According to the latest numbers, there are more than 162 million websites on the internet today. This is a huge growth from the first ever website created in 1990 by Sir Tim Berners-Lee. The name of the first website on the internet was info.cern.ch. Since then million of websites have been created which have revolutionalized the way business do business on and offline.

Companies such as Amazon who realized the huge potential of e-commerce are making sales in excess of $1 billion annually on the internet. According to the National Retail Federation’s published report for 2008, online retail sales were predicted to rise by up to 17% over 2007 to reach $200 billion.

The above scenario is enough evidence why a business needs to have a presence on the internet. Through E-commerce the world is now one global market place. This therefore, means every business needs to have its presence on the global market place by having their permanent address on the World Wide Web portal. In this era of technological advancement a business without a website stands to lose a large number of its potential customers. Millions of people worldwide prefer to use the internet to look out for their desired products and services. Millions of businesses have registered their presence on the internet in order to tap into billions of consumers across the world.

Through strategic marketing efforts, you can generate money from the World Wide Web. The good news is that you do not have to be a computer wizard to manage a business website. You can outsource the technical aspect of maintaining your website to a webmaster.

What you need to do

Create a professional business website that can provide valuable information about your business. The information you share on your website should cover all aspects of your business in terms of products/services, show photos wherever possible as visuals have a lasting impression.  All contact detail (Email, physical address, phone number, fax and instant messenger details) should be available on your website. Instead of emphasizing that your business is the best, you need to focus more on highlighting the unique benefits of your products/services. Your site reveals a lot about your integrity and reputation.

Once you decide to create a website, you need to consider SEO or search engine optimization and your target market. With a highly optimized website that contains valuable information, you are sure to generate traffic and eventually, higher sales.

Now can you tell me why a business should have a website? Well, I guess the answer is now obvious – to attract more customers that will lead to higher sales and income. It is a given that every business owner wants to make a good profit margin from his/her sales. If you want to survive the tough competition and the hard economy, try to use the best marketing strategies available online and offline. You can create your own business website or you can hire a professional website designer to do it for you.

I hope this article will motivate you to consider joining millions of businesses who are using  the power of the internet to increase sales and reaching out to the global market place.

To your Success!!

The United States of  America is known as a beacon of entrepreneurialism because it is so deeply rooted in the country’s history. America was founded and then settled by innovators who sacrificed old certainties for new opportunities. The people who settled in America many years ago looking for a better life were risk takers in every sense. Thats why today, America is a leading economy. But the most interesting thing about this country, its economy is driven by SMEs. Small businesses with less than 500 employees drives the U.S. economy by providing jobs for over half of the country’s private workforce.

A lot of people mistaken being a risk taker with being reckless and unfocused. Risk takers are also risk analyzers — they evaluate the pros and cons.  Risk takers trust their instincts and recognize and seize every opportunity that comes their way to create their own businesses. As an individual, you need to arouse your appetite for risk and start your own business today. I know it is easier said than done, however, most successful entrepreneurs were once in your position before they swallowed their pride and confronted their fears headlong. You too can do the same.

All successful people have one thing in common. They are risk takers, they dont procrastinate, they follow their dreams, and most importantly they listen to their gut feel. Honestly i don’t believe these shared traits are merely a coincidence; I think they are the keys to their success.

In order to walk the same route traded by these great men and women, you will need to apply these traits to your own strategy in order to experience success in your business venture. Starting a business has never been easier today than in the olden days. What you need is drive and determination to succeed. You need to be hungry for success. These traits alone will not make your business successful.

One fundamental thing you need to understand is that, most successful businesses are born out of passion. You need to be passionate about the business venture you want to do. Do the necessary research  and due diligence before setting up your business. I will cover this in detail in my subsequent posts.

The reason why you need to start you business to day is that, entrepreneurship liberates you from financial bondage. It liberates you from the jaws of poverty. Below are some reasons, which i believe can propel you to financial freedom:

1. You are guaranteed of a job, as long as you remain viable. Nobody will fire you.
2. Despite government regulations and statutory returns, owning a business is the best tax strategy ever.
3. You will be more fulfilled than working for someone else.
4. You can plot your road map to success
5. You can decide on how much to earn for your services – you write your own pay cheque
6. You help others to earn a living while helping yourself.

Until next time, remain motivated. For more articles to help you in your entrepreneurial journey browse through our website.

To your success!!!

There is an adage which says, in order to make money in any type of business you must sell something. This is the simple formula for  any type of business on earth. Be it online or offline business you must sell something in order to make money. Over the years with the advent of internet, many people have been hoodwinked to believe that they can make money on the internet without selling anything. Thats a fallacy, you have to trade something online in order to earn money.

All the wealthy people i know such as Bill Gates, Anil Ambani and Donald Trump are running businesses that provide products and services. So if you are seriously thinking about making money, you need to start selling something. Thats the simple formula for making a living.

Businesses globally have taken advantage of the cheap labour costs in China to buy goods from this country and sell in their countries. China has become the global manufacturing base for renowned brands such as Tommy Hilfiger, Nike, and other top brands. Goods are cheaper in china due to low labour costs and raw materials. You too can join the gravy train and start making money through importation of goods from China.

There are many products you can import from china starting now. You don’t need much capital to start this kind of business. What you need to do is to choose the type of product you want to deal in, then off you go. Depending on your approach, you may want to visit China and meet some of the suppliers before placing your orders. This is an expensive way to start. With the advent of e-commerce, there is no need to go to China as you can place your order with any supplier in China through the internet. However, there are steps you have to take in order to authenticate the genuineness of the supplier before transferring your hard earned cash to them.

There are many bogus suppliers on the internet who are out there to steal your money. Before entering into any relationship with a supplier you need to do carry out proper due diligence on the supplier. I have profiled the steps you need to take before starting your importation business:

1. You have decide what type of goods you want to import from China

2. Identify a supplier and carry out due diligence before doing any business with them

3. Get advice from people who are already importing from china

4. Identify local buyers of your goods

The above steps and other important information is fully covered in my  e-book ‘How to Import Goods from China‘.  In this eBook i detailed all the nitty gritties you need to know before starting the importation business.   It is a detailed step-by-step guide which will take you by hand through the stormy waters of importation business. If you are interested in this eBook, fill in the contact form and i will provide all the details.

About China

The economy of the People’s Republic of China is the third largest in the world, after the United States and Japan with a nominal GDP of $4.99 trillion in 2009. You may be wondering what GDP stands for. It means Gross Domestic Product – which is the market value of all final goods and services from a country in a given year.

It is the second largest after the U.S. with an economy worth $8.77 trillion when measured in purchasing power parity. China is the worlds fastest –growing major economy, with an average growth rate of 10% for the past 30 years. The country’s per capita income is at $3,677 and$6,567. China is the second largest trading nation in the world and the largest exporter and second largest importer of goods.

I will provide some nuggets on how you can get started with low capital in my next post. John Kehoe said ‘Your life is in your hands, to make of it what you choose.’

God bless!!!!

Today I will focus on commercial real estate as this is my area of interest. I started my real estate investment in 2006, when I bought a piece of land in an industrial area in Norton. This land was serviced, but title deeds were not available then. It was local authority land; hence, I bought it through cessation. The money I used to buy the land was from savings I had put aside in order to buy a better car than the one I was driving then. So when the opportunity came knocking on my door, I had to quickly grab it. This was my first foray into real estate development and investment.

From my salary savings I managed to build five mini shops and one large shop on the land. I leased all the shops and income started flowing in every month. This was sweet income and I used the same to start saving for another piece of land in the same locality.

In 2008, I managed to buy a large piece of land which was three times bigger than my first property. Again, this was bought through salary savings and income from the first building. As I write this article, construction for 12 shops and three offices is now complete and awaiting final touches and official opening. Why I am saying all this? Is it to brag? Of course not. I am trying to clearly explain that it is possible to invest in real estate with minimal cash.

Self financing is so sweet because you will not have sleepless nights thinking about mortgage. You have the leeway to plan your investment portfolio without any hassles or pressure from financiers. You can choose deals that are in line with your resources. The trick in commercial real estate is in the art of the start. Again when some people hear the term ‘Commercial real estate’, they think of skyscraper buildings and other massive shopping malls and office blocks. This is far from the truth. As I have demonstrated above, you can easily start by buying land in commercial areas in High density suburbs, where the land is usually sold by local authorities hence, affordable prices.

Like any other investment vehicle, you need to read broadly in order to get enough knowledge about various real estate investment options available in the market. There are several websites that give very useful information on property investments. Invest in specialized knowledge; I can assure you it will yield a hundred-fold.

One thing you need to be mindful of is the processes involved in construction as a first time developer. A bit of knowledge on construction is vital. My own construction knowledge was from building my own house. When you are a first time property developer, you go through a cycle of mistakes. This entails over estimation and under estimation of building materials by builders. However, depending on funds you can hire a qualified quantity surveyor to give you rough estimates of all the materials that will be required to complete the building.

Watch out for my closing article on how best you can achieve success in real estate development.

To your success!!!!!