Becoming an entrepreneur easier than ever before—technology is shrinking the world, opening markets, and making it possible for many people to strike out on their own in the field of their dreams.

Yet, many who feel the tug of inspiration are afraid to take the leap. Don’t be one of those people who look back and regrets not starting their own business. Take control of your life, and your dreams. There are countless great reasons for starting your own business, and I’ve gathered 20 of the most compelling here—but whatever your reasons, don’t hold back. It’s time to start taking steps to take control of your own life, and there’s absolutely no better way to do that than to take ultimate control of your career, through starting your own business.

1. You Receive Many Tax Benefits
Living on a salary, as someone else’s employee, there’s little you can do to control your tax situation. It’s simply a fact of life. There are some things you can do to affect it, of course—using retirement plans, deferrals, special savings accounts, and the like, but your options are truly very limited. On the other hand, starting a small business can transform your relationship with taxes. The government is very supportive of small businesses right now, and is likely to continue to be. You’ll be able to write off extraordinary amounts of your income, as long as you hire a good accountant (or educate yourself well on tax law). Bonus points if you can employ family members, even for small tasks—the money stays in the household, the tax write off helps the business, and your family has become a team that drives its own success.

Taxes

2. You Make Your Own Job Security
If you have skills in an industry that’s in demand, there’s no excuse for not starting your own business. You never have to worry about whether or not you’ll be laid off when you start your own business, whether you’re up for promotion, or whether you’re going to be automated out of your job—because you’re the boss. As your own boss, you have another advantage, too. Not only can you not be laid off, but you can take control of your company’s decisions. You can move and change with the times. Many companies fail because they fail to evolve, and as a mere employee, there’s little you can do about that when you’re employed by someone else. As an industry leader, in charge of your own company, however, you’ll have the resources and decision-making capability necessary to stay current and competitive.

3. You Can Network in Your Industry
Passionate about your industry? You might think that the only way to get ahead and network with the superstars in your market is to get in with a big company—but in fact the opposite is often the case. You’ll be pleasantly surprised how many doors a business card with “CEO” can open—even if you’re CEO over a grand total of one person. That’s because it’s not just the size of the company that impresses people; by being an owner and taking control of your destiny, you’ve proven you have what it takes to make it. And that’s a very appealing trait in a colleague. Owning your own business means you have a lot more to offer when it comes to collaboration and negotiations, and it means you will have more insider knowledge in your industry. It goes without saying that this makes you much more tempting to network with—and the bigger your network, the more people will want to network with you. Watch your lists of contacts, partners, colleagues, and references grow.

4. You Can Challenge Yourself to Learn New Skills
Admit it—you sleepwalk through your day at your current job more often than you’d like to admit. Why? Because when you work for someone else, you have an excuse to slack off on learning new skills. When someone comes to you to ask you to do something you’re inexperienced with, you direct them to the “right” person. But what happens when the buck stops with you? In your own business, you quickly learn how to become the “right” person for every job. You’ve heard the saying, “If you want it done right, do it yourself.” Now go out there and embody it! As a small business owner, you’ll be learning a lot of new ropes. Learning new things keeps you sharp, and staying sharp makes it even easier to acquire new skills. This isn’t about just being successful in your career; it’s about being successful in life.

5. You Will Become an Expert
But it’s not just about learning to use Excel properly (finally), your new motivation to learn and learn more can take you much further than that. As head of your own business, you won’t just learn how to competently carry out new skills, you’ll become an expert at the one’s you’re passionate about. Maybe right now you dabble in graphic design, and love it, but that’s not what you get paid for at your job. Well, in your own company, you can take on as much of that responsibility as you like—and get paid for it. And don’t forget those tax benefits—they’ll come in handy when it comes to training and taking classes in those subjects in which you want to become an expert. Get and keep your certifications up to date, create a portfolio, and find out just how much of an expert you’re truly able to become, given the opportunity. And the best part? As a business owner, you’re not depending on someone else to hand that opportunity over; it’s one you can give to yourself.

6. You Can Connect with Mentors
Networking is one thing—it’s great to have a digital Rolodex filled with names you can drop at the next convention, if you’re into that sort of thing. But what’s better? Finding true mentors in your field. You’ll find that people are willing (and excited) to help a motivated small businessman learn the ropes, and you can forge lifelong relationships with talented colleagues that would never have given you a second thought if you were on someone else’s payroll. And running your own business will give you more confidence in seeking mentors out, as well, because you’ll have little choice but to ask the questions you need answered if you want to be successful. Necessity is a wonderful motivator.

7. You Can Put Your Determination to the Test
You have what it takes to start your own business. You’ve always thought so. And yet, here you are, still riding someone else’s coat tails. Why? Because you’ve yet to take that final step that proves you really do have what it takes. Success is not all about inspiration; determination is thought by many to be the real factor. Everyone knew the kid in school that always said they “could” have gotten that A if they’d studied, but they were content with a B. Don’t be that kid. You’re better than that. Prove to yourself you have the determination to be a true success, and stand on your own two feet.

8. You Must Learn to Respect Yourself
Putting your determination to the test leads to the next best reason to start your own business: learn some self-respect. It’s not just determination that will make the path to self-respect that much sweeter. Think about how many times, in the past, you’ve had to put your own self-respect aside to comply with the wishes of your boss, a manager, or a customer. Sure, you’ll have to make concessions as the head of your own business—but you’ll be fully in charge of when, where, and how those concessions take place, if you do. You’ll be the one in the driver’s seat, which means you’ll have to take responsibility for your own decisions; you’ll find that greater responsibility leads to greater self-respect, as well.

9. You Can Create Jobs
If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem. The job market is not looking good these days, and starting your own business can create job security for more than just yourself. Have an innovative idea, or a new strategy that’s going to take off? Instead of feeding it to your boss and letting them take credit, be your own boss—and find the right talent out there to join you on your path to success. Small businesses create jobs and forge strong bonds in revitalized communities. Be a catalyst for change in your own community.

10. You Can Gain Financial Independence
Financial independence sounds like a dream come true, doesn’t it? When you start your own company, it doesn’t have to be a dream. You’ll be calling the shots when it comes to taking risks, deciding on investments and expenditures, and you’ll also be the one reaping the benefits when your hard work pays off. You won’t have to depend on bonuses that are based on your boss’s whims or your company’s yearly success. You’ll be the determining factor, and you won’t have your financial success snatched away because someone else on your team dropped the ball.

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Thanks

Taking your products or service online can open up a very profitable additional revenue stream. Take care to avoid these five mistakes as you take your business online and go after your piece of the pie.

1. Not building a customer list. It is no secret that email marketing is one of the most effective marketing channels, so wouldn’t it be a great idea to build a list of potential and current customers? This allows you to keep them up to date on new products and special offers, which turns them into repeat customers. 


Offer something of value in exchange for their email address -- new product alerts, free shipping, etc. My company offers our email subscribers a free online marketing ebook when they join our list. 

2. The lack of multiple visible customer-support options. When a consumer lands on your website, they should be able to immediately identify multiple ways to get in touch with your company. This can include a phone number, physical business address, contact form, live chat or support ticket system. Take a look at these reasons you need to provide top-notch customer service:

40 percent of people purchase from a competitive brand because of its reputation for great customer service
55 percent are willing to recommend a company due to outstanding service, more so than product or price
85 percent would pay up to 25 percent more to ensure a superior customer service experience
82 percent of people have stopped doing business with a company due to bad customer service
95 percent of customers have taken action as a result of a bad experience, with 79 percent of those telling others about their experience.

3. Failing to test multiple advertising sources. Finding a winning advertising source is not an overnight process. It is important to test several, and do so with small test budgets. Many online businesses assume Google AdWords is the only game in town. They load up their entire budget, create some ads and click “Go!” It is possible to blow through a huge budget in a matter of hours if the campaign is not properly set up.

Take baby steps and test several ad networks. Twitter, Facebook, the Yahoo/Bing network and AOL all have great traffic, but they aren’t all going to work the same for every website. Start small, testing multiple advertising networks and multiple ad copy variations until you find what works best. Once you identify the best advertising source begin to increase your spend.

4. Carrying too much inventory too soon. Many businesses assume that the customers will come knocking as soon as their site is live, so they stock up on inventory. If the sales don’t come in as quickly as first thought they are stuck carrying inventory, which is just an added expense.

Having to constantly order more inventory in the beginning is a great problem to have. Yes, having to make multiple orders might cut into your margins slightly, but wouldn’t you rather that instead of having a warehouse full of product that isn’t selling and a pile of debt?

5. Offering predictable discounts. Announcing sales too far in advance and having predictable discounts, such as “save 15 percent every Tuesday” ruins regular business. If you are predictable with offers your customers will hold out on ordering until your next special offer. They become accustomed to the discount and will stop buying at your regular price.

Hello guyz
I am pleased to inform you that importation business still exists in this country we are, I have tried it and it worked for me, so also is online business(es). We have varieties of online business, all you need to do is just concentrate, be determined and it will work for you aswell.
Trust me if I shoud come up here and tell you guys that you will make millions of naira within few days, trust me it's a big lie. But take it or leave it online business still exists and am making my cool cash from there. All you need is stop being a doubting thomas today, give it a trial and I can bet it, you will leave me a positive feedback. If you are interested in becoming an entrepreneur and importation guru, you can ring me on 07039436875, send me an email on aoluwatosinbabafemi@gmail.com or contact me on www.naijanetbiz.com/awodele.

NB: All your requirements are hardwork, consistency and prayers.

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Hello Guyz,
I just want you all to know that making cool cash online still exists and it's very real. The only problem we Nigerians are having is that we have scammers all over, but despite that, there are still genuine online businesses you can venture to which will make you financially stable, which you wouldn't want to work for any boss again for the rest of your lives. All you need is just Don't doubt your believe and Don't believe you doubts. Give it a trial and trust me you get there. Online business is 100% guaranteed.

How to Start Basic Importation Business in Nigeria
Most of the goods consumed in Nigeria comes from oversea. Even though we’re making effort to become industrialized but right now we are yet to get there. There are goods out there that when brought into this country would sell like pure water, so how do you go about bringing these goods into the country in a legal way to earn mega income?

IMPORTATION IN NIGERIA
Until now import business used to be the exclusive right of people with plenty of money and technical know how, people who can travel around the world and all that. But right now, the story has changed, you can actually import goods from oversea right from your bedroom without having to travel anywhere!

One thing special about imported goods is that people get to respect it more than the locally made type (not necessarily superior in quality though) and tends to patronize it more.

Let’s face it — import business is a very big business but you need to know how to go about it to be able to make a lot of money from the goods you imported, you need to start by knowing what comes first and second and so on.. So how do you proceed to setting up your import business?

1. LOOK FOR HOT PRODUCTS
In those days you’d need to travel to many countries to be able to identify products to import. Now, you can seat back at the comfort of your bedroom and do it on the internet. Look for trending products or some that are not in the the country presently that you think people will love.

First of all, bring small quantity into Nigeria to see how people will react to it. That is, to quantify the acceptability of the product before importing. If a product is not acceptable, there is no need to invest your hard earned money into it because it wouldn’t sell to make you your money back. You must do this initial product trail by bringing small quantity first to see if people gonna like it.

After you showed it to your potential customers and they like it, make estimate of the quantity they would demand based on their interest and use the data to judge the volume of goods to be imported. Use the same process to get your subsequent products. Until the product become a household name.

2. WHERE TO GET THE PRODUCTS
Like I said before, you don’t have to travel oversea to get sample of the product — you can get it on the internet. Go to merchant websites like Alibaba.com, Ebay.com, etc or just Google the ‘keywords’ where to import goods from — browse through to see the type of product that may not already in Nigerian market.

Place your order by paying using your electronic Credit or Debit card. Most Nigerian Banks now have cards that are acceptable on these sites. You may write money through other means like bank deposit or money transfer. Once you’ve paid for the goods with shipment cost included. the next thing is to wait for the goods to arrive. You may not need the services of a clearing agent if the import is through premium Currier services Like DHL UPS and others.

3. SELL OFF YOUR PRODUCTS
You must have talked to your potential customers about your soon to arrive product using the sample from the previous product sample you brought in. Now that you have the main products, Get the product to them and sell off at whole sale price to make your profit.

Then repeat the process to as many times as it remains profitable. To be able to increase your capital, you need to reinvest your gain from the first and second trips until you have enough money to import in mega quantity.

Check from Nigeria import and export promotion commission (I’m not sure if that is their real name) to see types of products allowed into this country.

I will be sharing more details about import business in my subsequent articles and also on my website. For now ask your question by commenting below and lets expand on the subject.

6. BUILD A SUPPORT GROUP
While mentors serve as a guide with whom you review your past actions and plan your next steps, a support group are your companions that help you with during the actual execution of your plan. This may be in the form of a mastermind group or accountability partner where you keep each other accountable for your goals and to help each other deal with situations that may arise while you are on your journeys. It is extremely helpful to have someone you know that is willing to listen to your frustrations and self doubt and to encourage you and remind you of how far you’ve already come.

Who is in your support group?

7. PERSONALLY KNOW YOUR FINANCES
Numbers scare a lot of people. Start talking about assets, liabilities and net worth and people’s eyes just glaze over. If you are one of these people who run away from numbers, please stop running because you are hurting yourself. If you want to be financially independent, you need to know how to keep score. If you have your own business or want to successfully invest, finances tell you how well you are doing and reveal the health of a business. If you don’t understand finances, you have to learn. It’s easy once you get over the limiting belief that you are no good at numbers. For those interested in learning more, you may want to check out these personal finance resources.

Do you know you net worth? If you are bad at numbers, what specifically makes you believe that? How can you improve your financial intelligence?

8. GET HELP
I have a tendency to try to do everything myself and in some ways it is good and in many ways it is bad. It is important to know and understand all aspects of your life and business but that does not mean having to do all the tasks involved in maximizing your potential in those areas. It is true that we can always learn new things and become competent in them but what is also true is that we are only given 24 hours each day and to live full lives, it is more effective to do what we do best and to outsource tasks that we’re not good at to people who excel at them. Delegating effectively takes trust and the ability to clearly communicate what you want. For those that want to outsource, Elance is a nice way to find some quality freelancers.

How are you spending your time? Is it doing things you are awesome at? If not, what are you doing that you can outsource or delegate so you can devote more time doing what you’re great at? What’s stopping you from outsourcing or delegating?

9. LEARN SALES
Many people cringe when they hear the word sales. “I would never be in sales, that’s a sleazy job.” It is exactly this type of thinking that stops people from being their best. Sales is nothing more than persuading someone of something. When you are looking to get a date, you are selling. When you are interviewing for a job, you are selling. When you are trying to persuade your spouse or kids to go to Europe for your family vacation, you are selling. In a professional setting, sales is paramount and the lifeline for any business. If you want to get the most out of life and business, learn the skills for effective selling. I am beginning a series of blog posts on How to Sell on my blog and you can learn from other successful sales trainers by reading material from Zig Ziglar, Brian Tracey and Og Mandino.

When you hear “sales”, what associations come to mind? Are they positive or negative? Do you know the how to sell effectively? If not, how do you plan to learn?

10. BE RESILIENT
Things rarely work out the way you planned and there will always be distractions and stumbling blocks that you have to deal with when you are on your road to success. The key point to remember is to persist and to develop the courage to move on even when everyone around you is telling you it is ok to give up. This does not mean stubbornly holding on to your original plan but rather continuing to pursue your goal as long as the reasons for doing so is still valid (Make sure you know the “Why” of what you want). When everything seems to be going wrong, keep in mind that “the road to success is paved with a thousand failures” so each failure actually brings you closer to where you want to be. If you have trouble being resilient, check out the 6 Effective Ways to Be Persistent.

How often to you quit because things got tough? Would you descrive yourself as an unshakeable optimist? Do you view problems as opportunities or warning signs? How do you view failure and are you making sure that you don’t make the one mistake people make when learning from their mistakes?

This is not an exhaustive list, but it does provide a good starting point. I would love to hear what tips you have found especially useful in both life and business in the comments section.
Thanks..

Sometimes what helps us to be successful in our professional lives is not such a great idea in our personal lives. Competition is a quality that comes to mind, at the same time, we all have a limited amount of time each day to do the things that we want to do.

So for the sake of saving time and energy, I’m sharing a list of tips that will help you be successful in both life and in business.

1. ADD VALUE
No matter what you do and where you go, you can’t go wrong with adding value. Simply put value is anything that people are willing to pay for. In your professional life, the more value you can offer the more money you can make. In your personal life, more value translates to closer relationships and strong personal growth. The best way to add value is to find the intersection between what people are willing to pay for and what service or product you can offer that is aligned with your values, strengths and goals.

How are you adding value to your employers and loved ones today? What can you do to increase your ability to add value?

2. FOLLOW YOUR PASSION
Reading numerous biographies on great people and from my own personal observations and encounters, I’ve realized that those who achieve greatness professional and personally follow their passion. The reason why great people are few and far in-between is because most people don’t even know what their passion is. For those that do figure out their passion, most of them don’t follow their passion consistently. This is one of the main reasons why people don’t reach their goals.

Do you know what your passion is? If not, what are you going to do to find out? If you do know what you passion is, are you following it?

3. BE EXTRAORDINARY
If you do the same thing as everyone else, it’s hard to be successful. It is important to find the edge and then push past it. That is how you become noticed and get what you want. Whether it is money, meaningful relationships and/or a sense of personal accomplishment, the extraordinary person attracts them all.

How are you extraordinary? If you feel just ordinary, what are you going to do to become extraordinary? For those who don’t know, you may want to check out articles on my blog and also How to go from Ordinary to Extraordinary.

4. START NOW
There are many factors that go into become a success in both your professional and personal life but the one factor that is required is taking action. Most people miss out on reaching their full potential because they never start. They are always preparing, planning and waiting for the best time to start. If I waited until I was ready, I would not have a coaching practice, a website, a blog, a workshop, etc. The stars rarely align and you will never be completely ready so just start now and adjust along the way.

Are you waiting for something before you start? What is your planning to doing ratio? What’s really the worse thing that can happen if you got started right now? If you are someone that’s just been waiting, stop reading this post and get started on what you have been wanting to do. This article will still be here when you get back.

5. HUNT FOR GOOD MENTORS
People who “make it” usually credit their success to a mentor or a group of mentors who really helped guide them to get to where they are. Mentors have gone down the road that you want to travel and can guide you to get to your destination faster than if you went at it alone. If you want to be healthy, you would find a mentor who is already healthy. If you want to be rich, then you have to find someone who is already rich. What surprises me is how rarely people engage in mentoring relationships and those who do usually find mentors in only one aspect of their lives. If you want to be successful, be active about finding mentors that will help you achieve what you want. Jeff Goins has a nice short article on finding mentors.

Do you have a mentor in your life now? If not, ask yourself what barriers are preventing you from finding or establishing a mentoring relationship? If you do have a mentor, do you have one for the different aspects of your life (financial, health, professional, personal, spiritual, relationships, parenting etc.)?