Articles — Business_Small Business(4)

My first “job” was in the 1960s as a part-time waitress in my hometown while I was in high school.  I earned one dollar an hour and thought I had it made!   Since then, I have worked in government, private and public organizations as well as building my own professional private practice. Throughout the decades I have learned from watching others and making mistakes.  Following are some tips that will help those in the workplace who are employees, partners or owners of businesses: You are the business – No matter what you do, you are the one who brings value...

I know some small business owners who are always behind and seem to live in a state of chaos. Others are calm and appear to always be organized. The difference is in how they manage their time. There is really only one way to earn a profit as a business owner. That is to have more income than expenses. Now there are a number of fixed costs that you really can't change - like your rent, taxes and utilities. But there might be others that you can reduce with careful planning - like the amount of paper used, or advertising...

Sometimes it is difficult to decide whether to work for an employer or start your own private practice. There are advantages and disadvantages for each. The decision you make will likely be made based on your personality, goals and the opportunities that are available. For many years, I worked for the government. In 2006 I hired a Business Manager to help me decide whether I should stay in that employment or expand my part-time private practice into a full-time endeavor. There were many things to consider as the government job offered regular hours, guaranteed income with regular raises in pay,...

Each business owner has an idea of how big they would like to build their practice. Much of their planning depends on the amount of time they wish to invest, the type of responsibilities they want to undertake and the reason that they started the business. My coworker, Richard started a part-time psychology practice to pay for his children's secondary education. I followed his example in order to "test the waters" regarding whether I could move from my government job into my own private practice on a full-time basis. Another peer uses his part-time practice fees to pay for a...