Having a brilliant business sense and running a successful business do not necessarily intersect each other. While one may be a gifted businessman or a businesswoman, yet when it comes to actually managing and running the business affairs, talent alone is not sufficient. You need some guidance and useful advice that can catapult you from a good business thinker to a successful entrepreneur.

In this regard, magazines, like Entrepreneur, play a pivotal role in shaping your mind towards greater business success. The critics may argue that the hard real world is much tougher to handle than reading about it in books, magazines and journals. To an extent, this argument holds water. There is no substitute to experience. Unless one experiences a success or failure, one can’t really appreciate either of these. However, if you can learn from the experiences of others, i.e., without resorting to trial and error method and risking failure, nothing like it.

This is precisely what you can do with magazines, such as Entrepreneur magazine. With articles, features, tips, advices, and write-ups from top-notch industrialists and managers, you are literally in for a treat. The size of your business doesn’t matter. The amount of capital invested doesn’t matter. Whether you are a start-up company or an established entrepreneur, it doesn’t really matter. Everyone, who is even remotely connected with business, will find such magazines extremely informative and helpful in avoiding failure on multiple fronts.

Apart from covering latest business news from around the world, these magazines delve into little known territories, like business and franchise opportunities. You don’t need to subscribe a separate magazine for latest business opportunities. Entrepreneur magazines cover these aspects in great details. The best part is that with Internet evolving at a rapid pace, a lot of these magazines are putting their issues online for anytime reading. For instance, Entrepreneur Magazine is one such publication that has tried to bridge the print-online barrier with a comprehensive website.

If price factor is what’s bothering you from subscribing to one of these Entrepreneur magazines, then here’s some good news. Most of these magazines are available for subscription at heavy discounts on the Internet. As much as 80% savings can be easily made just by logging on one of the trusted magazine websites, and subscribing your favorite Entrepreneur magazine.

Starting a new business is an exciting venture, full of challenge, opportunity, and excitement.. Especially, if your entrepreneurial concept gains traction and generates growth. When it does, the next step is transitioning from an entrepreneurship to a professionally run business.

However, here is the irony. At this transition point—precisely the one you want to reach—is where many small businesses run into trouble. Because while the entrepreneurial skill set is great for creating and building new businesses, it is not as well suited to transforming fledgling businesses into long-term companies.

As a business grows beyond the startup stage, the ingredients that made for a winning start become a recipe for disaster. This is where entrepreneurs often make big mistakes. As Bill Gates observed, “Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose. “

Smart people can lose. And many entrepreneurs do every day. The key is to understand the business lifecycle and how to move from one stage of the lifecycle to the next. Transition is a natural part of the process. A rapidly expanding company can quickly outgrow its infrastructure. Suddenly the informal management style that worked so well in the beginning no longer gets the job done. The organization’s existing infrastructure cannot support the next stage of growth, and the fallout is upheaval.

In truth, rapid growth and expansion place an incredible strain on resources. The gap between the infrastructure you will need and the infrastructure that has evolved becomes painfully evident. If your business is to succeed, you need systems and processes that will stabilize your company and support future growth. This is why a well-planned transition strategy is so important.

In most cases, with an entrepreneurially run business, management is more growth-and innovation-driven and less profit-driven. The emphasis is on creativity and innovation rather than structure or operations. Planning is haphazard rather than systematic. The organizational structure is loosely defined. Budgeting is implied. In essence, an entrepreneurially run business is an adolescent in the business lifecycle, pursuing growth, change, and opportunity but is desperately in need of stabilization.

On the other hand, a professionally managed organization is one with formal, thoughtfully-developed systems and processes and a disciplined, profit-oriented approach to doing business. In professionally managed organizations, management techniques have evolved beyond the spontaneous, reactive mentality typical of startups. Management styles are established. Professionally managed organizations are more democratic (typically consultative or participative). Professionally managed enterprises are based on clearly communicated objectives, expectations, and accountability.

To advance beyond an entrepreneurship business, the entrepreneur must take stock and implement systems, develop processes, and hire people who can steward the company into the future. This transition requires formal planning, meetings, systems, and clearly defined roles, responsibilities, and processes.

The first step in advancing from an entrepreneurship to that of a professionally run business is to recognize that the business has reached a new stage in its business lifecycle. The second step is to acknowledge that it is now time for change. The third step is to enlist the help of outside professional business advisors to assist you with the transition.

With a professional general business advisor, you obtain an accurate and an unbiased diagnosis of your entire business. Only then can you develop and implement an effective strategy to transition from entrepreneurship to a professionally run business. The professional general business advisor assists you with the development and implementation of the following:

• Assess your organizational infrastructure to determine how well existing systems, processes, and structure support future needs. • Know where you are headed so you can communicate to your employees the direction that your company will take in future developments.

• Draft a development plan that maps out how you will build the competencies you need for the next stage of development.

• Create or revisit your business plan and use it to guide and monitor your progress.

• Develop training and mentoring programs to cultivate the management team’s capabilities.

• Implement realistic systems for planning, organizing, managing, and increasing accountability. • Standardize the various processes for the best efficiency.

• Define the roles and responsibilities of each employee.

• Establish and communicate objectives, goals, measures, and rewards to your stakeholders.

• Let go, and let the experts do their jobs.

When companies transition from startups to professionally managed enterprises, founder/entrepreneurs often arrive at a crossroads. As the business owner, you need to consider if you should step back and hand the reins over to an experienced, professional management team? Or, should you stay and attempt to adopt a more structured management style?

The decision is yours. However, keep in mind, that the skills it takes to hatch a business concept … identify a market … develop a product or service …and assemble the resources and operations to bring it to market are not the same skills you need to shepherd a company into the future.

Copyright © 2007 Terry H. Hill

You may reprint this article free of charge in your newsletter, magazine, or on your website, provided that the article is unedited, and that the copyright, author’s bio, and contact information below appears with each article. Articles appearing on the web must provide a hyperlink to the author’s web site.

These days, both individuals and businesses have a need to make their presence felt on the Internet. This is the reason why web hosting companies have mushroomed – they fill the need for people to have their own little place on the Web.

What Web Hosting is all About

So what exactly is web hosting? Basically, this is a type of hosting service which will allow an individual, business or any other type of organization to establish their own website that can be accessed online. Without a web host, the pages that you will create will not be accessed by online users once they type in your website’s URL or address on the browser that they are using.

Typically, a hosting service is a subscription that you will pay on a monthly or yearly basis. The type of hosting package that you will get should depend on the costs, your bandwidth requirement and exactly what the website will be used for. To give you an idea, here are features of a hosting package that you would need to compare:
-    GBs of space
-    GBs of transfer
-    Domain hosting
-    Number of e-mail accounts
-    Set-up, technical support & money-back guarantee
-    Other features that your website will require

Business Web Hosting versus Personal Web Hosting

Now that you already have an idea about what web hosting is all about, let us make a comparison between business hosting and personal hosting.

1.    Business Web Hosting
When looking for business hosting services, you would naturally consider the costs involved. But more than that, you should take into account the features that you will have from the business hosting package that you will get. This also includes dedicacated servers.

Go online and check out the reviews of the top small business website hosting companies and dedicated server hosts. Through them, you can make a comparison of the different business website hosting features including whether the control panel is user-friendly or not, the speed and capacity of their servers, the quality of their back-up process and many other factors which will affect the quality of small business website hosting that you will get.

2.    Personal Web Hosting
As compared to business website hosting services, sites which are used for personal purposes are typically categorized as being cheap. This is not to say, however, that the website hosting services that you will get would be inferior when it comes to the features included.

You can either opt for one of the free personal hosting services that you can find online. The problem is that these do not usually have the quality of support that you need, so it is better to shell out a few dollars for something with all the features that your blog or personal website would require.

Generally, business hosting is more feature-packed and a bit pricier than personal web hosting packages. But if you do have a website which will be used to promote the products or services that you are offering, then you definitely should go for business website hosting. Otherwise, if your purpose for having a website is to create a personal blog or simply have your own little space on the web, then a cheaper personal web hosting package will be more suitable for you.

Online portals : Storehouse of information

If Barbara Tuchman claimed that “Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill.” No one would disagree with her famous quote. However, besides being a medium of conveying knowledge, books can be cumbersome and can take large amounts of time in finding information. The virtual effects of science have caused a breakthrough making the storehouses of information right in front of our computer screen as opposed to a newspaper where news may be shortened for the sake of space.

The new generation has the power of online portals which provide information with a mere click. No magic, no drama just news served like a hot cup of coffee to revitalize your senses. It wasn’t that long after the Web first appeared that the first portals came into existence. Portals served and continue to serve as a important launch point for Web surfing, and although there are some special-interest portals out there that get some market share, the ones that started out early are the ones that get the lion’s share of viewership.

The magical online portals have given the world of knowledge to man’s finger tip. It covers all aspects from news, headlines, sports, entertainment, living, online shopping, articles, current events, current events, news updates.

But the portals of old were plain compared to what they are today, and what they will become in the next few years. Already a far cry from the plain, static first generation of portals, today’s Web portals take advantage of new technology to create a much more exciting surfing experience. The driving force behind all this is the pervasiveness of broadband, which allows portals to hold more rich graphics and multimedia, colorful and fun animation, and functional applets such as stock market tickers and news feeds.

EMarketer’s report highlights the future of the portal in this light, noting that portal services will go even beyond the Web itself, into the areas of personalized desktops, and video/multimedia search. And of course, portals make their money chiefly through advertising, and eMarketer makes note of the fact that the type of advertising found on portals is also changing.

The biggest changes in the future of portal services will be its expansion beyond traditional search, something we’re already seeing with Google’s branching out into other areas. Look for all major portals to launch desktop search products, personalized search tools, and even mobile search services in the coming years.

Private portals are also gaining in popularity as a convenient way to allow employees, clients, and customers to securely access personalized information via a password-protected portal site. Healthcare portals have become a extremely useful addition to large HR organizations, which save time and money by allowing employees to log into their own healthcare accounts—relieving HR staff from having to spend time on low-priority, standard requests for information. While the IT staff may be well-equipped to handle the technical end of the portal, leaving the project entirely in their hands (and not seeking participation from other areas) is likely to result in a portal that is not aligned with the true business needs of the company. The portal must be a priority not just of IT, but of the entire company. Online portals are the new generation information provider , and yes, if Late Barbara Tuchman was alive, she would have had a different quote altogether, what say ?

A high-profile and interactive news website, news24online.com is part of the the extensive network of BAG Films and Media. Having established itself as one of the country’s leading production houses, BAG Films and Media Ltd expanded into the news segment with the launch of this website in Nov 2007.
 
With news, information, interactivity, entertainment and networking all converging onto one single platform – the Internet, there is a marked shift of traditional newspaper readers to this media. Amidst a profusion of breaking news websites, we have come through to the top through our well researched features and stories that cater to all ages and interests. The website is contemporary and deals with a wide range of topics – from business news to lifestyle, crime to entertainment, name it and we have it. 

Read about the top national, international and business news. About the politics of this secular country fragmented by religious boundaries, about regional politics versus national politics is ethnically created states, about the constant re-configuration and alliances of political parties, politically driven communal tension, and much more in the Political section.

With the increasing insecurity problems all over the world, our Terror Alerts will serve you well in keeping you informed.
Keep a tab on Indians across the globe in the Diaspora section.

Our Science and Technology section will feed you with all the latest discoveries and how the world did not end with the Large Hadron Collider test.There is a Health and Medicine section which deals with everything one needs to know about healthy living but chooses to ignore.

The Environment & Climate section will remind you of your duties as a citizen of the world.

With country of a cricket-loving population, the Sports segment would be humiliated if it did not deliver. Led by a cricket enthusiast, the Sports section manages to grab quite a few headlines.

What would the portal be without a lifestyle section? Life24 gives a fair representation to latest trends and events in the fashion world. Last, but not the least, the reader is encouraged to contribute to the Opinion and Trends section.

In our effort to emerge as the most visited website, feeding not just news but top-class entertainment as well, we look forward to your valued feedback.

Dear Ms. Luger,

After reading your letter dated January 6, 2009 which was sent to the Independent Business News Network (IBNN), it is apparent that the General Mills Foundation doesn’t really understand, nor truly comprehend the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s writings or mission, which includes one of his last goals for the African-American community, a goal that he outlined in a book published before he was shot and killed, which highlighted the key to success in poor communities was economic development.

Actually, few people have heard of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s last book titled, Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?” released in 1967, but applicable in 2009 as a way to examine the grant giving practices of the General Mills Foundation.  Dr. King Jr. writes the following:

“In the treatment of poverty nationally, one fact stands out: there are twice as many white poor as Negro poor in the United States. Therefore I will not dwell on the experiences of poverty that derive from racial discrimination, but will discuss the poverty that affects white and Negro alike.

Up to recently we have proceeded from a premise that poverty is a consequence of multiple evils: lack of education restricting job opportunities; poor housing which stultified home life and suppressed initiative; fragile family relationships which distorted personality development. The logic of this approach suggested that each of these causes be attacked one by one. Hence a housing program to transform living conditions, improved educational facilities to furnish tools for better job opportunities, and family counseling to create better personal adjustments were designed. In combination these measures were intended to remove the causes of poverty.

While none of these remedies in itself is unsound, all have a fatal disadvantage. The programs have never proceeded on a coordinated basis or at a similar rate of development. Housing measures have fluctuated at the whims of legislative bodies. They have been piecemeal and pygmy. Educational reforms have been even more sluggish and entangled in bureaucratic stalling and economy-dominated decisions. Family assistance stagnated in neglect and then suddenly was discovered to be the central issue on the basis of hasty and superficial studies. At no time has a total, coordinated and fully adequate program been conceived. As a consequence, fragmentary and spasmodic reforms have failed to reach down to the profoundest needs of the poor.

In addition to the absence of coordination and sufficiency, the programs of the past all have another common failing — they are indirect. Each seeks to solve poverty by first solving something else.”

We are likely to find that the problems of housing and education, instead of preceding the elimination of poverty, will themselves be affected if poverty is first abolished. The poor transformed into purchasers will do a great deal on their own to alter housing decay. Negroes, who have a double disability, will have a greater effect on discrimination when they have the additional weapon of cash to use in their struggle.”

To celebrate the legacy and life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr is to focus on the last piece of his legacy — economic development. Black people are not happy just sit at the lunch counter; today, we want to own the lunch counter!

The General Mills Foundation’s practice of  “perpetual” grant giving is a feeble attempt to solve problems from the top down in north Minneapolis (rather than applying sound business practices from the bottom up). For 14 years, communities in north Minneapolis have seen virtually no change in the socio-economic status of the people, a majority who are of African-American descent, living day-to-day within in this underserved region of Minneapolis. The fact that no significant and recognizable social or economic advancement has occurred in the north Minneapolis communities is most evident in the Minneapolis Public School System where the failure rate for Black youth exceeds the combined totals for Mississippi, Kentucky and Alabama.

If giving grants to organizations that focus on education and the success of the youth of Minneapolis, how could this academic failure occur? A wise man once said: “You can’t just water the tree; you also must take care of the roots.” The General Mills Foundation has been simply watering the tree, without tending to the roots. In other words, the Foundation has been comfortable granting dollars to the same individuals and the same organizations year after year, rather than taking the time to speak with the true stakeholders in north Minneapolis. As a result, nothing identifiable with change has taken place in 14 years. And if the process doesn’t change, this lack of change will perpetuate.   

The current trend in north Minneapolis reveals a community in demise — social, economic and educational demise. Examples of the community’s demise: in 2007, five elementary schools in north Minneapolis were closed; more than 1700 home foreclosures occurred in 2007 and 2008. In 2009, the City of Minneapolis will close additional parks besides Bethune and Willard, the two parks scheduled to close in 2009.  If the Foundation was more strategically focused on how its “grant dollars” were disseminated, these types of devastating occurrences, which ultimately reduce the social worth and economic value of a community, could be avoided. By working to prevent such demise, the General Mills Foundation would be able to pinpoint tangible examples of what the Foundation has done to rehabilitate blighted communities in north Minneapolis.  The headline could have read, “General Mills Foundation Saves Inner-City Park from Closure!” Instead, there is another headline, “More Silence in North Minneapolis with the Closing of Inner City Parks.”

On Thursday, January 8, 2009 at the Hawthorn Huddle, you presented three very effective examples of community engagement organizations that partner with several other entities to achieve their missions. My advice to you and the General Mills Foundation is to meet with north Minneapolis stakeholders and work from the bottom up with those who are truly interested in solving the challenges that face north Minneapolis. (Dog and pony shows are only exciting at the state fair).

Regarding your statement that the General Mills Foundation contributed nearly $15 million to programs focusing on communities of color in 2008, I am unsure if you meant in Minneapolis

or the United States. What I do know is that the General Mills Foundation gives to the Susan G. Koman Foundation’s Walk for the Cure, which in turn grants money to Planned Parenthood, a group that is helping inadvertently to kill many black children. Secondly, I know the General Foundation’s media spending for diverse audiences is lacking in the Minneapolis/St. Paul market. You respond to the Foundation’s media spending by saying: “…for competitive reasons, I cannot disclose the amounts.”  I reply to your comment by saying the following: “If there is no level playing field, there can never be any competition.”

The fact that the General Mills Foundation refuses to consider local radio, print and TV that are minority-ethnic owned, or a radio station that is White-owned but plays music targeted to an African-American audience is evidence that General Mills, Inc. and the General Mills Foundation have opted to ignore solid reach and frequency solely because of the “color” of a format.

In closing, this is the time of the year we celebrate the birthday of one of the world’s great leaders — the Revered Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  In keeping with his sprit and goals, I like to refresh your memory of Dr. King’s objective in Memphis, Tennessee at the time he was assassinated. His objective was to secure better wages and working conditions for garbage workers. I emphasize the words GARBAGE WORKERS to highlight the fact that he was fighting for and died for the “Least of Thee”.  

Dr. King states in his “I Have A Dream” speech that “…America has given the (Blacks) people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.” 

I refuse to believe that General Mills, Inc. or the General Mills Foundation is providing our community a check marked “insufficient funds.”  My parents were happy sitting at the lunch counter; today, my generation wants to own the lunch counter.

Very best regards,

Donald W.R. Allen, II

All of us are aware of the current economic situation we are dealing with in America. As we continue to see unsatisfying numbers and unsettling statistics we know that individuals as well as businesses are being affected negatively by these downward trends. The United States economy is slowly pulling itself back together, mending itself along the way. Until the U.S economy is fully restored, technology businesses need additional help and aid from the U.S government to remain in business.

The business technology industry is an essential element for all businesses, because it’s an effective way to create a healthy competitive environment in American business. As new technologies emerge, businesses must remain cutting-edge in order to decrease their likelihood of becoming stagnant. This sense of business evolution allows these businesses to change and easily adapt to their current surroundings. It’s also important to note that many technology businesses have substantial start-up and continual costs, mainly because research and development of new technologies can be very costly.

It isn’t surprising that many technology businesses need assistance from the government in times of economic decline. The federal government has taken action and has created economic stimulus funding that will help technology businesses survive the current economic situation. If you would like to review additional inform about what types of funding and which technology businesses are receiving aid from the federal government follow this link: http://www.masshightech.com/recovery.html.

Additional information can be found at the following link: Technology Business News

A lot of businesses engage business consultants to improve their performance, including online marketing consultants, general marketing consultants, HR, general business consultants, etc. Yet many fail to get the best value from the business consultancy and view this as a costly exercise instead of an investment. Why?

Take a look at these valuable tips you need to follow to ensure your business consultants can do their best for your business.

1. Communicate and work with them
Business consultants are like housemaids that you hire for your mansion: if you do not tell them which rooms need particular cleanup and how to operate the vacuum cleaner, chances are they’ll do something you don’t like and your house won’t be clean.

2. Be Transparent: Honesty is the best policy
Do not lie to your consultants. Let them understand fully your business practice. Consultants need to treat your business as their own business to understand the intricacies, identify pitfalls, and secure opportunities for you.

3. Set Realistic Goals and Milestones
For consultancy to achieve results, first you need to determine what “good results” are. Set specific goals (desired outcomes) of the consultancy, and program achievable milestones which define “good progress” (Key Performance Indicators – KPIs).

4. Measure! Measure! Measure!
Measure your progress. Use Analytics, measurement systems, and periodic reporting/data audits.

5. Need Them!
Never assume you don’t need your contracted consultants.

6. CONSULT!
Consultants are there to hear what you think and offer you what they think is the best practice.
Spend 5 minutes with your consultant today and avoid 5-month loss of revenue later!

I hope there is learning to be made out of this condensed article. Read the full version on my Thinkerati marketing blog.

Lovers of the Cadbury brand of chocolate may be saddened to hear the business news of another takeover – Cadbury has been taken over by Kraft. Cadburys was first started in 1824 by a Quaker of that name who sold coffee, tea and hot chocolate for people to drink rather than alcohol. From such humble beginnings a giant emerged that spread over 60 countries and employed 40,000 people. Mr John Cadbury would have been astonished had he still been alive.

Todays consumers of chocolate may not realise that the brand also owns six other common names of chocolate, according to business news. But all that may change once Kraft takes over as experts in business news seem to think that Kraft traditionally reduces staff and makes other major changes to companies that they buy up. Kraft is not as old as Cadbury, having been founded in Illinois in 1903 as a simple cheese wholesaler.

However as happens with most companies there were takeovers, mergers and additions of all kinds according to business news. Today Kraft owns over 40 historic brands  and many more that are not considered to be historic. They employ even more people than Cadbury at 98,000, in their 168 processing and manufacturing plants worldwide. The only trouble with buying other companies is that it costs money and so there is debt to be paid in some way or other.

Frequently, that is paid for by employees in terms of lost jobs. Shareholders also have to give their approval, but this is not expected to pose a problem in this case.

Nearly 90 percent of people state that at some point in their lives they’ve dreamed of starting their own business, yet few make the initial effort. Often it’s due to lack of funds or personal commitment, or just the fear of failing. And although it’s true that only about ten percent of new businesses do succeed, the reasons why the other 90 percent fail appears to be related to the lack of planning, primarily financial. Starting your business on the home front is one way to reduce start-up expense and risk. The founder of Dell Computers was a college dropout. Starting out of his garage, he managed to excel above all of the world’s top computer manufacturers. One in three computers sold today is a Dell.

I knew of a couple who had a strong desire to start their own business. They both had worked at the same local business for more than 15 years. The husband was practically a master of all trades. When I met up with them, they were a day away from selling their home to buy a lube and tune business, property and all. I convinced them that selling their home to buy a questionable business was extremely risky and perhaps they should be looking at a business they could start from their home with less at stake. The couple took my advice (scary for me) and backed out of the deal. They began researching the needs in their community and found that mail theft was a huge concern. So with less than a $1,500 investment ($1,000 for a limited contractor’s license) they started a company which sells and installs locking mailboxes. They are able to operate the business from their home and by doing so are saving thousands of dollars in profits. After just six months, they have been able to make their living solely from the business.

Business start-up and general business operations can be expensive. Things such as commercial space rent, utilities, and added insurance costs can consume a great portion of business profits. Obviously, the less expenditures each month equals more in pocket income. Keeping costs down is one way to improve the odds of long-term growth and success for any business. Since as many as nine out of ten new businesses close in their first year, and knowing that the primary cause of those failures is lack of financial planning, you can see how important it is to create a doable financial plan for your business start-up and long-term expense.

If you are considering starting up a business of your own, do the proper planning. Research the industry you’re interested in, and see where the closest competition is. Read books and get yourself educated about your new business. Avoid taking large loans to fund your new venture. Instead, keep your business idea in proportion to the amount of money you have to invest. There’s always a way to work out your idea without exceeding your means. And if it’s at all possible to start your business from your home, do it.

Read more about business start-up at http://booksbydenbow.weebly.com/business-books.html.