Time is one of our scarcest resources. So learning how to better manage your time, especially as you go about starting a new business is a very worthwhile investment. So obviously anyone writing a book on time management would be excellent at it. Better still when trying to promote their book they’d understand the limits [...]

Episode two of 2009′s series of The Apprentice saw the candidates starting a catering businesses. Unlike last time the boys weren’t frugal, spending far too much on ingredients, costumes and props. It seems they’ve forgotten the first business lesson from this year’s The Apprentice: when starting a business, keep your costs as low as possible [...]

This years series of The Apprentice kicked off with the teams starting a cleaning business. They were given £200 "walking about money" and sent off to buy/hire their materials from a van provided by Sir Alan. Lacking in imagination both teams went straight for the power washers and decided to start car cleaning businesses. Then [...]

Apparently the USA has now officially been in a recession for the last twelve months, however there is a time lag between the start of a recession and the authorities being able to measure it so we’re only now beginning to see the full effects it is having. Furthermore the UK economy typically lags about [...]

I quite often get asked "how can I become a millionaire", nearly as often I get asked "how can I become a multi millionaire" a good number also ask "can I become a millionaire". Well the good news is yes, you can become a millionaire and probably a multi millionaire. The bad news is there [...]

Yesterday on the business opportunities and ideas forum I was asked: Is it at all possible to obtain 100% capital from an investor? The reason I ask is because the opportunity I am currently looking at costs approximately £10k, but just like another forum member, I never seem to be able to have enough money [...]

I’m a big fan of group writing projects as they provide some inspiration and ideas for posts that I might not otherwise have written. The fact that, much to my surprise I’ve won a couple certainly makes them all the more fun too. PureBlogging recently ran a group writing project which received a number of [...]

This week I’ve been looking at goal setting, reviewed the ProBlogger book and started to update my list of the Top 100 Business blogs (suggestions welcome). In the Ask John series this week I answered a question about profitable business ideas. Some posts I’ve enjoyed reading from around the web: Bill Taylor writes Why Zappos [...]

I’ve decided to add a weekly “Pick Of The Week” post to Business Opportunities and Ideas in which I’ll highlight a couple of my best/most interesting/most commented on posts for the week as well as interesting articles of post from around the net that have caught my eye. This weeks highlights on Business Opportunities and [...]

When reviewing their businesses, many business owners get hooked on the wrong metrics. They start managing for margin when they should be managing for longer term profit. If you manage your business for customer retention, it is possible to achieve dramatic profit improvements. Loyal Customers: Bring in referrals Are more likely to spend again with [...]