MyNewCompany.com and MyNevadaCompany.com will be closed Monday, September 4th, 2006 for Labor Day!

We will be accepting orders, emails and voicemails throughout the Holiday weekend.  We will open promptly on Tuesday, September 5th at 9am (Pacific Standard Time).

Have a nice weekend everyone!

GlobeandMail.com:

Successful entrepreneurs are supposed to be outgoing, risk-taking workaholics.

But Rhonda Abrams says there are actually nine different types of entrepreneurs, each with their own style and interests, allowing more of us the chance to enjoy the joy of entrepreneuring:

1. Adviser: Some entrepreneurs are paid for giving advice, such as lawyers, accountants, and financial advisers.

2. Administrator/Organizer: Like organizing? You can plan weddings, oversee projects, or take care of accounts, databases, and order fulfilment.

3. Builders/Creators: Artists, bakers, carpenters, and designers are examples of entrepreneurs driven to create something tangible where it did not exist before.

4. Caretaker: People with a helping personality find opportunities taking care of people, plants or property.

5. Communicator/Trainer: If you can transmit information or communicate in different languages you might find demand in sales, marketing, writing, training or a variety of information services.

6. Entertainer/Host: If you thrive on being with people, you may find an entrepreneurial opening in the hospitality industry or service industries such as hairdressing. Or you may be an entertainer, actor, musician, or singer.

7. Investor/Owner: If you have money to invest you can put your capital to work for you investing in stocks, real estate or businesses.

8. Seller: This covers salespeople and brokers in our purchases, from real estate to insurance to art.

9. Technologist/Engineer: If you love figuring out computers, autos and engines, you may want to explore entrepreneurial opportunities in software development, engineering or technology.

(via BizOppurtunities) 

Seth Godin illustrates the top 5 marketing mistakes that startups and entrepreneurs make:

1. Expecting gratitude in exchange for having done something that was hard. Yes, you built a company, you might even have bootstrapped it. Yes, you’ve got the machinery and the packaging and the retail space. Yes, you’ve navigated hiring people and yes, you finally shipped. I couldn’t care less. I’m not going to buy your brownie/consulting/services just because you worked hard on it.
2. Spending money as a substitute for doing something great. Spending on marketing an average product isn’t working anymore. You’re far better off spending money on making your product better. A lot better.
3. Not realizing that it’s your company, and your marketing better be as good as everything else. It doesn’t matter if you don’t like marketing or don’t think you’re good at it. Figure it out or go home. Sooner or later, you succeed because you were able to spread your ideas. So go to school and figure out how it works.
4. Listening to other people. If they’re so smart, why aren’t they running your company? Don’t take a poll. Don’t ask your mother-in-law, that’s for sure. Cover your downsides, double your desire to take a risk and then just do it.
5. Failure to measure. All this is worthless if you don’t test and measure relentlessly. Do what works. Kill what doesn’t. Repeat.

 Great advice.  Learn more about small business marketing here.

CNNMoney has a report that details how entrepreneurs start their businesses. 

Specifically:

• Most small businesses are started with less than $10,000.
• 53% say they would have liked to have more capital available during the startup phase.
• Biggest regrets: entrepreneurs (during the first 2 years) would have liked to have a) more money b) more financial management education.

As I’ve harped about endlessly, most startup problems can be mitigated by small business management education.

August is typically a slow month for most businesses as many people are on vacation before the kids go back to school.  In fact, in Europe, many parts of the entire economy simply shut down in August. 

MSNBC Small Business has an article that says August is not the time to despair about the lack of business but is, instead, the perfect time to get organized and clear off your to-do lists.

However, they also warn:

Of course, summer also means vacation time. Many new entrepreneurs shy away from taking time off while they’re trying to build their companies, but veterans will tell you that taking time off is critical. Some rest and relaxation will help you come back with more energy and new ideas.

Sounds like a great idea to me. Of course automating and managing your business can be helpful in this regard.

Business 2.0 magazine offers their 31 Best Business Ideas in the world. 

Ideas include:

1. Build cheap Wi-Fi networks for Brazilian resorts.

2. Become a biodiesel producer in Argentina.

3. Create an ad network for India’s mobile content developers.

4. Launch an exclusive social network for Russian millionaires.

5. Open an American-style restaurant in one of China’s fast-growing cities.

6. Remodel homes for China’s burgeoning middle class.

Even though this is out of the reach of most American small businesses, this is still a great resource for brainstorming new business ideas.  As the saying goes “ideas are the currency of the Entrepreneur”.