Best Business Books 2010: Editors Choice Winners

Readers (that’s you!) have already voted on the2010 Best Business Books— Reader’s Choice Edition.

Now, as the Editors ofSmall Business Trends, it’s our turn. Below we present the Small Business Book Awards– Editor’s Choice version for books of 2010.

Here atSmall Business Trends, we read and review well over 100 business books during the year.  Some are provided by authors in draft form, giving us the opportunity to review and comment on the book before publishing.  Some are sent to us by publishers to review.  Some we purchase ourselves simply because we have heard they are good books and want to read them.

Regardless of how we got the book, what’s most important to us is the overall value the book will bring to small businesses. Are the ideas fresh? Does the book get us to think differently? Do we learn something we didn’t already know? Does it tell us enough, with sufficient detail, that we can put it to work in our businesses? Can the book make a difference to our businesses?

In 2010 there were a lot of excellent books— making it very tough to choose. For purposes of this list, we looked at books published between October 1, 2009 and October 31, 2010.

The following books are NOT in any order. It was challenging enough to whittle the list down from over 100 books we had– putting them in order would have really been tough. Without further ado, the 2010 Small Business Book Awards– Editor’s Choice version.

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Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard

Author: Dan Heath, Chip Heath
Book Site:Switch(Ourbook review of Switch)

Switchmakes the psychology behind how hard it is to change accessible. It demystifies the basic psychological conflicts that can lead to poor choices or derail the most complex business team. It makes its points using narrative, yet the stories are rooted in scholarly sources.

Why We Love It:Switchis a lesson in how to fearlessly take on a challenge, and lead groups through a change. And if change is the one thing we can count on, this book has great ideas, inspiration and examples.

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Built to Sell: Turn Your Business into One You Can Sell

Author: John Warrillow, Bo Burlingham
Book Site: Built to Sell(Ourbook review of Built to Sell)

Are you running a business— or is your business running you? Whether you ever intend on selling your business or not,Built to Sellwill turn your business into a money machine that you can either run or sell. John Warillow’s allegorical story about a business owner who transforms his business and himself will inspire you to do the same.

Why We Love It:Behind every profitable business and happy business owner is a systematized, automated money making machine.Built to Sellteaches you how to build your own business system in a fun educational way.

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The 1% Windfall: How Successful Companies Use Price to Profit and Grow

Author: Rafi Mohammed
Book Site:1% Windfall(Ourbook review of The 1% Windfall)

“A study by McKinsey and Company of the Global 1200 found that if they increased their prices by just 1%, and demand remained constant, on average each company’s operating profits would increase by 11%.” If you’ve been avoiding pricing, this sentence alone should get you interested. Need to sell more product to existing customers– there’s a pricing strategy for that. Mohammed makes pricing easy and engaging by grouping pricing strategies by marketing challenges.

Why We Loved It:If you’re not making money, you don’t have a business. You can literally pick a pricing strategy from 1% Windfall and use it in your business today.

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The Referral Engine: Teaching Your Business to Market Itself

Author:John Jantsch
Book Site:The Referral Engine(Ourbook review of The Referral Engine)

If we all know that referrals are the best, most cost-effective marketing strategy, then WHY do we continue to leave referrals up to fate or some happy coincidence? John Jantsch, author of“Duct Tape Marketing” and award winning social media publisher has filled his book with lots of practical, real-life examples and case studies that you can use as inspiration to develop your own referral strategy.

Why We Love It:Referrals are STILL the best strategy for building a profitable small business. The Referral Engine is loaded with creative ways small businesses of all shapes, types and sizes use referrals.

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Black Is the New Green: Marketing to Affluent African Americans

Author: Andrea Hoffman, Leonard Burnett
Book Site:Black is the New Green(Ourbook review of Black Is the New Green)

Uptown Media Group (known for Uptown magazine) Co-CEO and group publisher Leonard E. Burnett Jr. and Andrea Hoffman, founder of marketing research firm Diversity Affluence, apply their 40 combined years of experience to examine corporate America’s advertising relationship with African American consumers. Black Is The New Green solidly conveys how nuanced today’s African American consumer is, and how the strategy to target consumers must also be nuanced.

Why We Love It:If you’re selling to minority consumers, this book will give you valuable insights into how to connect with traditional affinity groups as well as how to structure your online marketing strategy accordingly.

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The 24-Hour Customer: New Rules for Winning in a Time-Starved, Always-Connected Economy

Author: Adrian C. Ott
Book Site:The 24-Hour Customer(Ourbook review of The 24-Hour Customer)

Today’s consumers are multi-tasking more than ever. This book shows you how to take advantage of time-slicing strategies to develop products and services that your customers will be happy to interact with. Ott uses a variety of research studies to show us how there are exponentially more products and services competing for a static slice of our time.

Why We Love It: Being at the right place at the right time is not just a trend, but a pre-requisite in being chosen by your ideal customer. 24-hour Customer will get you thinking in a new way about new products and services that you can launch in your business.

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Attention! This Book Will Make You Money: How to Use Attention-Getting Online Marketing to Increase Your Revenue

Author: Jim F. Kukral
Book Site:Attention! This book Will Make You Money(Ourbook review of Attention!)
Small Business Trends Radio Show:Interview with Jim Kukral, Attention!

When you’re an entrepreneur and run your own business, chances are your marketing budget is limited. But you can make up for that limitation with attention marketing. Kukral gives loads of case studies and examples of outrageous entrepreneurs and the creative ways they get noticed. The best part is that you will start thinking about your own ways of getting attention.

Why We Love It:Guerrilla marketing is alive and well and this book is LOADED with low-cost high impact marketing ideas that will get you noticed and chosen.

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The Mesh : Why the Future of Business Is Sharing

Strong: Lisa Gansky
Book Site:The Mesh(Ourbook review of The Mesh)

Traditional businesses follow a simple formula: create a product or service, sell it, collect money. Mesh companies use social media, wireless networks, and data crunched from every available source to provide people with goods and services at the exact moment they need them, without the burden and expense of owning them outright.

Why We Love it:The movement for ecologcal living has openned up a series of services and products. The Mesh will show you how to build trusted brands and value through leveraging shared resources.

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The Smart Swarm: How Understanding Flocks, Schools, and Colonies Can Make Us Better at Communicating, Decision Making, and Getting Things Done

Author: Peter Miller
Book Site:The Smart Swarm(Ourbook review of the Smart Swarm)

Based on extensive globe-trotting research, this lively tour from National Geographic reporter Peter Miller introduces thriving throngs of ant colonies and many other examples of the wisdom to be gleaned about the behavior of crowds-among critters and corporations alike. He explores how these“swarms” inspired computer programs for streamlining factory processes, telephone networks, and truck routes.

Why We Love It:Since we live in a series of interconnected networks and have started using the wisdom of crowds to develop not just products and services, but policies. This book will give you ideas on how you can leverage your network for your business.

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Competitive Selling: Out-Plan, Out-Think, and Out-Sell to Win Every Time

Author: Landy Chase
Book Site:Competitive Selling(Ourbook review of Competitive Selling)

Landy Chase doesn’t believe in messing around. If you’re in a selling situation, then recognize that your customer is considering alternatives to what you’re selling– and you’d better be prepared. Sales people will find this book a sales coach in a box and marketing people will find this book helpful in defining exactly where you should put your focus to get your customer to choose you.

Why We Love It:What’s not to love about a book that gives you practical strategies on getting and keeping more new and profitable customers?

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About the Editors:
Choosing a book for the editors’ choice is never easy because there are so many wonderful books to choose from. This year we have four passionate and well read book editors that had to duke it out for their favorites to get on the list:

• Anita Campbell– The Editor in Chief and the publisher of Small Business Trends and expert on all things Small Business.
• Ivana Taylor-  Book Editor for Small Business Trends and the publisher ofDIYMarketers.com.Her focus is on finding and reviewing books that help small businesses get and keep customers.
• Pierre DeBois- Web Analytics Strategist andPresident of ZimanaYou’ll often find Pierre reviewing books on online marketing analytics and on topics such as minorities in small business and economic trends that impact small business.
• Margie Zable-Fisher– President ofZable Fisher Public Relationsand business book lover. Margie also reviews across a wide category of books, primarily those that help small businesses.

WINNER’S BADGES: If your book was named an Editor’s Choice Winner, you cangrab a Winner’s Badge here.

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Small Business News: Your Social Media Presence

Does your small business use social media? Is there a point to you using it for your marketing, networking or customer service? It’s certain that social media is one of the hottest topics in business and marketing today, but how valuable or important is it to your strategy. Here are some resources to consider from around the Web. Thanks for reading!

Strategy

Why a social media presence isn’t for everyone. OK, first, to be fair, social media IS NOT a magic bullet, or more specifically, not every social media platform is for everyone. As in the case with every business, try to determine first who your customers are, how to reach them and how to serve them better. Don’t start with the idea that one tool will make you successful.Small Business Trends

Trends

Why social media is getting more popular. But while you are considering whether social media is right for your small business, understand that these tools are becoming more popular as a marketing strategy. Why? Learn more in this report on a recent survey of small business marketing trends that may surprise you.Lawn& Landscape Market Leadership

Social media usage rate ranking high with small business owners. Check out these numbers on small business usage of social media particularly for Facebook Places and Twitter. One reason small businesses have become increasingly interested in social media has to do with cost and how that cost compares with more traditional marketing and advertising. How would lowering the cost of marketing affect your small business?Survival Guide For Small Businesses

Marketing

What is the ROI on your social media campaign? One of the most interesting aspects of social media campaigns is the way they combine some of the harder to measure but equally important aspects of brand building with traditional marketing. Join Danny Wong, co-founder of Blank Label, for a tour of some of social media’s less tangible benefits.Huffington Post

Why even professional sports is seeing the benefits of social media. This article looks at the professional sports industry’s increased interest in social media from a business perspective. What inspiration can you draw from these examples for your own small business. And to what degree can small businesses leverage a more powerful position than ever before by being in the position to use some of the same tools as the big players?Business Insider

Research

Social media now most popular marketing option. Yet, another take on a popular survey released recently that reveals just how popular social media has become with a very specific small business segment, local businesses. This post takes a more in-depth look at the motivations behind this revolution, mainly dwindling advertising and marketing budgets, and what it may mean for the future.Business News Daily

One local survey of social media marketing. One local consultant decided to take the larger survey and look into how it was affecting her local business community. Here’s what she found about how local merchants were using Facebook in her community and how effective they were in getting their message across and connecting with their local customers using one of the largest social networking tools available.  My Edmonds News

Resources

SBDCs begin to take the lead. Traditional resources for entrepreneurs and small business people would do well to heed the advice of one Iowa small business development center that is now promoting social media marketing not as a fad or trend but as an absolutely necessary tool for business marketing. Is your local small business development center educating businesses about the power of social media? If not, share this link with them.Inc.com

Tips

Maximizing the benefits of social media interns. Want to dip your toes in the social media pool before plunging in head first? One great option is to look to interns as a good source of some help with your social media campaign. The above link gives some strong suggestions on how to be sure you get what you want and need from interns who take part in your social media efforts.Fox Small Business Center

Winning over the skeptics. Try as you may with the data and resources above, there are likely some who will still not believe in the power of social media to transform their small business. For some, it may simply be a matter of stubbornness. For others, it may be about proven results and the way things have always been done. But proving to these doubters the value of social media may still be easier than you think.Multichannel Merchant

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Small Business News: Basic Business Truths

Starting a small business these days may be a dream to many, it is necessary to be as realistic as possible when approaching small business realities. Here are a collection of posts meant to wake you up and get you to smell the coffee. Small business ownership can be very rewarding but it can be very challenging as well. For a look at the realities, read on…

Basics

Why there’s no such thing as a turn-key business. Though certainly start-up entrepreneurs should understand that plenty of work is involved in a business in its early stages, new franchise owners or those buying a business should be aware of the workload as well. Check out the photo of the proud couple included with this blog post and be careful to avoid an overly romantic view of entrepreneurship.The Franchise King

Why your business needs testimonials. However you decide to use word-of-mouth marketing whether formally in the form of testimonials on your Website or more informally in the form of clients referring their network to you, the fact is at some point your brand will need more than just you to sing its praises. Here’s how to get started.bizCompare.com

Strategies

Why management matters whether Warren Buffett thinks it does or not. With all due respect to the world’s most famous investor, there’s lots of work that goes into a great company before it becomes a huge success traded on the New York Stock Exchange. This elbow grease is often applied in the earliest stages of a start-up or small business and knowing how to best utilize meager resources is a big part of the process. It’s definitely a mistake to expect your small business to manage itself no matter what some big time investor says. Winning Workplaces

Why cash flow is still king and how you can improve it. Check out these 5 tips for jump-starting your small business’s cash flow system. Without a plan for managing cash flow, your business is doomed from the start. What is your plan for managing and BOOSTING cash flow for your small business.Open Forum

Operations

Why outsourcing may not always be the answer. It’s touted as a means of leveraging your businesses resources by what seems an endless stream of business coaches, but while outsourcing some functions may be the answer outsourcing others may be a complete disaster. Here’s how to figure out the difference and give yourself a more realistic outlook about outsourcing.Allied Worldwide

Why you might (or might not) need a full-time tax preparer. Hiring a full-time tax preparer, like hiring any other full-time professional in your business, is something that should be done only with the most careful consideration. Do not hire anyone for your business simply because someone suggested you need more people. Determine what you can do yourself, what you need help with and whether the costs and risks of bringing on another employee are worth the benefits.PowerHomeBiz.com

Self-development

How to manage uncertainty. If you think your career as a small business owner or entrepreneur will be smooth and predictable, that you can plan for a series of events and be reasonably sure they and your business will enfold pretty much as you have envisioned…well, think again. Fortunately, this philosophical post delivers the goods when it come to managing with certainty in an uncertain world, a skill we could all stand to brush up on.Corporate Coach Group

Why you may be putting too much pressure on yourself in business. Sure, as an entrepreneur you’ve got to work hard. But work too hard and you may soon discover that the only person who really cares is you. Be aware of pressure you put upon yourself that others, including customers, simply don’t care about. Look for ways you can cut back in areas that will not negatively affect your business but are only concerns to you. Improve your life and the life of your business by taking off the pressure.Kikscore

Growth

Why growth must always be your focus. The economy my have gone through some tough times, but the fact is that small businesses must focus on growth even in the toughest times. Certainly growth will mean different things to different entrepreneurs, but if change is inevitable in your niche or market than growth is always the best way to respond.The Orange County Register

Why your growing business should only hire entrepreneurs. Especially in the early stages of your small business, you need to hire a different breed of employee. An employee who will innovate and bring their own ideas to the project. What kind of employees are you bringing aboard for your small business?Startup Professionals Musings

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3 Tips to Aggressively Move Your Small Business Forward in 2011

It’s official: We are two months into the new year and one month away from slipping back into old and sometimes unproductive habits. We know what this looks like—we see it all around us. From calorie-conscious shoppers in the grocery store becauseeveryoneis dieting for the New Year to overcrowded gyms becauseall of usare redesigning our bodies.“Give it a month,”said the lady beside me at the gym,“and half of these people will disappear. Then there will be plenty of room.  Just wait. You’ll see.”

But is that what we really want in our business? To slip back into old habits? I want better outcomes for myself and my clients. So let’s get fit to achieve our 2011 business goals.

1. Shop and See

Every business sells something to somebody for some reason. You know your product, you know your customer, but do you know their purchasing environment?  John Mariotti, consultant and novelist, suggests that we masterthe art of competitive shopping.  It lets you study your product from your (potential) client’s perspective.

In other words, put yourself in your customers’ shoes.  Go to the stores where they shop and see what sits on the shelf beside your product.   Experience it the way your client does.  Whether you sell services or products, competitive shopping allows you to hear the background noise that your (potential) customers deal with.  Putting yourself in the market and making honest observations can help you (and your team) discover how to cut through the noise and stand out.

2. Call the Accountant

Anita Campbell of Small Business Trends, recently provided5 smart steps for cutting costs and keeping more of what you make.Many small business owners shy away from the financials but in this economy (and for long-term success), pinching pennies is still a savvy move.

Among her tips, Anita suggests that we call the accountant sooner than later. “A good accountant can help shape up your business’s finances all year long.”A good accountant can help you discover room for improvement, including cost-cutting solutions that you can implement now as well as reviewing and fine-tuning your financial systems.  Why go through another year with “good enough” accounting and cash management whengreatis available (and could save you time and money too)?

3. Ask for Referrals

Ivana Taylor, author and CEO of Third Force, a strategy firm for small businesses, suggests9 tips to get more ideal customers calling you instead of you cold calling them.  Sounds great, doesn’t it? Just the solution that we’ve been waiting for.

Well, if we actually intend to move our business forward in–spite of the economy (or whatever we blame our weaknesses on this week), then it requires smart work on our end.  And we just may have to do things in ways that we have never done them before.

• It is up to us to PARTNER, to identify our people, the responsive connections in our lives, the ones who take our phone calls, the non-competing members in our industry and connect with them.
• It is up to us to PLAN, to develop an easy strategy for helping others share information about our company and services. This includes describing your company, understanding your ideal customer and giving your people (your referral team) sound bites that make sense. In other words, teach them how to refer you business.
• It is up to us to work the PROCESS, to consistently implement our referral request plan. Taylor suggests that we meet  in person, via online software like Skype or GoToMeeting, or by phone.  Whatever it takes—just connect.

And when you do it, don’t act like a salesperson; act like a friend in business. See how you can help them (first), but also tell them what you are trying to do and ask for feedback. The connection will make you top of mind.

See, your referral partners meet your ideal customers everyday, but it’s up to you to give your partners what they need in order to say your name, mention your service, and strongly and naturally suggest your products.

Get to It

Implementing business solutionsislike working out.  You’re not a kid in the gym forced to do mandatory exercise anymore. You’re in charge.  You control how often you go, the kind of exercise (run, step, dance—whatever you like) you do, and how intense you make it.  And because you control all of that, then you control how quickly successcomes and how long it lasts.

Choose (at least) one and get to it. Referral team, here I come.

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Who Do Your Customers Trust: Friends or Experts?

It’s all a matter of trust. Whether we’re talking social media or business, it’s about building relationships with potential customers so they trust us long enough to stick around and hear what we have to say. Because if they don’t, all that great content, interacting and marketing won’t help. Without trust, you have nothing.

With trust so important, everyone wants to knowwhopeople trust more. Who is it you want singing your company’s praises to make an impression? Is it a potential customer’s next-door neighbor, an authority figure, a celebrity? Recently, I stumbled upon on an eMarketer post thatcommented on two studiesthat seemed to offer conflicting answers to that question. I thought perhaps I’d dig into their numbers a bit to find the real story.

Study 1:GlobalWebIndex’s Annual 2011 Report

The first study mentioned by eMarketer was GlobalWebIndex’s 2011 report, which claims to have the most detailed set of data on your online audience ever. (So, take that, everyone else.)  According to their numbers, since 2009 users worldwide have reported:

• 50 percent increase in their trust of social network contracts
• 21 percent increase for microblog contacts
• 16 percent increase for blogger contacts

Not bad, but probably what you’d expect given the date ranges, right? That study also showed that trust in traditional media like newspapers, television and radio has barely moved over the same time period. GlobalWebIndex states these numbers show the important synergy that exists between professional content and who it is that’s sharing that content.

While that’s true, I don’t think it paints a very clear picture of who your prime distributor is. It makes sense to see social media sites showing the highest “increases,” since they had the most to gain over the past couple of years. That doesn’t necessarily mean that’s where your audience isor that trust is growing for “people like us.”

Study 2: Edelman’s2011 Trust Barometer Report

Edelman’s data provides an entirely different look at consumer trust than the one mentioned above. According to their research, it’s not “people like us” that we look toward for influence, but peoplesmarterthan us. Edelman’s data lists the most trustworthy folks as:

• 70 percent: Academic or an expert
• >64 percent: Technical expert
• 50 percent: CEO
• 43 percent: Person like you

Why are Edelmen’s numbers so skewed toward academic professionals? Well, because of the group polled. The respondents for the Trust Barometer study were not your average sampling of Internet users. Instead, they were college-educated consumers ages 25 to 64 , in the top 25 percent of household income relativeto age group, whoregularly follow business news and public policy.“People like them”areacademic professors or field experts. Therefore it makes sense that those are the opinions they would seek out and trust.

So what are the takeaways for small business owners? Be wary of studies and do your own research to understand whoyourparticular audience takes its cues from.

As a small business owner, you need to observe your own audience. Who are they conversing with? Who are they retweeting? What blogs/information sources do they read? Where do they get the information that they share? Do they ask Twitter for answers or do they ask Twitter for sources? These are their trust circles and how you’ll want to appeal to them.

Trust is essential to your business. That means both gaining trust yourself and understanding who your core audience trusts to help you market to them. You don’t need a fancy survey to tell you who that is. You just have to do your homework.

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Shopping for Small Business Technology: What Matters Most?

Whether a technology business, consultancy, manufacturing company, or creative business— whatever–  there is a lot of room for technology to help you operate your business more efficiently and effectively.

But as Mike Gorsage says inScaling Your Business with Technology, to get the right technology you must be sure to “ask the right questions.”The right questions can make the difference between a business-elevating purchase and financial waste.

Below are a few questions to consider when you make your next technology buy.

COST:What is the immediate and long term cost?

MONTHLY FEES:A $10 a month item/service makes it easy to purchase that tool and start using it, but at the end of the year that was $120.00.  Is the low monthly fee and easy access worth the long term expense? Would a solid desktop tool and a remote backup be a better option?

FREE?:Can free tools grow with you? If they cannot, they may cost you more in a business crisis. Free tools can often mean no support. When you need more extensive solutions and live customer service, is there a paid option that you can grow into? I like Google email, but I love customer service. I use their business email options because now I can pay to upgrade to a plan with support (if I need to).

CUSTOMER SUPPORT:  How good are they when I have a problem?

Of course we prefer reliable tools that never“break.” In reality humans run this world and there is bound to be a forgotten scenario or an unavoidable situation at some point. In those situations we need help. Customer support matters.  The sales department is often extremely helpful prior to a purchase, but long term support is the key.  Yes, you are the favorite client before you’re a client, but you want to bespecialafter pay.

CAPABLE SECURITY– What is the standard for security?

You no more want someone breaking into your website or network, than you want them breaking into your physical premises.  Look for a provider that is relentless about security improvement, especially when purchasing cloud computing. An ounce of preventionisworth a pound of cure.

CHANGE– How much do I have to change my business flow in order to use this technology?

Sometimes as small business owners we’ll get excited about a new technology tool and the relief it could bring. But before we can successfully implement this relieve, we still have more questions:

• What is the learning curve to implement this change?
• Who on your team will spearhead this change?
• What is the expected integration date into the regular flow of your business?
• How long before the switch to the new technology is completed?
• Is the effort to change worth it?
• Given the circumstances (cost, need, support, team), is this the right tool for you?

Answer the right questions up front. Save time and money on the back end. Questions sparked our businesses—like what can you do? Who can you do it for? And quality questions help us improve our business.

Want to know what other small businesses think about technology?

SmallBizTechnologyis exploring this topic as we speak, taking a survey.  Weigh in with what you consider important. Take the technology buying survey now.

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50 Must-Have Small Business iPhone and iPad Apps

Editor’s Note:Last year one of our most popular articles of the year was written by Shara Karasic, who pointed out 10 small-business apps for the iPhone.  The response was so enthusiastic, that we invited Shara back for an even bigger and better roundup of apps for entrepreneurs and small-business execs this year.  And who better than Shara to contribute this article— she lives, breathes, sleeps and eats apps in her role with Appolicious, a community review site for mobile apps.  Here in 2011 we are delighted to bring you Shara’s much bigger list of iPhone and iPad apps, organized by type of activity.

Since I listed10 great small business apps in 2010, the use of iPhones and iPads for SMB’s has exploded in areas from business travel to communication to productivity. The office has become truly mobile. Here are must-have apps for those running and operating businesses in 2011:

1.Travel for BusinessLike a True Road Warrior

Prepare for your trip and navigate like a true road warrior using your iPhone!Kayak PROlets you find a flight or a hotel;TripIt– Travel Organizerkeeps your travel itinerary always handy in your pocket,;FlightTrack Pro– Live Flight Status Trackergives you real-time flight updates and helps you find alternate flights (and works seamlessly with TripIt);GateGuruwill guide you to the nearest ATM, post office, or luggage store in the airport. Once you arrive,Taxi!makes it easy to find a cab 24/7 anywhere in the U.S. Don’t forget yourKindleapp so you can read on the plane or in the taxi.

2.Business Communications that Join Virtual Teams

Make free phone calls withViber,Truphone, orSkype, which has entered 2011 with the ability to make video calls over both Wi-Fi and 3G. Stay connected to your team withFree Conference Call, which lets you hold conferences and even offers free recording. Or tryCallvine, with one-click group calls, orCalliflower, which displays a dashboard of conference participants. Send group text messages for free withBeluga. Join online meetings via your iPhone withCisco WebEx Meeting Center. If you have an iPad, you can attend online meetings withWebEx for iPadorGoToMeeting.

3.Payment ProcessingWherever Your Customers Are

Whether you are selling at a swap meet, garage sale, or art gallery, accept credit card payments right from your iPhone withSquareor Intuit GoPayment Credit Card Terminal.

4.ExpensesTracked on the Go

Scan your receipts on the go to make generating expense reports a snap withShoeboxed Receipt Tracker and Receipt Reader.  Or useExpensify, which imports your credit card’s purchase history and automatically creates expense reports which it emails from your iPhone.

5.Business Networking for Super Connectors

Be prepared to work a room and cultivate new contacts. UseLinkedInto check out new connections, card reader appWorldCard Mobileto scan business cards andCardManagerto manage them. Or just useBumpto exchange contact info.Gistcreates rich business profiles of people you meet, andCalvetica Calendarlets you easily schedule events with them. Once you have new contacts in your iPhone, useDialveticato access them quickly.

6.Document Access& Management Across Platforms

View and edit Word, Excel, and PowerPoint docs wherever you are withDocuments To Go– Office SuiteorQuickOffice Connect. Share files across computers and mobile devices withDropbox. Access your desktop remotely withWyse PocketCloud Pro– RDP / VNC / View (Remote Desktop)orMocha VNC. Scan withGenius Scanand print documents from your iPhone or iPad withPrinterShare.

7.Business Presentationsthat Get Your Message Across

Roambi– Visualizerlets you  turn your numbers into beautiful charts and graphs and is compatible with Excel and Salesforce data. An iPad withKeynotewill have you presentation-ready at any meeting.

8. Invoicing& Time Tracking on the Go

MiniBooks for FreshBookslets you send invoices, time your work, and record payments on the go. Or track your time withiPunchclock.

9.Mobile CRMto Amp Your Sales Prospects

Salesforce Mobilegives you access to your Salesforce info from your iPhone.   Kinito Litelets you quickly access your SugarCRM records.

10.Business Productivity 24/7

Manage tasks withOmniFocus, dictate withDragon Dictation, and jot down or record notes on the fly withEvernote,

11.Manage Finances and Payroll Wherever You Are

Track and budget your money withMint.comandPageOnce Pro. Or useSurePayrollorRUN Powered by ADP Mobile Payrollto pay employees 24/7.

12.Customer Loyalty Programs to Increase Repeat Business

WithPlacePop, you can create virtual loyalty cards to reward your best customers, and withWeReward, customers can earn points when they check-in to your business.

13.Source B2B Products

HKTDC Mobilefrom the Hong Kong Trade Development Council provides mobile access to 120,000 suppliers around the world as well as a list of trade fairs.

Find more business apps at Appolicious using our newbusiness& finance app directory. Or browse user-submittedlists of the best business apps. Have another business app that you find invaluable? Add it in the comments, and make sure to let the Appolicious community know about it.

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One on One: Laura Thomas of Dell

Welcome to another in our One on One series of conversations with some of the most thought-provoking entrepreneurs, authors and experts in business today. Laura Thomas, Dell Senior Consultant in the small and medium-sized business space, focusing on digital marketing, spoke with Brent Leary in this interview, which has been edited for publication. To hear audio of the full interview, page down to the loudspeaker icon at the end of the post.

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Small Business Trends: How did you get started with Dell and what you do there?

Laura Thomas:In my 10 years at Dell I’ve worked in employee communications and public relations, as well as online business and marketing. In the past several years I’ve begun to focus on social media.

Small Business Trends: Can you talk about why Dell started using social media to communicate with customers?

Laura Thomas:It is best known as“Dell Hell.” {Blogger Jeff Jarvis unleashed a PR nightmare for Dell in 2005 when he vented his outrage over poor customer service on his blog BuzzMachine in a post,“Dell Sucks,” that garnered thousands of comments and links.} At that time I was working in our PR team, which was doing the initial outreach with Jeff Jarvis.

In the beginning, our approach was to listen. That’s what I recommend businesses that are just getting into social media do first: Listen to what your customers are saying about you. For us at Dell, it took on a lot of urgency, so we {quickly} went beyond listening and into conversing in social media.

Small Business Trends: How did it morph into some of the other things you’ve done using social media to connect with your customers?

Laura Thomas:We started by having Dell team members actively go out to blogs where people were talking about us. Then we expanded into Twitter and Facebook {as they arose}. Over the years, we’ve been trying to go where the audience is, so we can join in a conversation with them there.

Small Business Trends: What are the major differences between now and then with social media?

Laura Thomas:In the beginning, {social media} might have been something that the PR teams {handled}. Now we’ve integrated social media into all parts of the business.

Small Business Trends: What have you learned over the years that helped you be more successful with social media?

Laura Thomas:One of the big lessons for anyone getting involved in social media is not to look at it as a broadcast vehicle. It is a two-way street–a way to not only tell people what’s happening within your organization, but to hear what is happening in their lives. For instance, with our small and medium business customers, we really want to hear what’s important to them. What issues are they facing with their businesses?

Dell is looking beyond basic products and more into services and solutions we can offer our customers. And because those solutions are so customized, it’s hard to talk about them in traditional marketing channels. Social opens up that opportunity to get into deeper discussions with your customers so that we can have a conversation about how we can help them overcome difficulties in their business.

Small Business Trends: How did Dell measure success in the beginning and how do you measure it now?

Laura Thomas:We looked at {and continue to look at} the tone of the conversation happening about Dell. When we first came into social media, there was a lot of negative sentiment. Our goal was to see if we could turn those negative conversations to positive conversations.

It’s basic customer service. If you have an issue where your customer is unhappy, you want to address it with them directly. Often those who are very negative about the company, when they see the company making an effort, become your strongest supporters.

Small Business Trends: How has your relationship with your customers changed since you began using social media?

Laura Thomas:We have turned around a lot of that sentiment. But we’re not sitting back saying,“OK, that’s done.” Our goal is to help customers find solutions. We want to be collaborative with them. We came out with things like our Idea Storm Platform, where they could talk to Dell through Idea Storm to give us ideas about improving and, as a community, vote on those ideas.

Small Business Trends: Do you think {small businesses} are using social media as successfully as they could be?

Laura Thomas:Some are really embracing it. Part of that is, it’s in an individual person’s nature to really gravitate towards social media {or not}. {For those} that {don’t gravitate to} social media, but hear it is something they should be doing, it’s more difficult. It’s not a bad start for them to simply begin by listening. Go out and see where the customers are. Don’t just automatically jump into building a Facebook page if your audience is not on Facebook.

I hear from a lot of business owners that they don’t have time. If {somebody in their business} exhibits that natural tendency to interact in social media, let that person lead it. It doesn’t have to be the business owner who does everything, but it should definitely be somebody within the business.

{An agency} might offer to run your Facebook page for you, or create a Twitter presence for you, and because businesses are strapped for time, they {are tempted to outsource}. But then you lose that connection with your customers.

Small Business Trends: How long should it take for small businesses to see tangible results? A lot of them get frustrated because they think things should happen overnight.

Laura Thomas:It’s hard to put a time frame on it without knowing exactly which results they are looking for. There are things you can do quickly. You could run some special promotion and suddenly get a ton of Twitter followers, but are they going to translate into long-term customers? It depends on your business model and how you want to connect with your customers. What is your business goal? Is it all about brand awareness, just having more people connect to you? Or is it about real strong relationships with the customers? Especially if you have a customer with a long buying cycle, a quick hit is not going to be as important as a long-term relationship.

Small Business Trends: What is Dell’s Trade Secrets Program?

Laura Thomas:Our new Trade Secrets Program is an opportunity we hope will get our customers sharing tips and tricks on how they are making their business successful. We are kicking it off right now around the V130 launch. Our Vostro V130 laptop is a beautiful business laptop. The question we are asking fans, friends and followers is, How do you make a good first impression?

We want to hear from them and we want them to share with each other, through Twitter, with the Trade Secrets hashtag, or on the Trade Secrets tab of our Dell for Business Facebook page. Keep watching that Trade Secrets hashtag or the Dell for Business Facebook page, because you’ll have an opportunity to learn from others.

Small Business Trends: Where else can folks learn more about what Dell is doing with small business?

Laura Thomas:You can get lots of news from Dell on Twitter with the Dell SMB news account. We are on Facebook, we have a special LinkedIn group, and we are on YouTube. My personal blog is atwww.laurapthomas.com.

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You Created A Wordpress Blog. Now What?

You’ve taken the plunge. You’ve finally accepted just how powerful a blog can be to your small business and made the decision to add a WordPress blog to your site. You’re even working hard cracking out somesmall business blog ideasthat will help you build thought leadership, connect with potential customers, and answer common questions. Now what do you do?

Before you even write your first post there are few things you’ll want to knock off your To Do list on your brand new WordPress blog. Below are six simple tweaks small business owners can make to their blogs today to ensure they’re stepping out on the right foot and optimizing the findability of their blog to customers.

1.  Set Up Your Blog Feed

Your small business blog exists. Your next step is to create your blog feed so that potential customers can subscribe to your blog and stay up to date on what you have to say. To get set up, head over toFeedburner, Google-owned property that’s free to get set up with. Once you’re there, simply type in the URL for your blog and follow the short process to burn your feed. You’ll also want to go through the steps to set up email subscriptions for people who will prefer to read your blog that way. Don’t assume that just becauseit’s 2011 most people prefer to get content via RSS. Depending on your audience, you may be surprised just how many of your readers will prefer the email format.

2. Subscribe To Your Own Feed

Once your feed is set up, you’ll want to be become your very first subscribing, signing up for both the RSS and email version. Why is this important? Because it allows you to see your blog the way your readers will. You’ll be able to tell if a plugin is broken, if your images aren’t lining up correctly, if your calls toaction are appearing too low on the page, if the feed isn’t updated correctly, etc. Watching your own feed is a great way to spot problems in your own feed.

3. Create a Favicon

A favicon is the tiny graphic that represents your Web site up on the address bar, in a user’s bookmarks or in their browser tab. Just because the actual graphic is tiny, doesn’t mean its impact is. Creating a favicon to go along with your site and blog can go a long way in small business branding, exposure, or just making your blog stand out in someone’s list of bookmarks. If you’re not familiar with creating your own, I recommend you check out our postcreating a custom favicon. The process takes just a few minutes and can really help your brand.

4. Change Your Permalink Structure

This is a big one. Because the default WordPress URL structure isn’t particularly search-engine friendly, we typically recommend that small business owners use a custom URL structure. By setting your URLs up this way you’ll be able to control how your URLs appear, allowing you to take advantage of keywords and use the most user-friendly URL possible. To set this up, you’ll want to go into your Permalink Settings located inside WordPress admin panel. Once you’re there, select the Custom Structure radio button option and enter /%postname%/ into that field. This will set it so that your post title will appear by default as your permalink URL.

5. Pick Your WordPress Plugins

One reason so many bloggers and SMBs select WordPress as their blogging platform is due to the number of free plugins available to them. While using too many plugins can slow down your Web site, there are some great plugins that I’d recommend any small business owner to use.

For example, some helpful plugins are:

• Cookies for Comments
• Enforce www Preference
• Feedburner Feedsmith
• WP Super Cache
• All In One SEO Pack

That said, you also want to do your own research and find the ones that best fit your needs.

6. Set Up Google Analytics

Your last step before even penning that first blog post is to set upGoogle Analyticsto allow you to track users, set up conversion goals and monitor what’s happening on your Web site. Running analytics on your site is really important in allowing you to learn how customers interact with you, where they’re getting stuff, where you’re getting traffic, and which social media sites are most friendly to your brand. Google Analytics is also free to get set up with.

Those are six things you’ll want to knock off your To Do list before you introduce your blog to the world. You don’t want to invite people over to a dirty house, do you?

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Small Business News: Is Your Business Ready For Growth?

Is your small business ready for growth? It may be a good tikme for entrepreneurs to be asking the question as government projections become more optimistic about both the growth of the economy and growth of the job market. We’ve prepared this roundup just for you. Read on.

Getting Ready

Could growth be on the horizon? The fed has raised projections for the growth of the economy this year. The projection comes with a lower than expected unemployment rate for 2011, signs of a faster than expected growth for the economy. How will this impact your business and are your ready?NYTimes.com

How to grow your staff to meet demand. As your business grows, of course, so will your need to bring in more people to get stuff done. But the kind of staff you bring in and how they perform will also have a great impact potentially on how much more your business can grow. If you want to do it right, check out Mairead Kelly’s outline for staffing success.Bloggertone

Growth Lessons

Always be ready for sudden spurts. Growing too fast can come with it’s own set of problems. Take this story of a visionary entrepreneur who found himself on the outside looking in at the company he created. Some entrepreneurs dream of overnight success. The savvy ones are aware of the dangers that can result.Montreal Financial

An overview of the growth process. In another post from her series, Mairead Kelly takes an overview of the whole process of business growth. We look at the necessity, obstacles and planning involved in moving your business forward and consider the key elements involved in growth.Bloggertone

Strategizing

Four ways to increase your business. The four ways to increase your business are NOT rocket science but they ARE something you may want to have stuck to your refrigerator so that you can look at them every morning. So fortunate than that Steve Miller has created a nice short and compact post suitable for framing.Two Hat Market

Overcoming the obstacles in your way. Sometimes growth requires more than just expanding your current operation. Often itcan include overcoming obstacles that stand in your own or your company’s way. These obstacles can be difficult to overcome at times and can come in several varieties. Though S. Anthony Iannarino is talking about obstacles to the growth of your sales team here, clearly the same advice can go for your whole business too.Future Selling Institute

Start-up

Start-up and growth is tied to your funds. It doesn’t much matter whether you’re a venture funded start-up or a small mom and pop struggling through the early days of your business. The fact is that the amount of money you have on hand in your business equals the amount of time you have to grow to true profitability. Think about how to stretch your funds and you increase your chances for success.Startup Professionals Musings

Social Media

Blogging and social media for growth. An obvious tool for growing small business, no matter what the market, is with blogging and social media. Yes, it’s talked about often enough in small business circles these days, but make now mistake, blogs and social media are great ways to grow at a low cost.Construction Marketiking UK Blog

Don’t miss the simplest opportunities. Sometimes the greatest opportunities to grow our businesses are right under our noses all the time. How about the simple opportunities presented to just about every bricks and mortar business with check-in social media like Foursquare. If you have a business, you probably already have a business site. And if you have not already claimed that space or if someone else has, it is another opportunity wasted.E-Marketing Associates

Operations

How to grow even in bad times. Surprisingly one of the key strategies to growth even during economic hard times like the recent recession may have little or nothing to do with marketing. Want to know if the rate of turnover and the amount of teamwork that happens in your company can impact the bottom line. Look no further. A new strategy for business management has arrived.Winning Workplaces

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Five Steps to Better Business Writing

There is a writing project in front of you… and a blank piece of paper. In a cold sweat, you begin to think it might be easier to hire a copywriter (after all, you didn’t go into business to be writer). Think again. With five straightforward steps and some practice, you can be your own copywriter and reinvest the money you would have spent on external help for your business.

Why Business Writing Is Important

The reason writing, or any sort of business communication, is important is the same reason we engage in business: to create positive business results. Effective business writing can promote positive business results in many ways, including:

• Creating value for stakeholders
• Helping to align stakeholders with company strategies and goals
• Allowing the writer to engage in continuous learning

The writing suggestions below will improve the way you write at any length—from an informal e-mail to a full business proposal. (The only thing that will vary is the time spent on each writing task.)

Step 1: Know your audience.

Are you communicating up, down or laterally? Is your audience internal or external to your organization? These are the most basic questions related to your audience. If you stop here in your investigation, you probably don’t have enough information to go any further in the writing process.

Get to know your reader any way you can. If it’s one specific person, do they have an assistant that can give you some insight? Perhaps the person’s direct reports can give you some pointers? Is there a profile of the person that will help you determine their interests and communication style? If you are selling or communicating up the chain of command, the answers to these questions can be a crucial determinant of whether your audience reads and acts upon your writing.

Take a moment to consider your reader’s preferred communication style. Think about how they communicate with you and others. Do they want you to “get to the point,” or do they start by asking how your family is doing? The prevailing wisdom in American written communication is to get straight to the point; however; many business professionals prefer to build a relationship first, and they won’t read your e-mail if they feel devalued by communication that jumps right to business. Knowing your audience means knowing where to put your main point: at the beginning or the end.

The most important thing to remember when considering your audience is knowing what they care about. There is nothing wrong with the question,“What’s in it for me?” If you’re not asking it on behalf of your reader, your message may be overlooked.

Step 2: Decide on the communication channel.

Once you know your audience, you can make an informed decision about what channel to use. Channels, or modes of communication, can be divided into internal or external, formal or informal. Again, this is just the first step. Consider whether the reader will pass along your information. If so, to whom will he or she pass it along? These questions will help you decide whether you need a brochure, letter, memo, e-mail or other form of business writing.

An example:We’ll write to our supervisor to convince him a new policy needs to be put in place around requesting paid time off. Since this is a more formal, internal request, we’ll use a memo format. The memo will be written in such a way that the supervisor can take it to the Director of HR for discussion.

Step 3: Verbalize the desired action.

During workshops in business writing, participants often understand the audience and the communication channel, but at the point where they have to identify their overall objective, they think,“I want them to read it.” This goal falls short of the purpose of business writing – to change behavior. Verbalizing what you want from the reader encourages specific action. Do you want the reader to follow a new policy? Do you want them to call for a showing or trial offer? Are you suggesting a change, or making a request that needs immediate action?

If you are unclear about the ideal resulting action, your reader will be unclear, too–and less likely to act. On the flip side, by having a clear idea of what the goal of your communication is, you are more likely to convince your reader to act. Time is of the essence in business writing. You have only a moment to let the audience know that what you have to say is valuable and needs action.

Step 4: Think like a reporter.

Like a reporter, answer the“Five W’s”—who, what, where, when, why (and how). Remember that business writing is clearer when it’s to the point. Don’t give history and “interesting” background details unless it directly relates to what you want the reader to do.

If you have a reader who likes considerable detail, consider answering the following questions in your writing:

• Why does the reader care?
• How does the reader benefit?
• What should the reader do?
• When should the reader do it?
• What happens if the reader does take action?
• What happens if the readerdoesn’ttake action?
• Who else will benefit? Why?
• Where does the reader go for more information?

Step 5: Close the sale.

Ask for the sale at the end of your business communication. Request from the reader the action you expect and when you expect it. This is the“closing” technique that is most effective with U.S. audiences. If writing for an international audience, there are different steps involved; however, providing a compelling end will strengthen your communication.

Let’s take a look at an example which uses all five steps of the writing process.

To: Evan Datta
From: Soma Jurgensen, x555
Date: December 29, 2010

Re: Increasing efficiency of paid time off (PTO) requests

At a recent staff meeting I was moved by your desire to improve efficiency in our processes in order to prioritize our time and discover more work/life balance as an organization. Your thoughtful ideas that day inspired me to offer an idea of my own.

Please consider this memo as a request for change in a process that costs our company countless hours of inefficiency and rework. Armed with this change request, you can add another tactic to champion your strategy of focusing on people by streamlining processes.

The current policy is for employees to e-mail their supervisor for PTO. The supervisor then investigates the number of days the employee has and partially fills out a form for the employee to complete and sign before approving the request. As our company has increased the number of employees reporting to each manager during last year’s restructuring, the demand on managers’ time for PTO requests has increased exponentially. With only one assistant, the HR director is inundated with requests for individual employee PTO accrual requests. The result is considerable time spent researching and satisfying requests, which has ledto numerous errors as well.

By using the company Intranet to distribute the forms and customizing the HRIS system with employee logins, much of the research and forms could be done by the employees themselves. The new system would work as follows:

• Employee logs on to the HRIS system and verifies the number of PTO hours remaining
• Employee completes the top part of the form with pertinent information and the verified number of PTO hours indicated by a verification number
• Employee e-mails the form to the supervisor
• Supervisor enters the verification number to check available PTO hours and approves or rejects the PTO request according to company policy
• Supervisor e-mails the form to a custom e-mail that will be checked by the HR assistant and entered into the HRIS system

Adopting this procedural change will free up time for employees, managers and HR. The saved time could be spent in personal contact with employees who have more than routine questions, improving the customer service provided by HR.

Continuing with the current policy will result in lost time and resources. For more information on the frustrations regarding the current policy, the HR assistant and I are available to meet after the first of the year. We are available to provide specific details supporting this change in a meeting with the HR Director.

This new process can be implemented in the course of six months, allowing the company to benefit this calendar year (2011) and quickly highlighting your strategy of focusing on people by streamlining policy.

I will contact you within a week of the first of the year in order to discuss this opportunity further. If you have questions in the meantime, please contact me at my extension in the header of the memo.

Sincerely,
XXXX

Closing Remarks

Remember this– even dedicating a few seconds to organizing your thoughts using this five-step process can improve your work, regardless of the content. Following each mutually inclusive step can allow you, the business writer, to facilitate strong communication that has positive results for your business.

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Small Business News: Ladies Make The News

David Siteman Garland inspired this roundup (Thanks, David!) with a post on 35 visionary women entrepreneurs that just happened to include the founder ofSmall Business Trends,Anita Campbell. So, we began to ask ourselves, hey, how about a whole roundup looking at women entrepreneurs and women in small business. Here’s what we came up with. Enjoy!

Leadership

35 visionary women. Here’s the list that started it all.Small Business Trendsfounder Anita Campbell and 34 other leading women entrepreneurs were on David’s list along with a description of why each has been included. Can you think of any names that are missing? The Rise to the Top

Women entrepreneurs are interested in more than money. Sociologist Mary Godwyn documents women owned business that ignore the“normal way” of focusing on profit only focusing instead on benefits they provide for the community. How would you describe your business’s main focus?Bloomberg Businessweek

Trends

The new face of small business. In this post, Angela Jia Kim shares some facts you may not know: that 10.1 million firms are owned by women, that more than half the businesses in the U.S. are women owned. But that’s not all, because, as it turns out, women entrepreneurs also have a very different approach.The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur

Finance

Women helping women in entrepreneurship. After successfully launching her own successful business, entrepreneur Jane Wurwand wants to help other women do the same. And she has a plan to make it happen! Check out the complete story on the launch of Financial Independence Through Entrepreneurship. Do you know a female entrepreneur who could benefit?Financial Post

Women entrepreneurs may lack connections for venture funding. If Silicon Valley wants to know more female entrepreneurs haven’t ventured into high tech start-up, especially start-ups requiring significant capital investment, leaders need look no further than venture capital firms. What are the factors complicating the absence of more female entrepreneurs to this expanding market?The Huffington Post

Success

Does location really make a difference? Yes, according to Natalie Sisson who puts European regions to the test as far as the success of their women entrepreneurs. The staggering difference from country to country in the success of women who have entered entrepreneurship may surprise you. Have a look.The Suitcase Entrepreneur

Self-development

The entrepreneurial gender gap. Are women entrepreneurs different in any way from their male counterparts? Do they have different motivations, approaches, goals and styles when creating a company than men? In fact, with so little known about what motivates entrepreneurs in general or causes them to emerge and become successful, you can imagine how difficult this question might be to answer.Womenetics

Grants

Women/minority small business owners to receive $1 million. Women and minority small business owners are eligible for up to $1 million in energy grants and energy conservation training to businesses if they fit the criterion. For more information on a program that will help small businesses survive by saving on energy read the full release. PR Newswire

Programs

SBA offers the Women’s Procurement Program. Another program offered through the U.S. Small Business Administration, helps women-owned businesses to secure government contracts, a potentially lucrative market for the right kind of business. Read the details carefully to see whether your business is eligible.Daily News Pulse

Global

Women entrepreneurs are needed the world over. In fact, Pakistani officials recently reiterated the need for women entrepreneurs to help lead an economic revolution the country hopes will bring a new prosperity to the region. Where else in the world are women entrepreneurs a major part of the equation?Pakistan Observer

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4 Reasons Not to Launch a Startup

Startups are the new shiny toy these days.GrouponandMintare among the constantly quoted examples of what can go right with a business startup, butwhat percentage of startups actually enjoy that kind of phenomenal success?

Before you jump right into a startup, consider these four reasons it might be worth thinking through.

1. Money Burns Like Kindling

Whether you’re bootstrapping your startup or actually get seed money or VC capital, I guarantee the money will disappear quicker than you planned. A VC in Silicon Valley wants you to meet in his office…tomorrow. Bam: $2,000 for travel expenses. Another mobile carrier said they’d consider hosting your app,ifyou make 20 hours’ worth of programming changes. Bam. Another $1,000 gone, with no guarantee of revenue as a result. Things break. Conferences come up. Money dwindles.

Even getting money can be problematic. VCs are the equivalent of journalists: they’re getting pitched from every angle, and beingheard above the dinisn’t always easy.

How to Circumvent the Money Drain:Having money, period, for your startup already puts you ahead of the crowd. Make a budget upfront and build in as many surprises as you can. Pad the budget for travel and discretionary funds, and make sure you always have enough to pay your staff.

2. The Learning Curve Is Tough

Unless you’ve done this before, I’m guessing you’re winging the whole startup thing as you go. ReadingHacker NewsandOnStartups; attending industry conferences; finding other startups in your area (or maybe you’re not doing these things?). There’s only so much you can glean about crafting a startup pitch to VCs from blog posts. You need inside advice, and what you lack may show when you’re pitching investors.

How to Get Your Startup Degree:Self-teaching and sticking with it is what helps the big startups get acquired or funded. Don’t give up. Find a local mentor or startup organization that will rally around you and give you inside tips on what investors (even specific firms) are looking for. Ask for advice in putting together your deck and business plan. You are not operating in a bubble; ask for help. Repay it on the other side.

3. You May Kill Your Co-Founder

You and your best bud came up with a fantastic idea for a startup…only now he’s dragging his feet at getting coding done, or disagrees with you on every point. How are you supposed to grow a business if you can’t even agree on a logo? Starting a business with a friend can be stressful and put a strain on a relationship. Do you have to choose between getting rich or having a friend?

How to Keep Your Friend and Make Money:At the outset of your startup, determine what each of you will do. What are each of your strengths? What will you each be responsible for? It’s a good idea if one of you takes the CEO role and can make executive business decisions. Make it clear who has what authority. Stay in constant contact, and don’t let aggression build up. Go out for beers together every once in a while.

4. The Competition Beats You to It

After months of development, you’re ready to release your app or service. The day before launch, you find out a formidable competitor has just launched theexact same product.Do you throw all your work down the toilet?

How to Keep on Truckin’:The thing about startups, especially tech ones, is that you can’t focus on a single product or solution. You have to be multifunctional and find different ways to reach your audience. If this was your only product, you must decide whether to go up against a competitor with deeper pockets. The smart thing to do is to start out working on multiple projects so you can shift your focus if need be.

If you’re still reading, congrats. If these reasons didn’t scare you away from creating a startup, I wish you the best. Ben Yoskovitz talks about why youshouldbegin a startup. You’re passionate. You want to change the world.  You’re a control freak. But you don’t need me to tell you that.

Startups are like babies. They require a lot of care, and many people start them on a whim. But they need constant nurturing or they’ll die (taking your $100,000 second mortgage with them). Be fully prepared for the responsibility a startup entails, and you’ll be fine. You can thank me after you’ve sold to Google.

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