.
Step 2
Decide if your new business opportunity is product or service oriented. If you are a professional, such as a dentist or lawyer, this is an easy choice. If you choose to enter the product market, decide whether you will sell directly to customers (retail) or to other businesses (wholesale).
Step 3
Choose online or local business. Will you sell your product or service locally, or on the internet? The overhead and start-up costs are often lower for e-commerce companies; however, you also need to think of your own knowledge of internet business and marketing, the location and accessibility of your target market, and more.
Step 4
For local business opportunities: Word-of-mouth is often the best way to find a business opportunity in your area. Perhaps an established small business owner is considering retirement, or wants to move out of the area. Also, check newspaper listings and visit your local small business center for business for sale listings.
For online business opportunities: When searching for small business opportunities online, it is important to recognize small business scams. Use reputable business listing services such as Entrepreneur.com's Opportunity Finder to review available franchise, online, and home-based business opportunities.
Step 5
Match small business opportunities to your start-up budget. Compare the cost of each new small business idea to your available capital and any funds you can raise or borrow. Franchises and turnkey businesses may provide an estimated return on your investment, while new business ideas require financial forecasting. Compare the cost of starting each new business with the anticipated return to see if the idea is feasible.
Prepare a formal business plan before moving forward with any new small business idea. Even if you choose a different opportunity, the business planning stage gives a realistic overview of the business idea and whether or not it will work for you.
Once you select an idea, consult a business lawyer, accountant, and small business resource center to ensure all licensing, tax planning, and other considerations are covered. Do not forget to include the cost of these professional services in your start-up budget.
Wednesday, 16 February 2011
How to choose the right business opportunity?
Although many businesses are started because the owner had a light bulb idea from where business investment was secured, a entrepreneurial team put together, a business plan written- or maybe I should have said that in the beginning - and from there the business started, as many business owners start something with the intention of working for themselves rather than just wanting to back a certain idea. Starting an industrial paving contractor business as an example is probably geared towards creating a future for yourself and your family. So if this sounds more like you then, what may be the best way forward? Yes we will be reviewing plenty of business opportunities on this blog but it may also be useful for you of course to be pro-active in finding your own idea.
Whats more is that starting off with an idea that has not been properly researched can prevent your business from reaching its potential or cause it to suffer a premature death.
How to Research an Idea For Your Business That Is Certain To Work?
Coming up with a great idea for a business is the one thing that many potential business owners struggle with and for good reason.
Just think of how many businesses have been based on ideas that do not fulfill a demand in the market in they were envisioned to.
Unfortunately businesses that are created and started on ideas that haven’t been properly researched have often died premature deaths at great cost to the business owner.
So how do you come up with a great idea for your business that you know will work?
Well for starters it is wise to do a bit of research in terms of demand in your target market for your idea’s products or services before investing any time and money in your business.
Passion over a certain idea is a start but may not fulfill the requirements for a successful business.
For instance your passion in the mating habits of the north sea clam may not be a great business idea as it won’t fulfill a need in the marketplace even if you have the most brilliant books & other stuff to sell on the subject.
In other words the idea you come up with needs to have a certain demand but too much may mean too much competition which will make it just as hard to make a success of. So think niche market – in other words come up with an idea that satisfies the demand for a specific market segment & don’t try and be everything for everyone.
Whats more is that starting off with an idea that has not been properly researched can prevent your business from reaching its potential or cause it to suffer a premature death.
How to Research an Idea For Your Business That Is Certain To Work?
Coming up with a great idea for a business is the one thing that many potential business owners struggle with and for good reason.
Just think of how many businesses have been based on ideas that do not fulfill a demand in the market in they were envisioned to.
Unfortunately businesses that are created and started on ideas that haven’t been properly researched have often died premature deaths at great cost to the business owner.
So how do you come up with a great idea for your business that you know will work?
Well for starters it is wise to do a bit of research in terms of demand in your target market for your idea’s products or services before investing any time and money in your business.
Passion over a certain idea is a start but may not fulfill the requirements for a successful business.
For instance your passion in the mating habits of the north sea clam may not be a great business idea as it won’t fulfill a need in the marketplace even if you have the most brilliant books & other stuff to sell on the subject.
In other words the idea you come up with needs to have a certain demand but too much may mean too much competition which will make it just as hard to make a success of. So think niche market – in other words come up with an idea that satisfies the demand for a specific market segment & don’t try and be everything for everyone.
Thursday, 27 January 2011
Business Opportunity of the week - On-line Student Tutorials
This weeks business opportunity of the week is for the young entrepreneurs out there in the form of On-line Student Tutorials. This is a much needed idea aimed at students and school goers who fall behind at school or simply want to improve their grades. 
An Internet business that focuses on supplying quality tutorials on the web could be lucrative. Imagine being able to offer courses ranging from how to understand Maths, Speak and write better Zulu and how to pass the science and biology exam. The range of courses on offer could be huge and could cover every aspect of school ranging from hobbies, education, sports, business, languages and much more.
The great thing about this idea is that once it is set up, your overhead costs are really low and you really only have to focus on marketing
So if you have a bit of capital, love education and are willing to commit for the long term then setting up an Internet tutorial website could be both enjoyable and lucrative in the long term.
This business can easily be run from home initially until growth demands
office space of your own.
Upside: If you remember your school days and the frustration of not understanding Maths, science or any other subject, or if you have kids in school currently experiencing the same challenges you would know that this business idea is a winner.
Downside: Its fairly easy to start-up and once you make a success out of it you can be assured that competitors will follow.
Verdict: A great idea for entrepreneurs with IT savvy, a bit
of cash and the drive to make it work. Initial set-up costs may be relatively
low but a solid marketing plan and budget to support it is a must. My
research has shown nothing similar in South Africa yet, so the early
bird is likely to grab market share.
If you need support with your business or business plans please contact us
An Internet business that focuses on supplying quality tutorials on the web could be lucrative. Imagine being able to offer courses ranging from how to understand Maths, Speak and write better Zulu and how to pass the science and biology exam. The range of courses on offer could be huge and could cover every aspect of school ranging from hobbies, education, sports, business, languages and much more.
The great thing about this idea is that once it is set up, your overhead costs are really low and you really only have to focus on marketing
So if you have a bit of capital, love education and are willing to commit for the long term then setting up an Internet tutorial website could be both enjoyable and lucrative in the long term.
This business can easily be run from home initially until growth demands
office space of your own.
Upside: If you remember your school days and the frustration of not understanding Maths, science or any other subject, or if you have kids in school currently experiencing the same challenges you would know that this business idea is a winner.
Downside: Its fairly easy to start-up and once you make a success out of it you can be assured that competitors will follow.
Verdict: A great idea for entrepreneurs with IT savvy, a bit
of cash and the drive to make it work. Initial set-up costs may be relatively
low but a solid marketing plan and budget to support it is a must. My
research has shown nothing similar in South Africa yet, so the early
bird is likely to grab market share.
If you need support with your business or business plans please contact us
Wednesday, 19 January 2011
Start a Marketing Research Business in South Africa
With a viable business plan now probably ranking towards the top of the tree for many entrepreneurs seeking business finance, the need for feasibility studies and market research has seldom been as significant as it is today. Entrepreneurs, small business, large corporates and Governments are continuously looking for up to date marketing research information on which to base business finance or strategic decisions. Today may be as good a time as any to start a marketing research business take advantage from the huge demand there is for this type of service.
There are different types of marketing research and these are advertising research, ad tracking, brand association research, brand equity research, brand attribute research, commercial eye tracking research, concept testing, copy testing, demand estimation, distribution channel audits, Internet strategic intelligence, mystery shopping, online panels, sales forecasting, test marketing and social networking potential among others. If you are interested in qualitative research or quantitative research and helping small and big time business firms, then market research may possibly be the best career opportunity for you.
Want to know how to start your own market research firm? Here are the steps:
1. Identify your target market. Make a decision whether your market research company will focus on airlines, food, clothing or electronics.
2. Make a strategic business plan. Every business needs a tactical business plan. It not only helps to predict potential business problems but to identify the services you will render to clients.
3. Connect with powerful organizations such as a Small Business Association and the Chamber of Commerce. These two powerful organizations will help you to promote your marketing research firm. They will also update you with the latest business opportunities that can help your marketing research firm.
4. Make a modified opinion poll for customers. The opinion poll or survey will help your marketing research firm collect the most important information to help your customers. Please make sure to keep the opinion poll short yet understandable. Moreover, it should include general queries that help you get important demographic details like revenue, age and level of education.
5. Contact experienced local business owners. Experienced local business owners will give you helpful tips on how to manage your marketing research firm. In addition they will provide you a better understanding on how to meet the marketing needs and demands of the clients.
6. Hire a qualified marketing research staff. Post jobs offline and online, and make sure to detail the job description and requirements carefully. Highly competent staff can help your marketing research firm progress in no time.
7. Advertise your marketing research firm. Post your marketing research firm ads on the Internet and in newspapers. This will surely help you find more clients.
Using the best business marketing strategy will help your market research firm become successful in no time. Get it right and you will gather the fruits. You need to teach yourself first, gathering information about the market research industry before launching your own company. But if you think you already have the right information and skills in this field, then don't think twice.
Now this is probably not everyones cup of tea and if you are not good with figures, communication, marketing and research work then this certainly will not be for you but there will be a number of you reading this blog that may just take on the challenge of starting your own business supplying these type of services. If you are the entrepreneurial type and you are giving this a real go then please do contact us as its a service that we are regularly looking for.
There are different types of marketing research and these are advertising research, ad tracking, brand association research, brand equity research, brand attribute research, commercial eye tracking research, concept testing, copy testing, demand estimation, distribution channel audits, Internet strategic intelligence, mystery shopping, online panels, sales forecasting, test marketing and social networking potential among others. If you are interested in qualitative research or quantitative research and helping small and big time business firms, then market research may possibly be the best career opportunity for you.
Want to know how to start your own market research firm? Here are the steps:
1. Identify your target market. Make a decision whether your market research company will focus on airlines, food, clothing or electronics.
2. Make a strategic business plan. Every business needs a tactical business plan. It not only helps to predict potential business problems but to identify the services you will render to clients.
3. Connect with powerful organizations such as a Small Business Association and the Chamber of Commerce. These two powerful organizations will help you to promote your marketing research firm. They will also update you with the latest business opportunities that can help your marketing research firm.
4. Make a modified opinion poll for customers. The opinion poll or survey will help your marketing research firm collect the most important information to help your customers. Please make sure to keep the opinion poll short yet understandable. Moreover, it should include general queries that help you get important demographic details like revenue, age and level of education.
5. Contact experienced local business owners. Experienced local business owners will give you helpful tips on how to manage your marketing research firm. In addition they will provide you a better understanding on how to meet the marketing needs and demands of the clients.
6. Hire a qualified marketing research staff. Post jobs offline and online, and make sure to detail the job description and requirements carefully. Highly competent staff can help your marketing research firm progress in no time.
7. Advertise your marketing research firm. Post your marketing research firm ads on the Internet and in newspapers. This will surely help you find more clients.
Using the best business marketing strategy will help your market research firm become successful in no time. Get it right and you will gather the fruits. You need to teach yourself first, gathering information about the market research industry before launching your own company. But if you think you already have the right information and skills in this field, then don't think twice.
Now this is probably not everyones cup of tea and if you are not good with figures, communication, marketing and research work then this certainly will not be for you but there will be a number of you reading this blog that may just take on the challenge of starting your own business supplying these type of services. If you are the entrepreneurial type and you are giving this a real go then please do contact us as its a service that we are regularly looking for.
