The following is a guest post by Heather Johnson. Her details are at the end of the article.
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In order to maximize sales and improve marketing tactics, each small business must learn the fine art of bootstrapping. There are many ways to cut costs in order to leverage your assets. Some of these methods are complex and only gradually save money, which is fine if you have the luxury of waiting.
However, many businesses resort to bootstrapping out of urgent necessity and there are certainly ways to cut costs immediately. Below are eight bootstrapping tips that will show you quick results.
- Switch to VoIP - Many companies are saving thousands each year by using VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) providers like Skype. All phone calls are free between Skype users around the world and Skype-to-landline calls are cheaper than traditional long distance services.
- Sell Your Unnecessary Frills - Did you get overexcited when you opened your office and purchase some unnecessary goods? If you need to free up some cash for more important ventures, then you can certainly do without your hip decorations. Sell them on eBay or Craigslist.
- Stop Faxing Everything - Are long distance costs rising because of your constant faxing? There are cheaper alternatives, such as scanning documents and emailing them. Most companies will have no problem with receiving a PDF instead of a fax.
- Go Easy on the Thermostat - Energy costs are hard on everyone these days, not just small business owners. While you don’t want to create a terrible work environment for your employees, there is nothing wrong with asking them to bundle up a bit in the winter and dress cooler in the summer. That way, you can be a bit more sensible with the thermostat.
- Outsource That Open Position - If you are struggling to cut costs, then the last thing you need to do is hire more employees. Outsourcing is a preferred method of saving money for companies both small and large. Sites like Elance and Get a Freelancer are brimming with eager, virtual assistants who will save you time and money.
- Buy Secondhand / Refurbished Goods - The fact is, you don’t need a new desk or copy machine. You can find secondhand office furniture at many stores, as well as refurbished electronics. Conduct some research beforehand, however, and make sure you are buying from a reputable source.
- Go Open Source - There are numerous open source alternatives to the commercial software you may be considering. In case you haven’t heard, open source = free. Free is good, so find out more about open source software at osalt.com.
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Stop Paying for Lunch - Are you the type of boss who likes to buy lunch for everyone several times a week? That ends now if you want to leverage your assets to the max. Yes, even those pizza deliveries are adding up. For those of you who run a one-person operation, the same rule applies. Stop eating out and start packing your own lunch.
Great companies have been built with very little money and efficient bootstrapping skills. Don’t be afraid to start cutting costs on a smaller scale with the above tips. You will be surprised at how much money you will save… money that can be put toward marketing, for example.
Heather Johnson is a freelance business, finance and economics writer, as well as a regular contributor at Business Credit Cards, a site for business credit card and best business credit card offers. Heather welcomes comments and freelancing job inquiries at her email address heatherjohnson2323@gmail.com.
The Israeli economy is growing at a tremendous pace, yet a recent study by BDI-Coface has shown that despite the fact that there was a 3% rise in 2007 of newly-founded businesses over previous years, most Israeli businesses are doomed to failure. According to the study, only 58% of ventures are still around after two years, and 30% are around after five.
Tehila Yanai, joint CEO of BDI-Coface, told the Jerusalem Post that founding a new business requires a delicate balancing act which can be easily upset by any number of factors:
“When entrepreneurs start new businesses, they take out bank loans for investment in their venture. They can run into difficulties if their business plan doesn’t materialize, and their income doesn’t match their prediction. When that happens, paying back the loan becomes problematic,” Yanai said.
Fluctuating market conditions, tough competition, and new overdraft laws forbidding transgressions from credit limits all play a part in making life for a new business difficult, she said, though it was too soon to measure the effects of the new overdraft laws on businesses.
I would like to add a few more factors to why Israeli businesses may fail:
- VAT - Businesses are tax collectors for the government. We collect VAT from our clients, and hold it until VAT payment day. This causes two problems: 1. In many cases for B2B, and in most cases for B2C, businesses give their clients an official tax receipt, even if payment hasn’t yet been received. Sometimes payment doesn’t come for months, but the government demands that money on VAT day. If payment has not yet arrived, the business is paying this VAT out of pocket, which can spell disaster for a small business with tight cash flow. 2. It is difficult to get an idea of how much cash a business actually has when the money in the bank is made up of real income and VAT. A small business owner can look at his or her account, and make financial judgements based on what appears to be a nice sum of money, only to be in trouble when VAT day comes along.
- Income tax - Small businesses have to pay income tax advances that are calculated according to previous income, and is not based on real income. As a result, if a small business is going through a rough period and revenues are lower than usual, they still have to pay income tax at the rate for higher income. It is true that at the end of the tax year, if it is found that the business did indeed earn less, the owner will get a tax return, but that can take months and does not help them in their current difficult situation. With lower revenues and tight cash flow, a small business may find it hard or impossible to pay these income tax rates.
- Bituach Leumi (National Insurance) - Bituach Leumi has no mercy. At least VAT is based on sales, and Income Tax has some logic behind it. Bituach Leumi couldn’t care if you were lying in a ditch with rags on your back. You’d still have to pay. I am not exaggerating: people with absolutely no income, like homemakers and students, have to pay Bituach Leumi. Similar to Income Tax advances, Bituach Leumi also sends business owners payment slips, but these are based on mysterious calculations that make no sense. In addition, freelancers/small business owners have to pay almost double the Bituach Leumi rate that employees do, and if they happen to grow enough that they can employ someone else, they actually get taxed on that and have to pay Bituach Leumi for the employee too!
I’m guessing that many small business owners simply get tired of working like dogs only to see their hard-earned cash sucked up by the government. I’m not saying that small businesses shouldn’t pay taxes, but a system should be designed that makes it possible for them to do so.
Small businesses are the accelerators for any economy: they employ more people than the big businesses, and generally encourage growth. It is in everyone’s interest to support small businesses, and I think that in Israel the best way to do that is to consider modifying the current disastrous tax system.
WordCamp Israel is over. It was fun and interesting, and you can read my complete review of the event over here. But, there is no rest for the weary, so it’s on to the next event: this Tuesday I’ll be giving a free workshop on using blogs as a marketing tool. Here’s more info:
The Oct. 30 meeting of the Yokneam Forum of Technical Writers (Elephant) will feature a workshop on “Using Blogging as a Marketing Tool“. Meetings of the Forum are free and open to the public (most are technical or marcom writers, but others are welcome). The standard for presentations and workshops at the Forum is very high because many of the participants come to meetings with a lot of technical and practical experience. The informal atmosphere leads to a discussion format rather than frontal presentations. Meetings always begin with AA style introductions and announcements. Networking is always an important part of the meetings, especially at the start and during breaks.
Location: Yokneam City Hall
Date: Oct. 30
Time: 18:00-19:15
Cost: Free, but you are expected to bring a refreshment to share (New England style potluck) and registration is required
Registration: www.elephant.org.il/headlines/oct_30_workshop_on_using_blogging_as_a_m.html
Join us to learn how blogs can help you take your company’s marketing to the next level. We will cover:
- What makes a blog a blog?
- What are all these things we’ve heard about: RSS feeds, trackbacks, pingbacks?
- What system should we use to blog: we’ll look at blogger, typepad, wordpress.com and self-hosted WordPress.
- How blogs benefit your business: increase search engine rankings, control your online brand, strengthen customer loyalty, and more.
- Blog writing strategies: how often should we post, what should we write about, how long do the posts need to be, how do we find new material?
I know Yokneam isn’t the most convenient location, but it’s not impossible, so I really hope I’ll see you there!
Update: A few interesting things have happened since I wrote this article. 1. The Beyster Institute has taken down all the pages I have linked to here. But they can’t beat Google! If you want to see them, simply paste the URL in your Google search box, and on the results page, click on “Cached” to see them. Contact me if you have any questions. I’ve also saved the pages on my hard drive. 2. A reporter contacted me for a story on this issue, and told me that “coincidentally” the Beyster Institute is redoing their program requirements, and now ALL Israelis are welcome to apply! Well, I’ll be applying, and I invite those of you believe you are suitable candidates to apply as well.
In the past, if I had noticed this and wanted to protest it, I would have had to write letters and fax news outlets, politicians, etc. and hope that someone cared. Chances of making change would have been slim to none for a mother-of -five-small-business-owner sitting in Jerusalem, and if any change were made, it would have taken weeks or months. But the Internet has changed all that. I started writing about this yesterday afternoon, and in less than 24 hours the injustice was resolved. I can’t prove that it’s not coincidence, but assuming it’s not, then apparently we all have the power to make change. A single letter or blog post CAN make a difference.
As a follower of all things related to Israeli business, I was excited to discover a program geared towards training Middle Eastern entrepreneurs, Israelis included. The program, Middle East Entrepreneur Training, is hosted at the Beyster Institute, and heavily supported by the US State Department, and is described as follows:
“The Middle East Entrepreneur Training (MEET) program is an innovative training program designed to identify, develop and sustain a new core of leaders in business and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) throughout the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.”
The Application and Selection Process page states that “The MEET program does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, color, age, religion [my bold], national origin, or handicap. This policy is consistent with all relevant U.S. government statutes and regulations.”
Great! I’m a female Middle Eastern entrepreneur, and I even run a social program aimed at strengthening the Israeli small business community: exactly what they’re looking for, so I got ready to apply.
But then I came across the eligibility requirements:
“Applications will be accepted from citizens of the following countries and territories: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Israel (limited to Israeli Arab citizens) [my bold], Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, West Bank/Gaza and Yemen.”
These criteria are not listed on the MEET site, but on various US Embassy sites across the Middle East.
Limited to Israeli Arab citizens?
This is the equivalent of stating that they accept applicants from Iraq (limited to Sunnis), Lebanon (limited to Christians), and Jordan (limited to Palestinians). Imagine the uproar if that were the case.
Let’s look further at the problematic nature of the application requirements:
- The program is backed by the US State Dept., and explicitly states that they will not discriminate based on race or religion. By stating that only Israelis from a certain race are eligible, they are blatantly discriminating against Israelis of other races.
- I have heard the argument that Israeli Arabs need democracy training. Israeli Arabs are educated in Israel-sponsored schools that teach their children courses in “Citizenship,” just like Jewish children, which cover the principles and ethics behind democracy. Israeli Arabs vote, get the same free health care as everyone else, state-sponsored education, and all the other social benefits all Israelis enjoy. Israeli Arab women enjoy rights here that they couldn’t dream of anywhere else. See this post on Israeli Arab businesswomen for an example of what they can achieve in Israel.
- I have heard that Israeli Arabs are more in need. According to poverty surveys in Israel, Haredim and Arabs tend to equally make up those below the poverty line in Israel. Also, in these surveys, “Arabs” include Beduin and Druze too. Someone was told by someone involved in the institute that this program is not open to Christians, Beduin and Druze Israelis either, allegedly to demonstrate how the program is not anti-semitic (ok, now it’s anti-Israel-supporters). But if the argument is that the program is geared to helping needy Arabs in Israel, then it must include Arabs of all religious persuasion. Not only that, I’m sure many other poverty-stricken populations in Israel could use some help in gaining economic independence: single-parent families, handicapped, development town residents (Sderot anybody – they seem a bit in need).
- I have heard the argument that when programs refer to the Middle East, they mean all countries except Israel, since Israel is generally considered “European.” First of all, Israel is not European, and we are not part of the EU. But let’s say that is the case – then they should not accept Israeli Arabs, since they are just as “European” as we all are. (Does that mean I can start charging clients in Euros?)
How do you determine an Arab’s religious beliefs?
So if it is correct that they are only accepting Israeli Arabs, and only Israeli Arabs that are not Christian, Beduin or Druze, how do they make sure that they are rejecting applicants from the “wrong” religions? They can’t do it according to their names (i.e. if they wanted to differentiate Jewish from Arab applicants, they could just throw out all the Itziks and Dudus and keep the Mohammeds and the Azizes).
Maybe they have a special question for religious screening on the application:
Question 25: What would you say best describes you:
- I pray five times a day.
- I am eagerly awaiting the Second Coming.
- I believe I am a reincarnation of my great uncle Abdul.
Woe unto those who believe in b and c.
I have contacted the Beyster Institute, Dr. Beyster, and the US State Department, and they all replied that they will immediately correct this injustice. Yeah right! I haven’t heard back from any of them.
The Middle Eastern Theatre of the Absurd continues…
Ok folks, the next Entrepreneur Breakfast is coming up next week, so mark your calendars! The topic: Creating Financial Models for Assessing the Success of your Business. Read on…
Entrepreneur Breakfast is a not-for-profit effort to strengthen the small business community in Israel. The group meets monthly and the idea is to come together to gain valuable knowledge, advice, and support from each other.
Date: July 31, 2007
Venue: Cafe Joe, 38 Keren Hayesod, Jerusalem - corner of Keren Hayesod and Jabotinsky.
Time: 8:30-10:00 am; Cost: 45 NIS
Lecture topic: Creating Financial Models for Assessing the Success of your Business
Speaker: Mark VanGelderen, Manager of Israel Resource Network Financial Planners. Mark has been in the financial planning business in Israel for over 15 years, and has been an entrepreneur for most of his adult life. The Israel Resource Network specializes in assisting people with capital in various places around the world manage it smartly and effectively.
More information about Mark and the Israel Resource Network can be found at www.isrenet.com.
RSVP: Yes - go to RSVP page on the Entrepreneur Breakfast site and submit form saying you want to attend. Please RSVP by Sunday July 29.
The meeting will include an Israeli breakfast, omelet, salad, focaccia, bread, cheeses, tuna, and other spreads, juice and coffee.
I hope to see you there! Questions can be sent to eb@illuminea.com.
Small businesses have small marketing budgets. In a previous post, I listed 5 low-cost ways to market your business. Two of the methods mentioned were advertising on Google Adwords and Dapei Zahav. Since bootstrapping businesses need to ensure that every advertising dollar is justified, I decided to conduct an unofficial study comparing Google Adwords and Dapei Zahav (the Israeli version of the Yellow Pages).
The winner with no holds-barred: Google Adwords.
Here is a comparison of the features of both advertisers:
Dapei Zahav:
- For a relatively low monthly fee, you can have your business appear on their site at the top of the classification of your choice. I put illuminea at the top of the copywriter classification, and wrote a blurb in Hebrew about what we do.
- The features of the package that I selected included the option to add an image, and provide a discount coupon for those who order via Dapei Zahav. The salesperson was very unclear about many things, such as selling me the option to add a button which links to my site. What I didn’t understand is that there is no need for such a button, since a link to the site appears under the blurb.
- They offer you other additions, like a map of where you are and a contact form. A map is mostly useless since if someone wants to come to your office, they can either look up your address or call and get directions, and if they want to contact you, they can send you an email to your listed email address or call you.
- Your listing can appear under other classifications too.
- I also was given a listing in the print edition of the Tel Aviv directory.
The Results: Not one phone call or email from my Dapei Zahav listing, even with all its prominence. No one even tried to use the coupon to get a discount. I got better results when I had a tiny free listing on Dapei Zahav.
Google Adwords:
- You can choose as many search words and phrases under which your ad will appear. You can also select the countries in which your ad will appear. This is a good way for Israeli advertisers to save on advertising costs.
- You only pay when someone clicks. If you are selective with your keywords, this means that only people who are interested in your type of services are clicking. Even if they don’t order, this increases exposure of your site and business to the right people.
- You can set the maximum you are willing to pay for clicks on different keywords. This is also a good way to manage your budget.
The Results: Many phone calls and emails from interested prospects, and quite a few orders that more than made up for my investment.
Apparently, when my clients in Israel are searching for service providers, they use Google. Maybe it’s because they are more web-savvy, while businesses in other sectors could benefit from a Yellow Pages ad. I don’t know.
Once I realized how innefective my Dapei Zahav ad was, I called to cancel my order and reduce my listing to a minimum. It turns out that they were also not clear at all when I ordered, and when they said I could reduce my listing after four months, they were only referring to certain parts of it. So now I’m stuck paying for it until the end of the year, and I can’t even find my own listing there anymore!
When I told the Dapei Zahav saleswoman that I was cancelling because I had recieved no orders from them, and many from Google Adwords, she said to me “But we’re working very hard on raising our rankings in Google!” I asked her why I would advertise with them if all they were trying to do is use Google to get better results - why not just pay Google directly?
So, if you are looking for a low-cost and effective way to advertise your business - Google Adwords is the way to go!
In Israel, businesses may set up Google Adword campaigns that use their competitors’ names and brands as keywords. In August 2006 an Israeli judge ruled that Crazy Line, a women’s clothing retail chain, was not guilty of any wrongdoing when they set up an Adwords campaign using the keywords of another clothing store, Matim Li.
But I still think it’s a bit sneaky to do that kind of thing. If a person is looking for a certain store, it is unfair to shove your brand in their face. It’s pushy, and even demeaning to try to ride the wave of someone else’s success.
Whether it’s right or wrong, imagine my surprise when I discovered that someone had set up an Adwords campaign using the name of my company, illuminea! My reactions were mixed:
- Flattery - this person apparently saw my company as very successful and wanted to benefit from our success.
- Amusement - I certainly ain’t no Matim Li. While we are experiencing a lot of demand for our services at the moment, we are certainly not worthy of being used for a Google Adwords campaign.
- Discomfort - I felt like this was a sneaky thing to do.
Anyways, today I didn’t see the Adword campaign anymore when I searched for illuminea. Did the guy figure out that we figured it out? Or is it a limited budget Adwords campaign and it will show up again later?
There are now two illumineas in the world
Whatever the case, I also discovered something else - a band in Philadelphia recently changed their name from illumina to illuminea! And they even use a small “i” too! Until now, the only entity in the world called illuminea was my business!
In terms of trademark issues, I don’t have anything against them. We’re in totally different industries, and different countries (which is not always a criteria since people can file international trademarks). But it means that I’ll actually have to become concerned now about where I appear in the search engines when someone searches for illuminea. Bummer.
There is still the perception that business is a man’s world. I would maybe say that it’s a “man-style world,” i.e. women are welcome as long as they act like men. From conversations with other women who run their own businesses, I see that many feel very self-conscious about being women in what they see as “a man’s world.” Some make efforts to suppress or hide signs of femininity, and try to blend in with the men around them.
As a result, many women will also never discuss the fact they are mothers, and will even go to lengths to hide that fact. This is understandable, since people often hesitate to work with mothers since they see them as unreliable. They worry about sick days, the inability to work long hours because they have to be home for their kids, etc.
But is it really necessary to hide the fact that you are a mother? Will it negatively impact on your ability to grow your business and win clients?
I don’t think women should hide their motherhood, and I even think that hiding it could be detrimental. But I do think that there are certain steps that need to be taken in order to succeed as a working mother:
- You don’t have to volunteer the information: When meeting with potential clients, you don’t have to tell them right off the bat that you are a mother. It’s not relevant, and has nothing to do with what you are discussing, just like they aren’t telling you about their personal life. But don’t hide it. Often, once business is aside, friendly chit-chat ensues and you’ll start discussing more personal issues with the client, i.e. how long have you been doing this? where do you live? do you have kids? etc. Be confident and proud of the fact that you have kids. It shows you have a life outside of work, and believe me, you’re not the only one.
- Always remain professional: It’s nice that you have kids, and the client may even think so too. But at the end of the day, the work has to get done. No one cares if your kid is sick or has a class party. If you want to be a working mother, you need to figure out ways to make sure that you have your bases covered for any eventualities. Of course, there are some parental situations that simply can’t be overcome, but your clients will generally understand in those cases - they’re human beings too! So if you want to go to that class party (and you should!) make sure to work overtime the day before so that you can free up that time.
- Be confident in your abilities: If you are confident in your abilities, this will come across to the client and they in turn will feel confidence in their choice to hire you. If you feel self-conscious about the fact that you’re a mother, and you’re trying to hide it, this will come across.
I know a businesswoman who for years has been hiding the fact that she is a mother. She wouldn’t discuss it with clients or any business colleagues, even though she is proud of her kids. About two weeks ago she joined Facebook and opened a profile. At first she wouldn’t mention her kids or family, but after a few days she uploaded pictures of her kids to her profile. Not only did this not adversely affect her, but someone she knew found her on Facebook and contacted her about business - despite that fact that she obviously had kids!
In Israel, everyone is an entrepreneur. At least, sometimes it seems that way. Everyone knows someone who has started up some kind of venture, whether it’s related to technology, finance or industry. Sometimes I can’t believe how many people I personally know who have technology startups. Many of these ideas do come to fruition and succeed on a large scale. Look at Teva, Amdocs, and Comverse for some examples of the biggies, and see this list of the top 10 Israeli Web 2.0 wonders for a look at some of Israel’s most promising startups.
But how does Israel rank on a global scale for entrepreneurship? According to the GEM 2007 High-Growth Entrepreneurship Report, an annual report released by Babson and the London School of Business, Israel is ranked 17th out of 53 countries for friendliness to startups. This rating isn’t terrible, especially if you take into account that the only other Middle Eastern countries that even appear on the list are Turkey and Jordan, and they are ranked 33rd and 47th respectively. The top four countries in the survey are New Zealand, US, Canada and Australia.
But if you look closer at the survey, it becomes apparent that Israel is actually very competitive from an entrepreneurial point of view:
- “The countries with arguably the ‘healthiest’ entrepreneurial anatomies…[are] Singapore, Israel, and China.”
- In the comparison of “Adult-Population Prevalence Rate of High-Expectation (Nascent and New) and High-Growth (Established) Entrepreneurs in GEM 2000–2006 Countries,” Israel is rated sixth.
- In the table titled “Relative Prevalence of High-Expectation Nascent and New (20 or more Expected Jobs) and High-Growth Established (20 or More Current Employees) Entrepreneurs,” Israel is rated second.
- “In addition to Singapore, Israel stands out for its high relative prevalence of high expectation and high-growth entrepreneurs. “
- “Of high income countries, the United States, Israel, Iceland, and Canada exhibit the highest adult population prevalence rates of high-expectation entrepreneurship.”
So that explains why it feels that everyone and their mother here are entrepreneurs. But is this thanks to government policies that encourage entrepreneurship? Yeah right. From my own experience, the government makes it anything but easy to survive as a small business owner.
I think that the high levels of entrepreneurship might come down to two things:
- The Yiddishe Kop - this is Yiddish for “The Jewish Mind.” My grandmother always claimed there’s such a thing, and now a few goyim (non-jews) have backed her up. Jews always feel uncomfortable talking about this kind of thing, and the only reason I’m mentioning this is that some goyim claim this is so. While my grandmother is certainly an authority, I don’t know if her opinion is enough in this matter.
- Perseverance - over 2000 years of attempted annihilation and successful genocide, and we’re still alive and kicking. If that’s not perseverance, well, I don’t know…
When Warren Buffett bought Iscar in Berkshire’s first overseas investment, he said that “Being in Israel has a major advantage of having the exposure to a fabulous pool of talent and brains. When we bought Iscar, we bet on brains.” Who can argue with the second richest goy in the world?
Thanks to my new Administrative Assistant (bless her soul), I have finally managed to get around to organizing the second Entrepreneur Breakfast meeting in Jerusalem. Entrepreneur Breakfast is a not-for-profit effort to strengthen the small business community in Israel. The group meets monthly and the idea is to come together to gain valuable knowledge, advice, and support from each other.
Date of Event: Thursday, June 28, 2007
Venue: 1868, The Café, 34 Derech Beit Lechem, Jerusalem
Time: 8:30-9:30 am
Cost: 45 NIS
Topic: “Innovative Online Marketing Solutions for Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs” – learn about different ways to market your business on the web.
Speaker: Eli Feldblum, CEO of RankAbove, an online marketing firm specializing in search and social marketing. Eli was formerly the Director of Marketing for search marketing firm Did-it.com and then Vice President of Sunny Group, before making Aliyah in September 2006.
More information about Eli and RankAbove can be found www.rankabove.com.
Breakfast includes a Continental breakfast, with coffee, tea, croissants, jam, butter, and seasonal fruit with fresh cream. For more details, please visit entrepreneurbreakfast.illuminea.com.
RSVP: by Tuesday, June 26 Please!!!!!!!
How do I RSVP?
1. Go to the contact page on the Entrepreneur Breakfast site
(entrepreneurbreakfast.illuminea.com) and submit the form saying you want to
attend. Please make sure to include your name, email and phone number.
2. Or if it’s easier, email eb@illuminea.com. Again – name, email, phone number.
We already have some really cool entrepreneurs who have RSVPed, so come and join us!
We need speakers for future meetings
We need speakers for these breakfast meetings. If you or someone you know would like to give a short, helpful lecture to the group, please let us know. We would benefit from your wisdom, and you benefit from increased exposure for your business, demonstrating your expertise, and free breakfast!
Also, if you have ideas of general topics that apply to all small business owners that should be addressed, let me know.
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