New Year's Resolutions For 2005
Here are six New Year#146;s Resolutions for business owners
www.creators.com
For eBay Businesses, Get More High-Quality Stuff from Estates
. If your business is selling stuff on eBayreg;, one of your biggest challenges is finding high quality stuff to sell at a profit. Here#146;s a tip #150; get to know your local #147;trusts and estates#148; attorneys. These are the lawyers who draw up people#146;s wills and probate their estates when they die. Very often, these lawyers are approached by grieving relatives who need help #147;disposing of Mom#146;s stuff#148;, but the estate is too small to justify hiring a big estate auction firm like Sotheby#146;s or Christie#146;s. Why not let these attorneys know that you are available to help them sell their clients#146; small estates on eBay, for a consignment fee of course? I almost guarantee your competition hasn#146;t thought of that (unless they read this column), and that you will find a warm welcome here if you make the effort. For a listing of your local #147;trusts and estates#148; lawyers, call you#146;re local or state bar association.
Renew Your Web Address.
If your business is dependent on the Internet, make sure you check Network Solutions (
www.networksolutions.com
) at least once each year to make sure your Web address hasn#146;t expired. They do send you renewal notices, but often these get picked up as #147;spam#148; by your antispam software, so you never see them, your Web address expires and gets grabbed by someone else. Pick a date that#146;s easy to remember #150; like your birthday #150; and renew each of your important Web addresses on that day.
Update Your Software Twice a Year
. Just about every software program gets updated at least once or twice a year, but not every software developer sends you an e-mail announcing the latest updates. Make it a point to visit the Website #147;home page#148;, of each software company whose products you license, and look for a button that says #147;check for updates#148; or something like that. It just may save your PC.
Sheath Your Cell Phone
. Make 2005 the year you stop being a #147;cell phone slave#148;. Make some rules about when you will use your cell phone, and when you won#146;t, and stick to them. Among those I highly recommend: do not use your cell phone while driving a motor vehicle; use your cell phone only for outgoing business calls; do not use your cell phone in public places where your conversation may be overhead by total strangers with evil on their minds.
Get Some Free Local Publicity
. Do at least one thing this year that gets your business written up in the local news media (in a positive way, that is!). Donate something to charity, sponsor a local contest for school kids, run for local political office if you have the stomach for it, and make sure your local news media know about it. Anything that a news reporter will find newsworthy, and that gets you quoted as #147;Joe Blow, owner of Joe#146;s Deli on Main Street#148;.
Get Involved in Government
. Whatever your political views, if you don#146;t like taxes or government regulations that stifle your business, complaining about them and voting against them just isn#146;t enough. If you don#146;t have time to attend board meetings or hearings, find the time. Join the same organizations (like your local Rotary or Kiwanis) that your local #147;politicos#148; join, and make sure they know you are there. As my Dad used to say, you are only as good as the nonsense you tolerate in life. If government nonsense just #147;burns your breakfast#148;, stop tolerating it, become an activist, and help government come up with better solutions that will benefit, not harm, your business.
Cliff Ennico (
cennico@legalcareer.com
) is a syndicated columnist, author and host of the PBS television series 'Money Hunt'. This column is no substitute for legal, tax or financial advice, which can be furnished only by a qualified professional licensed in your state. To find out more about Cliff Ennico and other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit our Web page at
www.creators.com
. COPYRIGHT 2005 CLIFFORD R. ENNICO. DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC. Permission granted for use on DrLaura.com.
