I recently read an article talking about the current job recovery comparing the jobs that are lost to the jobs that are being regained: the latter being far less financially rewarding than the former. As a result, the general buying power of the American public is decreased, which impacts the prosperity of the American business. Meanwhile, while the mom and pop shops are competing with chains like Wal-Mart and not always able to sustain a low price in comparison.
The aspiring entrepreneur who reads this blog may be torn between the desire to venture out into the business world as an alternative to the lower paying jobs and the overwhelm of running a business that can compete on a significant level. Fortunately, there are tools available to the small business owner from getting the message out to managing communication with your your clients, to helping to keep track of your paperwork. Many of these tools are ones you can operate yourself. For example, the platform on this site for creating a website is as simple to use as Microsoft Office, but provides you many of the tools and functionality a business owner would need to be seen and connect with customers online. In addition to this, you can find many in-person networking events that you can attend at Meetup.com based on either the specific industry you work with. You could take a similar approach on sites like Facebook or LinkedIn (and on the latter, you can even find discussion groups that go into more detail than this blog post here). A couple other networking sites that you might find useful are the Levron B2B Network or The NetWorks, which make it easier for you to reach out to other business owners.
Of course, this only covers the marketing and promotional aspects of running your business, which is by far not the only aspect of running a business. For more suggestions on how to consolidate your business financially or timewise, check out The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss. And of course, keep coming back here for more ideas. :-)
Good luck! I believe in you!
