7 Businesses You Could Start Right Now

Many of us dream of starting our own business. Often, we long for a great work life balance, and we just can’t get the flexibility working for a company. Or, perhaps because we have seen the mistakes others make, and feel we could do better. Here are some great businesses you could start yourself, today.

Photography

If you have a good camera, and take high quality photographs, it’s quite easy to make a little extra cash by selling your photographs to stock photo sites. However, to turn it into a business, you will need a lot of talent, and some more professional equipment. You’ll also need a website and a portfolio. Then you can start advertising yourself as a photographer. While it might be hard work, it can also be an incredibly fun career, getting to share in people’s special moments is wonderfully exciting.

Baking

Baking, again, takes a lot of talent. But all the equipment you really need to start your business is probably already in your kitchen. People are willing to pay a lot of money for celebration cakes. Start advertising and showcasing your skills on your social media profiles to gauge interest and see if you could make it profitable.

Catering

Catering is something you could either start from home, or in a restaurant. There is a lot of competition in the restaurant world, though, so you need to either be better or different to succeed.

Marketing

Now is a great time to get into marketing. With the growth of digital marketing, including social media and blog marketing, more work than ever can be done from home. While formal qualifications are helpful, you don’t necessarily need them if you have a lot of experience.

Writing

Writing can either be done as a freelancer, or writing your own material. With the rise in eBook publications, you can self-publish on Amazon quite easily. As a freelancer, you will find a lot of writing work available in all different niches.

Blogging

If you have already got a blog, all you need to do is monetize it. If not, it’s relatively easy to set a new blog up and get writing. Great content is the most important thing, so you might want to consider sticking to one topic. Then use your social media accounts to grow your blog before you consider monetizing. Some people make a successful living through things like advertising and affiliate marketing.

Crafts

If you have any skills at crafting, from producing jewelry to home furnishings, you could start by trying to sell them on sites like Etsy or eBay with the aim of setting up your own e-commerce store if it goes well. Or ever open a brick and mortar store.

When starting up a business, the first thing you should do is write a list of anything you enjoy doing, and feel you are good at. Then ask yourself if others would pay for these talents. If any meet these requirements, think about what you need to get started. In many cases, a great website is all you really need to get going. In others, you might need some premises. Do some research, read about other startups and entrepreneurs, learn from their mistakes, and heed their advice.

The post 7 Businesses You Could Start Right Now appeared first on Blogtrepreneur — For Busy Entrepreneurs.

Blogtrepreneur – For Busy Entrepreneurs

7 Businesses You Could Start Right Now

Top Challenges Facing U.S. Small Businesses in 2017 [Infographic]

WaspBarcode has published their annual State of Small Business Report for 2017. This is their third annual survey analysis of over 1,100 small business owners and executive leaders across a number of fields. See the full report with visuals at the link above.

Small businesses are more optimistic going into 2017 and expanding hiring and marketing spend. I am highlighting the above image from their research because businesses are making their plans now.

52% of small businesses plan to hire in 2017Click To Tweet

I find it interesting that hiring new employees ranked above increasing profit, employee healthcare and growing revenue. This could indicate a shortage of digital marketing experts or workers with other specialized skills. I wish we had more details about what kind of new employees they are concerned about.

See the State of Small Business Report highlights in the infographic below and extensive details in the full report. Click To Tweet

Topics covered by their research include:

• Revenue Expectations for 2017
• Strategies to Improve Revenue Growth
• Employee and Staffing Plans
• How much they invest in marketing and where they spend it
• Inventory and Asset Management

Annual WaspBarcode State of Small Business Report 2017 [Infographic]

State of Small Business Infographic Highlights:

Revenue Growth

• 69% of SMBs predict revenue growth during 2017
• 31% of SMBs predict revenue growth of 1-4%
• 26% of SMBs predict revenue growth of 5-10%
• 12% of SMBs predict revenue growth of 11% or more

Confidence in the 2017 Economy

• 42% of companies with 11-50 employees believe the economy is better now than in 2016
• 39% of companies with 51-100 employees believe this
• 47% of the largest small businesses with 101-500 employees are confident in the 2017 economy

Top Strategies to Drive Growth

40% improve customer experience and retention
36% launch new products or services
32% invest in new customer acquisition
30% expand into new markets

Who’s hiring?

52% of all SMBs plan to hire in 2017
57% plan to hire 1-5 employees
39% plan to hire 6 or more employees

IT Spending in 2016

42% of all smbs plan to increase IT spending
36% of companies with 5-10 employees plan IT spending increases
42% of businesses with 11-50 employees
54% of businesses with 51-100 employees
49% of businesses with 101-499 employees

IT Priorities

29% upgrade wireless infrastructure
33% upgrade network
33% upgrade server infrastructure
37% upgrade network security
38% replace computer hardware

Their full research is worth reviewing. You can see their post summarizing the report and review the full report here. There is no cost and you don’t have to provide any personal information.

The post Top Challenges Facing U.S. Small Businesses in 2017 [Infographic] appeared first on Growmap.

Growmap

Top Challenges Facing U.S. Small Businesses in 2017 [Infographic]

Enter to Win $50 Amazon Gift Card: United Healthcare Is the Easy Choice for Small Businesses #ad

See details on how to enter for a chance to win a $ 50 Amazon Gift Card at the end of this post.

Unfortunately, my birthday is right at the end of January. Twenty-five days after the Affordable Care Act was implemented, I turned 26. I therefore became too old under the new law to be covered through my parents.

I was 25 when Obamacare went into effect. I had been off my parents’ health insurance plan for some time and had already had some adventures in trying to find affordable coverage on my own.

Finding affordable health insurance has been a consistent frustration of my adult life. I have only had one job that provided coverage for me, and my employer only offered it for a short time. Consequently, a job that pays a decent wage while also offering health insurance would be extremely attractive to me, as it would be to many job applicants.

In fact, a recent LinkedIn survey found that one of the primary reasons why people leave their jobs is dissatisfaction with pay and benefits. Given this situation, it’s in the interest of any organization to do what it can to offer its employees affordable health coverage. And one insurance company making it easier for small businesses to do just that is United Healthcare.

A New and Simpler Way to Shop for Health Insurance

United Healthcare has created a new site particularly suited to the needs of small businesses. Instead of going through the hassle of talking to an associate on the phone or sifting through piles of paperwork, businesses with 2 to 50 employees can shop for healthcare coverage online. Through the site’s self-service system, you as a business owner can easily evaluate various plans and quotes. Rather than merely looking at estimates, you’ll be able to see the actual prices you will be paying based on the information you enter. In turn, your employees will be able to choose from multiple healthcare options, and in some cases, from as many as 27 different plans.

Getting Started

When you first access the site, you will get an overview of what the entire process will be like. Then you will enter your ZIP code, as well as the number of employees you will be covering, including yourself. Your next step is selecting the options you want to provide for your employees. You can determine the coverage you want to offer based upon a variety of factors, including cost. Once you select your plans, your employees will be able to choose which ones are best for them.

This flexibility is extremely helpful since some employees will need to cover spouses and dependents, while others will not. The setup also provides for people who have health issues that are more demanding than those of their coworkers.

Preview Your Actual Expenses

One of the most helpful features of United Healthcare’s new site is that you can calculate your actual costs before purchasing or even signing up for an account. When you begin evaluating your choices, you’ll input your employee information, either manually or by importing it from another application, such as Excel, QuickBooks, or Xero.

At this point in the process, you can create an account if you wish or wait to do so until later. Once you’ve entered your employee data, you can then view your cost per employee. That will help you determine the amount you want to budget for each one. You can set the amount you wish to pay for each employee as a fixed dollar amount or as a percentage of the total cost. Do note that this option depends on the state in which your business resides. United Healthcare enables you to view a couple different breakdowns of your expenses. You’ll be able to see the total fixed amount you will be spending on health insurance each month. You’ll also be able to see the total range your employees will be spending, depending on the plans they choose.

On the other hand,  you can also see what you’ll be paying per person, in addition to what each individual will pay based upon his or her plan choice. And if you realize you need to make adjustments to any of your information, you have the ability to go back and do so until you come up with the budget and plans that work best for your situation. You will need to create an account at this point if you have not done so yet, after which you will be able to view a diagram that lays out all of the details of your package. Then all you need to do is fill in the necessary information to check out and pay.

Assistance and More Customization

If you need assistance at any point, there are links throughout the shopping process to help you. There is also a “Contact Coverage Advisor” button at the top right corner of the webpage. Once you have completed your purchase, your employees will be able to easily choose health plans tailored to their needs.

They will also have access to videos and how-tos that will make the shopping process simpler for them. What’s more, in December United will roll out a feature that will make the system even more customized.

With this addition, when employees log in to evaluate their healthcare options, they will answer questions about their lifestyles and personas. Their answers to those questions will help them to select coverage best suited to their unique situations.

Where Can You Take Advantage of the New Site?

United Healthcare’s new site is currently available in the following 15 states:

• Arkansas
• California
• Florida
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Kentucky
• Maryland
• Michigan
• North Carolina
• Ohio
• Pennsylvania
• Tennessee
• Virginia
• West Virginia
• Wisconsin

The company plans to increase the site’s availability throughout the country in 2017.

Self-Service at Its Finest

Everyone is busy and, truth be told, most people are not overly excited about shopping for health insurance. For this reason, it’s highly beneficial to have a resource that provides an excellent user experience and makes shopping for insurance as simple and convenient as possible.

With this in mind, check out Enter to Win $50 Amazon Gift Card: United Healthcare Is the Easy Choice for Small Businesses #ad