Your business plan is a snapshot of your business and associated financial goals. Before launching a business, research your target industry and competitors, and if you need outside funding, financial projections that support your request will be required. Make use of templates online to assist you in writing an original business plan. This will serve as a roadmap, laying out how you plan to start and run your enterprise. Choose a realistic location, first and foremost, to give yourself a chance at success.
You need to learn the balance between high-traffic and high-rent, in order to select a viable location and adhere to zoning laws. Low rent often spells no customers, so if you can't afford the rent for a quality high-traffic location, reconsider your business ideas. Working capital is always in short supply, but has to be enough to cover the first six months. To begin, you must obtain a Tax ID, register a business name, and get a business license. Also, you must select a business structure that matches your operation, whether that's self-employment, a partnership, or incorporation. Further, if you are planning to hire other people, regulations get complicated very quickly, and you should consider hiring an attorney.
The art of investments is based on the mathematical principle of doublings over time. While a typical business venture is happy to receive an ROI of 10% yearly, more aggressive returns are possible in the internet age, without incurring undue risk. This page will explore the new medium of MROI, a monthly return on investment.
Along more traditional lines, NASDAQ offers a wealth of investing tutorials, and live streams of data from it's online network of websites, headquartered at Nasdaq.com. At a minimum, browse their stock screener and financial analysis pages. Below, find links directly to Nasdaq pages, offering updated interactive charts, volume trading, summary quotes, and IPO disclosures.
Google Analytics may take some time to link correctly to your Adsense account. However, after you get the code working, this free stats package displays great graphs, going far beyond the number of visitors to your page, into user flow, what links they clicked on, how long they stayed, bounce rate, the percent of repeat visitors, search traffic, referral traffic, and much more.
In general, Google Adwords is the sister story to Adsense. Businesses of all sizes use dwords to display their ads on the first page of Google, paying for each click they receive. There's a bidding process, so keyword phrases like "life insurance" or "mortgage refinance" are worth up to several dollars per click. For anything loan-related, lawsuits, or any other business that is well-adapted to sales or completion online, you can expect a high click value.
There are other creative ways to make extra money while going to college. You don't need to start a moving company like "Starving Students" did, growing into a large business, with all the attendant details involved. There are small money-makers that you can put together in your spare time, like holding garage sales, hauling stuff with a pick-up truck or van, or even tutoring kids in math and English, at $30/hour with a few solid references. Beyond that, there are flea markets, and online marketplaces like eBay, where you can list items for sale on your own virtual storefront. I don't mean just selling junk you have lying around, but actually working eBay like a business, selling items bought at self-storage auctions or local garage sales.
1. University of Wisconsin - Madison, WI 2. University of California Berkeley - Berkeley, CA 3. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, MI 4. New York University (NYU) - New York, NY 5. University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) - Los Angeles, CA 6. University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, NC 7. University of Virginia - Charlottesville, VA 8. University of Washington - Seattle, WA 9. Indiana University - Bloomington, IN 10. University of Texas Austin - Austin, TX 11. Penn State University - State College, PA 12. Michigan State University - East Lansing, MI 13. University of Minnesota Twin Cities - Minneapolis, MN 14. Rice University - Houston, TX 15. University of Maryland - College Park, MD 16. University of Southern California (USC) - Los Angeles, CA 17. Georgetown University - Washington, DC 18. University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh, PA 19. Brigham Young University - Provo, UT 20. Ohio State University - Columbus, OH Source: US News, Forbes, and Bloomberg |