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New Online Resources for Teen Business Start-Up Launched by SBA and JA Worldwide

WASHINGTON ¡V The U.S. Small Business Administration today announced the launch of new online resources for young entrepreneurs at the Mind Your Own Business teen Web site to help young entrepreneurs succeed in the world of business.

The SBA and JA Worldwide„§ (Junior Achievement) have teamed up to develop three new Mind Your Own Business resources: a student activities guide, a volunteer guide, and an assessment tool — Start it, Grow it, Own it! — that serves as a companion tool to the student activities and volunteer guides. Each of these resources is available at the www.mindyourownbiz.org Web site, and is cosponsored by JA Worldwide.

Entitled Make It Your Business, the student activities guide includes an interest inventory and group activities designed to teach teens the fundamentals of business ownership. The Make It Your Business volunteer guide instructs group leaders through student business sessions that can be implemented in the classroom, in student clubs or in an after-school setting.

The SBA and JA Worldwide introduced the Mind Your Own Business teen Web site to provide support to the growing interest in entrepreneurship among teens, and to serve as a small business portal for youth entrepreneurs.

The Mind Your Own Business Web site introduces five easy-to-navigate steps on business ownership for the entrepreneurial-minded teen, each with helpful information for young entrepreneurs who want to start, run or grow their own businesses.

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SBA¡¦s participation in this cosponsorship does not constitute an express or implied endorsement of the views, opinions, products or services of any cosponsor or other person or entity. All SBA programs, services and cosponsored activities are extended to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis.

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A Business Start-up (Chapter Two)-Educating for Success

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Are you ready to roll up your sleeves and get to work? The first place to start is acquiring knowledge. You need to know all you can about business in general and your product or service specifically. And there are many ways to find this information, some of which will only cost you your time and energy. But before you invest any money in your new business you need to invest in information.

So what do you need to know? First and foremost is whether your product/service is unique or if not can your company provide a better, more reliable and/or less costly version of your competition’s version. Know who your competition is, the market area they cover, their price points, warranty coverage, marketing campaigns, etc. And then ask “can I be a worthy competitor?” “Will my product/service stand up and exceed what they provide to their customers?” To be successful your company must stand out in the crowd in the areas of quality and customer service. And to stand out in the crowd you need to know just what the “crowd” is doing.

Once you know you have a viable, sellable product/service, than you need to ask “who will be my customers and where do I find them?” This is where demographics can help. Demographics in its simplest form is knowing the answers to who, what and where and how much. Who will purchase from my company, what are they most likely to purchase, where are these customers likely to shop, and how much are they likely to spend on the type of product I wish to sell. The answers to these questions will help you make decisions regarding your business location, marketing plans and pricing formulas.

And finally, you need to educate yourself in the fine art of running a business. This includes financing your business both for the start-up and for growth later on, professionals you will need to rely on, marketing strategies, employee laws, state and federal laws, tax planning and compliance, financial statements and record keeping. And this is the short list.

Don’t get discouraged, there are many ways to accumulate this information and I will be giving you some straight forward solutions in the next chapter. In the meantime, buy yourself a deck of index cards and a container to keep them in. I found some brightly colored plastic boxes that are only slightly larger than a 3×5 index card and are only 1” deep. The have built in dividers and I also purchased multiple color index cards. The bright color of the case enhances my imagination and the narrow size allows me to take the cards everywhere. I use the dividers and different colored index cards to break down my projects into segments. So off to your favorite office supply store because we will be using the index cards in the next chapter.

Chapter One

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U.S. Small Business Administration

– News Release –

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Release Date: August 7, 2006
Contact: Cecelia Taylor (202) 401-3059
Release Number: 06-49
Internet Address: http://www.sba.gov/news

SBA Introduces Podcasts for Business Owners

WASHINGTON ─ The U.S. Small Business Administration has announced the arrival of podcasting for small business owners on a range of topics to help entrepreneurs on the road to starting a new business.

The SBA podcasts provide an introduction to various small business topics, and will deliver business information and advice for new and established entrepreneurs on all aspects of starting, expanding and financing a small business, as well as business protection. The current list of podcasts includes the following subjects:
• Is Entrepreneurship for You?
• The SBA Small Business Training Network — Log On!
• Selecting a Business that Fits
• Disaster Preparedness for Business Owners • Financing a Small Business

The SBA recognizes the time constraints faced by budding entrepreneurs, and podcasting is an easy way to deliver content on small business basics using audio files over the Internet. Each broadcast is less than 10 minutes long and will feature interviews with experts from the SBA and SBA resource partners of SCORE, the Small Business Development Centers and the Women’s Business Centers. Industry experts from across the country will also share insightful and invaluable information with the small business public via podcasting.

To get to the SBA podcast library, go online to www.sba.gov/podcast.
Podcast files can be listened to on a computer or downloaded to an MP3 player. Each podcast delivers a broadcast quality recording, and additional feeds on a new small business topic will be added regularly.
Future podcasts include:
• Checklist for Starting a Business
• Legal Forms of Business Ownership
• Business Planning–the Basics
• How to Write a Business Plan
• How SBA Can Help Finance Your Business • The Importance of Marketing • Finding the Right Employees

The SBA encourages listeners to visit the online Small Business Training Network of free training courses, workshops and resources at www.sba.gov/training for more in-depth information.

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