Even the biggest businesses were nowhere once.

The most succesful entrepreneurs, with their stunning “rags to riches” stories, didn’t start at the top.

They made some smart decisions, and climbed up inch-by-inch.

For some, the ascent was much easier than it was for others:

-YouTube made its owners billionaires in just 18 years. Good for them.

-However, Sam Walton of Wal-Mart fame spent nearly 17 years selling retail products before he even opened his first Wal-Mart store.

Fast track or the long way, with an idea, some planning, and more than a little bit of hard work, the small business dream can be realized many times over.

Which brings us to the point of this week’s blog: business ideas that have the potential to revolutionize the world.

We all know education is the key to improving quality of life. And education remains one of the challenges of the Third World.

So the idea of a sub-$150 dollar laptop - that doesn’t need exrternal power or batteries! - is something that poses outstanding potential to improve the lives of millions.

And, not by accident, will also take a small business idea and turn it into a global phenomenon.

Don’t forget: the marketplace for good ideas is only as small as the planet.

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Grow My Business can help lighten the load on understanding how to get started, gain momentum, and manage growth for the long run. And for small and home business software needs, check out Avanquest, the company that brings you the biggest bang for your hard-earned entrepreneurial buck.

So, Ford announced the worst year ever today.

You think you’ve got problems? Try $13 billion down. Anybody got a solution for the long, slow climb out of that hole?

Yet, Mercedes just came out with $8 million dollar car.

What’s it all mean?

Well, for one thing it means that Ford won’t be buying many $8 million dollar cars this year.

But maybe it also means that when it comes to selling new stuff, what’s famine for one company is feast for another.

On the one hand, you’ve got Ford’s record setting lack of profit, and on the other you’ve got a car that is only 2200 sales away from solving Ford’s problems.

Let’s put that into perspective, shall we?

Ford sold 2.7 million cars last year, but it still wasn’t enough to get them into the black - not even close!

Yet Mercedes premium model can generate the equivalent of Ford’s vast ocean of red ink with just .0005% of the sales volume.

So, while millions of us drove home in a new Ford last year, it wasn’t enough to save the brilliant company that invented atomobile invented mass production.

Yet simultaneously a niche product is launched that will undoubtedly sell out in the first year.

It may sound crazy, but sometimes the answer to your business challenges can be summed up in two words: Aim higher.

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Grow My Business can help lighten the load on understanding how to get started, gain momentum, and manage growth for the long run. And for small and home business software needs, check out Avanquest, the company that brings you the biggest bang for your hard-earned entrepreneurial buck.

Some of the most powerful words in business are those you’d least likely expect to emerge as brand-building, turn-of-phrase powerhouses.

You say “Xerox,” but you mean “photocopy.”

Believe it or not, there was a time when Xerox wasn’t synonymous with document duplication.

And there was almost a time when Xerox could have been synonymous with Apple - and the mouse!

You say “Google,” but you mean “search.”

“Google” used to just make people scowl, puzzled.

Now, of course, doesn’t it make much more sense to say “Google it” instead of “do a search for…?”

There are plenty of other good examples.

You say “SUV,” and you mean “over-tall, top-heavy station wagon.” You say “iPod” but you mean pretty much any type of device that plays downloadable music.

The positive business implications of achieving this level of marketing success are staggering.

So how do companies become so successful that their names are ubiquitous with the very actions of our daily lives?

Well, the Lord works in mysterious ways.

And secularly speaking, they are experts at their business. And they keep on getting better and better at it every day.

Need a little help turning your business name into an everyday verb?

It’s simple: keep up the good work!

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Grow My Business can help lighten the load on understanding how to get started, gain momentum, and manage growth for the long run. And for small and home business software needs, check out Avanquest, the company that brings you the biggest bang for your hard-earned entrepreneurial buck.

On Martin Luther King, Jr., Day, it’s important to remember that we all have a lot to be grateful for.

It’s a time to remember a dream that was for everyone, and ensured that every person had an equal chance to pursue life, liberty and happiness regardless of race, gender, upbringing, or financial advantage.

It’s a concept that sometimes can seem second nature to those of us who did not have to fight for civil rights each day.

But without the pioneering work - and ultimate sacrifice - of Dr. King and his followers, many of the things we take for granted would simply not exist as they do today.

And one of those most basic of rights is the right to pursue the work and business that we feel well-suited for.

So how’s your business doing, anyway? Pretty good? OK? Could be better?

Hey, even if you’re struggling to get things moving in the New Year, think about how much worse off you’d be if you weren’t even allowed to be in business in the first place!

Despite the challenges each of us face on a daily basis, a day spent chasing our small business dreams is still a day worth celebrating, and a day worth being grateful for.

Even if you misspelled your business cards.

Or forgot to update your database.

Or can’t remember where you put the keys to the office.

Thank you, Dr. King, for dreaming big enough for us all.
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Grow My Business can help lighten the load on understanding how to get started, gain momentum, and manage growth for the long run. And for small and home business software needs, check out Avanquest, the company that brings you the biggest bang for your hard-earned entrepreneurial buck.

Any entrepreneur will tell you: the hard part isn’t coming up with the good ideas.

The challenge is getting people to buy into the good ideas.

Which means turning them into customers.

And keeping them for the long run!

When you’re first starting out, one of the hardest things to keep in mind is that even the biggest brands and the biggest names were once very, very small.

So how did they do it? How did they go from bootstrap to board room?

One of the best, and smartest things they did, is gave their customers a good reason to come back for more.

Of course, cutting edge goods and services are a given. Unless you’ve built your business foundation upon the history of success that has gone before you, why bother? 

But beyond the fundamentals, there are a number of creative ways to keep sales pumped up: Rewards programs, for instance.

Not at all a complicated concept. But one of the best plans for your business.

Open your wallet: What do you see?

If you’re like me, you have 1/2 - 2/3rds completed cards from SuperCuts, a local coffee shop or the local oil changer (Pennzoil 10-Minute, in my case).

You’re a smart businessperson, but you’re also a smart consumer. It’s your move.

Wouldn’t you rather patronize a venue that promises a little bit more than what you bargained for? Isn’t that music to your ears?

I’m only two more oil changes from a freebie. There’s no question where my repeat business is going.

Think like a customer = attract more customers.

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Grow My Business can help lighten the load on understanding how to get started, gain momentum, and manage growth for the long run. And for small and home business software needs, check out Avanquest, the company that brings you the biggest bang for your hard-earned entrepreneurial buck.

Flying isn’t my favorite thing to do. In fact, few things drive - er, fly - me to drink like going aloft.

Hey, some of us are numbers people. Some of us were lit-majors. And some of us did well in Home Ec!

And some of us just prefer to stay home glued to the internet.

Hey, it all makes the world go ’round, right?

But I had an experience last night that gave offered a good lesson in how to run a business.

Turns out United Airlines does something fairly unique on their flights: they allow passengers to listen in on the cockpit chatter during landings.

At the most critical point of the entire trip, the business professionals charged with delivering you safely to your destination allow you to play fly on the wall.

Talk (no pun intended) about confidence! I was impressed by United’s smart decision on a number of levels:

1. The back-and-forth exchange between air traffic and the pilots of my plane had a very calming, reassuring effect on my normally nervous airborne demeanor.

2. Although the respective CEOs of their planes, the pilots had no problem jettisoning their egos and trusting completely in the advice of their tower support team.

3. The businesslike nonchalance of the discourse contained no hesitation, no nervousness, no lack of comprehension. Instructions were given, clarified, confirmed and executed.

See any helpful applications for your small business?

If confidence, trust, mutual respect and reliability can get planes landed thousands of times a day, chances are they can get your business off the ground, too.

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Grow My Business can help lighten the load on understanding how to get started, gain momentum, and manage growth for the long run. And for small and home business software needs, check out Avanquest, the company that brings you the biggest bang for your hard-earned entrepreneurial buck.

Father Time has marched right into the New Year, and that means new resolutions.

But it’s not all just about exercising more, and cooking healthier.

However, it is about finally taking down the holiday lights.

Freshly seven years into the millenium, it’s also time to find new ways to improve the bottom line, and generate new profits, as well.

And when it comes to making New Year’s plans for small business improvements, everyone’s got different priorities, all designed to increase productivity:

Perhaps you’d like to revamp your business plan?

Update your business contacts?

Improve your business writing skills?

Start invoicing more professionally?

Get a jump on your taxes?

Update your web site?

And, of course, my personal #1 favorite for boosting workplace efficiency: Create the perfect digital mix!

Freshly into the new year, it should be easy to be optimistic about all the potential your ideas offer for business success. But if you still need a little inspiration, look no further than Knock Knock of Venice, California.

If this company can turn January procrastination into $3.5 million dollars of annual greeting cards sales, certainly there is more than enough room for you to turn your small business idea, whatever it may be, into big business success.

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Grow My Business can help lighten the load on understanding how to get started, gain momentum, and manage growth for the long run. And for small and home business software needs, check out Avanquest, the company that brings you the biggest bang for your hard-earned entrepreneurial buck.