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Are you having problems with locating the funding for your small business?

With the economic downturn, banks and other financial institutions have tightened their grip, making it extremely difficult for small businesses to obtain loans. What most people do not know is that there is an alternative source of capital that entrepreneurs can tap into to get their startup off the ground. It is called crowdfunding!

What is crowdfunding?

Crowdfunding is an innovative source of financing that can help strapped small businesses make it through hard times. It is the result of collective effort, attention, cooperation, and trust by people who pool their money together in order to fund a cause, project, or business -- usually via the Internet. The basic idea is to raise money through relatively small contributions from a large number of people. In a sense, crowdfunding is a cross between crowdsourcing and microfinance.

In effect, crowdfunding democratizes the investment process, benefiting small businesses and allowing people with low incomes to invest. With crowdfunding, you now have a tool with which to counteract financial and investment crises that affect businesses, particularly startups.

Normally, you would obtain financing by seeking funding from venture capital firms, angel investors, and other traditional lending institutions. However, the process can often be long and tedious, and with very little chance of success.

Crowdfunding has changed all that. Now, entrepreneurs can by-pass traditional lending institutions by interacting directly with numerous, potential investors, and asking them to invest in their ventures.

Have you ever wished you had some kind of tool for your small business that allows you to easily store and keep track of your notes?  Well, Evernote has some of the handiest features that easily incorporate into your workflow, helping you keep things organized, have the information you need whenever you want, save time and be productive wherever you are.

Evernote is a cloud application service that you can use to store, organize, retrieve, and share documents, notes, tweets, photos from any computer with Internet access.

Note taking

With Evernote, creating as well as organizing your notes is a breeze.  You can send e-mails to Evernote, tag your notes, and indicate which notebook they’d be sent to.

Designating the notebook is a simple matter of typing the character “@” in the e-mail subject line followed by the name of the notebook you want to send your notes in.

To know your Evernote e-mail address, all you have to do is click on "Settings," then go to "Tools," and then "Account Info," that is, if you’re using the desktop version.  For the web version, you need to go to "Settings," and then, "Account Summary."

To create a tag, simply add a “#” symbol in front of your tag’s name.

Last week, in part# 1, we discussed the differences and similarities between coaching and mentoring in light of both personal and business growth.  Now, in part#2, we will talk about "how" and "why" these two management approaches can be a cost-effective way to train employees, support personnel, boost morale, and increase productivity.

Did you know that a company is only as good as its employees?  This is why high-performing businesses and organizations put heavy emphasis on personal attributes in the selection and training of staff.

While formal, company-wide training courses can bring about a sweeping transfer of knowledge, attitudes, experience, skills, behaviors, aspirations, or leadership required to carry out challenging tasks, they fall short of bringing out employees’ full potential.

If you are serious about providing the right environment that foster growth, not just for your employees but also for your small business, then you better start looking into coaching and mentoring schemes.

This is part# 1 of a two-part article where we will be focusing on the differences and similarities between mentoring and coaching as they relate to both personal and business growth.

Coaching and mentoring can work wonders in helping you turn a sluggish business into a bustling and successful enterprise.  They empower your employees, build their commitment, and inspire them to perform better and increase their (output) productivity.

Business experts regard Business Mentoring and Coaching as indispensable elements of sound managerial practice.

Many business owners, unfortunately, do not have an effective mentoring or coaching program in place. Thus, they are unable to capitalize on the knowledge and skills of experienced personnel can pass on.

Coaching vs. Mentoring

Many people think that mentoring and coaching are the same.  While both roles often overlap, and at times even employ the same tactics and skills, they are actually worlds apart. Coaching is generally short term and task oriented, while mentoring is more of a long-term relationship that focuses on the total development of the individual rather than on enhancement of specific skills.

The great thing about a new year is that it gives us a sense of hope that we can live our lives anew, start over again, and do things better.  New Year's Resolutions are useful tools for remaking ourselves.  Our resolutions often include improving habits related to weight, health, exercise, work, and business.  However, many people fail at their New Year’s resolutions.  Oftentimes, our failure to stick to our New Year’s resolution is due to a lack of planning, strategy, and motivation.

Despite the discouraging statistics, a “gifted” few will actually succeed in changing their habits and improving their lifestyle for good.

“Habit is habit, and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed downstairs a step at a time.”  -- Mark Twain

Now to coax your habit downstairs, here are 5 steps for making your New Year’s resolution work for you: