It’s time for another Reader Mail, an ongoing series where I answer your personal finance, business and investing questions which was sent through my email.
For today, we’ll talk about business names, multi-level marketing and franchise businesses.
I’m sharing these because I know, some of you might have the same questions in your mind and I hope [...]

The US Small Business Administration defines a small business as a privately owned and operated business with 100 employees or less.
That definition would put all enterprises of entrepreneurs who I personally know under the category of a small business.
And that is a bit discomforting because according to US statistical data on small businesses – 50% [...]

It’s summer once again and that means it’s time for another iBlog.
The 6th Philippine Blogging Summit will be for the first time a two-day event this year. (iBlog3 was the first 2-day iBlog)
iBlog6 is happening on April 16 & 17 at the Malcolm Theater, UP College of Law, UP Diliman, from 8:00 AM to 5:00 [...]

Buzz about a new network marketing business is going around lately and consequently, a handful of my readers are already asking me if this MLM business has potential or just another scam.
That’s why I took some time to study the program and do a review.
Below now is an explanation of how all these works. I’ve [...]

One question that people often ask me is how do they know if buying a franchise business would be better for them instead of starting one on their own.
Some fear that they don’t have enough skills to start a business alone; while some don’t really want to spend time developing a business plan and just [...]

For today’s Reader Mail, we’ll talk about how to do a simple computation of the business ROI and how to manage and grow a retail business.
Specifically featured are two emails I received from a couple of enterprising individuals. The first one is set to start a gasoline station business while the second one wants to [...]

I started really traveling to different destinations and attend festivals in the country last year.
And in my travels, I realized that there are a lot of good business opportunities with regards to tourism in these areas.
Personally, I believe that the tourism industry is a good market to tap for business because your customers are people [...]

In my observation, more and more people are buying professional DSLR cameras nowadays.
I have several friends who did; and almost all of them would say that their reason for buying is because they’re a “frustrated photographer”.
But more than that, some are actually thinking that maybe perhaps they can also make some money out of their [...]

If you’re planning to start a new business, I believe that the first step is to ask yourself – “Am I ready to be an entrepreneur?”
This is something I’ve already emphasized in my post, A Step By Step Guide To Starting A Business.
But for today, we take that concept one level higher as guest poster, [...]

The deadline for filing of the Certificates of Candidacy for the 2010 Philippine Elections has passed.
And now the country officially enters another nationwide campaign and election period.
For most entrepreneurs and freelancers, this time is a great opportunity to earn money.
No, this does not involve selling your vote to the highest bidder. But rather, it’s about [...]

What’s the number one excuse when you ask people why they can’t start a business?
The answer is probably that they don’t have enough money.
What if I told you that it’s possible to start a business with no or little money, would you believe me?
Yes, it is possible.
And that’s the lesson that students in Stanford learned [...]

I recently paid a visit to a friend who just opened her first business, a laundry shop.
During our conversation, she told me that the store had been doing good for the past weeks, but lately, she noticed that sales are going on a slow decent.
I told her that new businesses will normally get an influx [...]

When you have a successful business, expect competition to come.
Competitors, specially those who will imitate your business and will put a store right next to yours is something you should accept as a fact of life.
Believe me, it happens – and it happened to me at least four times already.
Many first time entrepreneurs dread the [...]

When I meet people for the first time and tell them that I’m a businessman, their usual response would be the question, “What’s your business?”
And my answer would automatically be, “I have an internet cafe.”
But did you know that that was not always my reply?
Before, I’d answer “I have several,” then I’d give them a [...]

Many business gurus say that you should know who your target market is. Why so?
Why is it important to know them and how does targeted marketing benefit your business?
First and foremost, knowing who your target market is, and having a designed strategy on how to reach them is a low cost, low risk marketing [...]