—————————–

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.

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.

8. 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.

Related posts:

1. New Category on illuminea blog: Bootstrapping I am a big fan of the bootstrapping business approach....
2. 6 tips for cleaning up your computer (for Pessach) With Pessach around the corner, many people are busy scrubbing...
3. 20 Things You Should and Should Not Do Before Starting Your Small Business Dane Carlson lists 20 Things Not to Do Before Starting...

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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.

Related posts:

1. And on the subject of taxes… One of my last posts was about the burden of...
2. Small Business Day in the Knesset; Israeli Bloggers “Unconference” There are two exciting events coming up in the world...
3. Smile if you pay more taxes Unquestionably, there is progress. The average American now pays out...

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!

Related posts:

1. Join us (and Lorelle) at WordCamp Israel blogging conference It’s now official – Lorelle Van Fossen (yes, THE Lorelle)...
2. Alright, alright – you’ve convinced us, and we’re blogging About a month ago I really discovered the value of...
3. Blogging effectiveness report: February 2007 When I began blogging at the end of November, I...

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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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).
4. 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:

1. I pray five times a day.
2. I am eagerly awaiting the Second Coming.
3. 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…

Related posts:

1. Middle East Entrepreneur Training program discrimination: update A little over a week ago, I discovered “The Middle...
2. I have been accepted to the Middle East Entrepreneur Training program! Towards the end of September, I discovered a US State...
3. Should female entrepreneurs hide the fact that they’re mothers? There is still the perception that business is a man’s...

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.

Related posts:

1. Next meeting of Entrepreneur Breakfast: Thursday, June 28 Thanks to my new Administrative Assistant (bless her soul), I...
2. New Initiative: Entrepreneur Breakfast Recent conversations with other entrepreneurs and small business owners have...
3. Principal from leading Washington DC firm to speak at upcoming Entrepreneur Breakfast It’s that time of year again: the next Entrepreneur Breakfast...

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!

No related posts.

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:

1. Flattery – this person apparently saw my company as very successful and wanted to benefit from our success.
2. 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.
3. 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.

Related posts:

1. Google Adwords vs. Dapei Zahav (Yellow Pages) Small businesses have small marketing budgets. In a previous post,...
2. Using an e-newsletter to grow your business – Part 1 of 3 Out of site, out of mind Out of site out...
3. Using an e-newsletter to grow your business – Part 3 of 3 5 steps to an effective e-newsletter campaign An exciting subject...

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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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!

Related posts:

1. US State Department backing program that discriminates against Jewish Israeli entrepreneurs Update: A few interesting things have happened since I wrote...
2. How do you fit exercise into your work schedule? According to the entrepreneur experts, it is important that business...
3. Interview with author of The ParentPreneur Edge: parents have an edge in business A few months ago, I wrote a post about whether...

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?

Related posts:

1. The Joy/Nightmare of Self-Employment in Israel About two years ago I decided that conventional employment was...
2. Donald Trump: “Israel is one of my favorite places in the world” Globes held its annual Israel Business Conference at the beginning...
3. US State Department backing program that discriminates against Jewish Israeli entrepreneurs Update: A few interesting things have happened since I wrote...

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.

Related posts:

1. Next meeting of Entrepreneur Breakfast: Tuesday, July 31 Ok folks, the next Entrepreneur Breakfast is coming up next...
2. New Initiative: Entrepreneur Breakfast Recent conversations with other entrepreneurs and small business owners have...
3. Principal from leading Washington DC firm to speak at upcoming Entrepreneur Breakfast It’s that time of year again: the next Entrepreneur Breakfast...

Blogs are everywhere. Millions exist and thousands of new ones are created daily. Blogs cover almost every theme and topic under the sun, and can range from personal, to political, to business.

Personal and political blogs are generally written in the blogger’s free time, and the goals can include personal fulfillment, self-expression, and the opportunity to network with others online.

But why would a business invest in a blog? Make no mistake about it – blogging is an investment of some money, and a lot of time. And in a business, investments need to be justified with a bottom line of profitability.

Following are some reasons why blogging can be good for almost any type of business:

Create a relationship with visitors to your website

Today, many if not most businesses have a website of some kind. Most corporate websites kind of just sit there, stagnating with the usual marketing-speak on the usual pages. Don’t get me wrong – this type of website is very important. When done properly, it is an extension of your business card and is an opportunity to tell people some more about your business – your experience, clients, range of services, team, etc.

But visitors to these types of sites tend to visit once, and never return. They’ve seen all there is to see, and they know that chances are very high that there will be nothing new to see in the future. This is detrimental to your business because in this busy busy world, out of site means out of mind. Your goal is to create a bond with clients and potential clients so that when they need you, they’ll remember who you are and what you do.

A blog brings your site to life. By publishing fresh content on your area of expertise, people will subscribe to your blog (either via RSS or e-mail) and stay in touch with you and your business.

Improve your search engine rankings

In the not-so-distant past, search engine optimization experts would tell you to make sure to saturate your site with certain keywords, and would go into your HTML and do all sorts of funny things to it to make search engines like you.

But I always say that Google is an “honest” search engine. What I mean is that the people at Google are constantly improving the way they can judge whether a site is worthwhile or not. Just because a site unnaturally uses the word “car” a million times to the point where you can’t even read the text does not mean that it is a worthwhile site about cars. Now, two points that Google uses to rank websites are as follows:

1. The number and quality of links to the site.
2. Fresh content on the site.

Blogging fulfills both these needs. If you are a diligent blogger, you will earn quality links from other sites (including blogs) in your field. Plus, you will be publishing fresh content on your subject. It’s a win-win situation.

Gain credibility as an expert in your field

You know a lot about your industry. You love what you do. Whenever you get the chance, you like to talk about it.

Your clients know and appreciate you. They recommend you to others. But you’d really like to spread the word a bit more and win some extra business. But you don’t have a big marketing budget and you need a solution that is low cost and effective.

Blogging allows you to demonstrate your expertise to a growing audience at a low financial cost. When done properly, blogging helps your reputation spread, and you become known as an expert in your field.

Develop new networking opportunities

A blog is a virtual networking tool. As people find you on the web, many will contact you and establish a relationship. Alternately, if you are a diligent blogger, you will establish contact with other bloggers in your field, or bloggers who may end up being potential customers. These contacts are opportunities for you to meet people you would have had trouble meeting otherwise, and to learn from them.

The web is a powerful tool, and blogging brings your business’ web presence to life. The time has come to add blogging to the traditional marketing basket.

Well Miriam, you say, this article has been so persuasive that I am convinced that my business needs a blog. But where do I start?

Well, I say, subscribe to illuminea blog to stay tuned for upcoming posts about blogging for business. Either subscribe to the illuminea RSS feed or subscribe to recieve email updates in the sidebar. Or, feel free to contact illuminea to find out how we can help you build an attractive blog and map out an effective blogging strategy.

Here are some links to blogs about blogging to get you started:

• Problogger
• Daily Blog Tips
• Better Business Blogging

Related posts:

1. Small Business Day in the Knesset; Israeli Bloggers “Unconference” There are two exciting events coming up in the world...
2. 4 steps to a really professional blog (RPB) More and more professionals are starting their own blogs. There...
3. Thanks to our blog, we are now considered PayPal Israel experts So you’re wondering how you can use PayPal in Israel?...

According to the entrepreneur experts, it is important that business owners create a carefully structured work/life schedule, because if they don’t, work and life can blend and this can be bad etc. When I first started out, I did manage to define my work hours. But that was at the beginning, when I had way fewer projects, and they were nicely spaced out so that in between each one I had a kind of vacation.

Now the work is non-stop, which is a good thing but also makes life very hectic. Plus, running a business means spending time on many activities that don’t bring in actual income. I estimate that paying-work, i.e. work that I can charge a client for, is actually only a small percentage of my business activities. The rest is taken up by administration; business development activities like meetings, phone calls, and blogging; and learning. All of these are important and cannot be neglected.
These activities take up a huge amount of time. Add to that the fact that I have a whole bunch of kids, and believe me when I say that I don’t have a lot of free time in my life.

Despite all this, after my last kid was born, I decided that no matter what happens, I will start to exercise on a regular basis. I remember from my leisurely days of singlehood how great exercise made me feel, plus many bloggers keep talking about how important exercise is to your career. Penelope Trunk says that regular exercise is no longer optional, since it boosts our IQ, increases our resilience to difficult times, and generally improves your quality of life.

So last Sunday I decided that was it. I got everyone out to school, fed the baby and took her to the daycare, strapped on my dusty sneakers, and headed to the car. Which wouldn’t start. I coaxed and begged. It arrogantly refused. I pleaded and explained that I was finally going to start exercising, and I needed its help. Not a sputter. I spent the rest of the morning taking it to the garage.

Monday I had tons of work to finish. Tuesday I had a major deadline and I made one of my daughters a birthday party which demanded preparation. Wednesday and Thursday are a blur. Evening exercise was not an option because my husband couldn’t be home with the kids because he was out at meetings and conferences. Friday was spent preparing for Shabbat.

Now it’s Sunday again. I really have no idea how I can fit exercise into my crazy schedule. Is there any way? Or do I have to wait until my kids grow up and move out before I can add fitness to my life?

Related posts:

1. Coaching tailored for women and work After I gave birth recently, I found myself in an...
2. ROWE – the future of the work-life balance? It is apparent that many women find the work environment...
3. Women miss work less than men in Israel Now there is one less excuse for not hiring women:...

Recent conversations with other entrepreneurs and small business owners have made me realize that the problems and challenges I face as a small business owner are not unique. While in the past I have felt like I must be the only one in the world to face these issues, it seems that no matter what business one is in, we all face similar challenges in the management, development and growth of our businesses.

For a while I had thought about setting up some kind of forum where entrepreneurs can meet and give each other advice and discuss how they have solved issues or overcome difficulties, and support each other in our decisions to leave the security of employment. Small businesses are in important part of Israel’s economy, and statistics indicate that small businesses account for something like 90% of employment in Israel (if I remember correctly). Therefore, it is important not just on a personal level, but also on a national level, that we help each other…well…survive. (See my previous post on the difficulties of self-employment in Israel to see what I’m talking about.)

Now I am finally doing it.

Launching: Entrepreneur Breakfast

Having said that, I’d like to announce the launch of a new initiative – Entrepreneur Breakfast. This will be a monthly breakfast meeting of entrepreneurs, small business owners, and freelancers to discuss entrepreneurship. The format will include food (yay!), an opportunity for everyone to introduce themselves, a guest lecture, and a discussion about the Entrepreneur Question of the month (this is a question that will be distributed before the meeting, and everyone will be requested to send in their answers before the meeting for discussion at the meeting).

This is an opportunity to learn from each other, and network. The first meeting will be held in Jerusalem on Wednesday May 9, 2007. For information about the venue, costs, and itinerary, go to the Entrepreneur Breakfast site. To attend, you must RSVP, and preferably by Sunday May 6. If you have any questions, you can send them to eb@illuminea.com, or submit the contact form on this blog, or on the Entrepreneur Breakfast site.

Also, if you have any suggestions as to how we can improve this thing, I’d love to hear from you!

Related posts:

1. Next meeting of Entrepreneur Breakfast: Thursday, June 28 Thanks to my new Administrative Assistant (bless her soul), I...
2. Next meeting of Entrepreneur Breakfast: Tuesday, July 31 Ok folks, the next Entrepreneur Breakfast is coming up next...
3. Principal from leading Washington DC firm to speak at upcoming Entrepreneur Breakfast It’s that time of year again: the next Entrepreneur Breakfast...

Don’t get me wrong – I’m not that egocentric that I actually believe that illuminea is the best business blog. But based on my site stats, there are quite a few of you out there who read this blog, and I’m hoping that you get something out of it too.

So if you like illuminea blog, please can you take a minute to click on the banner below or in the sidebar and vote? Maybe you can also tell some of your friends. It really takes less than a minute, and I’m interested to see how this goes. As far as I can see, there aren’t many, if there are any, Israeli blogs nominated over there, and certainly none under any category other than politics.

Ready? Click here:

Thanks!!

Related posts:

1. Small Business Day in the Knesset; Israeli Bloggers “Unconference” There are two exciting events coming up in the world...
2. List of Digital Eve Israel bloggers published by JobMob Digital Eve is a global organization for business women, with...
3. Two new features on illuminea blog We have added two new features on illuminea blog. One...

Dane Carlson lists 20 Things Not to Do Before Starting A Business. While I agree with some of his points, I disagree with many others and think that if you follow them, they will either hinder the growth of your business, or get you into trouble. Dane’s point was to help entrepreneurs bootstrap, but it is important for business owners to walk the fine line between saving where possible, and spending where needed.

So let’s go through his list. I will discuss five points at a time, so let’s begin:

1. Don’t quit your day job: Disagree
   This is advice I see repeated for entrepreneurs, but it’s not necessarily good advice in all situations. If you really believe in your business and want it to grow, this is more than a full time job. Aside from the actual work ordered by clients, you have to spend a lot of time on marketing, networking, administration and more. If you don’t quit your day job, your business might not get anywhere since you won’t be able to give it the time it needs.
2. Don’t incorporate: Agree
   I think this is good advice in most situations. Unless you are involved in huge amounts of money or have an investor, incorporating is an unecessary cost and uses money which might be used better elsewhere. I recently met two young entrepreneurs who started a film-making company. They had one or two clients and had been working on very small projects. For some reason they had incorporated their business. By incorporating, they had increased their accounting fees and added many additional annual expenses to their budget, such as the need to open a business bank account (see point 3 below), and use the services of an attorney (see point 5 below).
3. Don’t get a bank account: Agree
   This is true especially in Israel. Israeli banks suck you dry, and every bank account means added fees for every little move you make. This is another reason not to incorporate (see point 2 above), since if you are incorporated you need to open a business account, and in these types of accounts the fees are even higher. In the MATI small business course, the teacher told us that we should open bank accounts for our businesses right from the beginning. I followed his advice, paid the fees for a while, and then decided to save myself some money and close the account.
4. Don’t rent an office: Agree
   If you can work from home and it doesn’t detract from your business in any way, then this is a great way to save yourself a huge expense.
5. Don’t hire an attorney: Agree
   You can generally get by with straightforward contracts with clients that you put together yourself or from templates. Unless you are involved in huge deals like mergers and acquisitions or real estate, attorneys are an unnecessary expense. This is yet another reason not to incorporate your business (see point 2 above), since to incorporate you need to hire an attorney.

Stay tuned for an analysis of Dane’s next five points: Don’t hire an accountant, Don’t get a loan, Don’t hire anyone, Don’t get a business license, and Don’t try to patent anything.

Related posts:

1. Business Plans: What are they good for? Business plans are considered standard fare for the budding entrepreneur....
2. Small Business Day in the Knesset; Israeli Bloggers “Unconference” There are two exciting events coming up in the world...
3. Using an e-newsletter to grow your business – Part 2 of 3 What should you write about? So you’re ready to send...

Ramit at I will Teach you to be Rich documents some of the errors made by financial and business magazines in predicting which businesses that would succeed and fail. When these publications would be proved wrong, there would me no mention of their mistakes.

I’ve personally seen how the media can take events and either purposefully or irresponsibly change details or misreport it. That is the beauty of the blogosphere: now there is accountability. When the media uses altered photos in their reporting, the din from the protesting bloggers is so loud that it can’t be ignored. Same too with sensationalist reports on how and where to invest your money: people like Ramit don’t let the media get away with it.

Related posts:

1. Small Business Day in the Knesset; Israeli Bloggers “Unconference” There are two exciting events coming up in the world...
2. Art, Life and Business If music be the food of love, play on; Give...
3. 4 reasons to have a business blog Blogs are everywhere. Millions exist and thousands of new ones...

With Pessach around the corner, many people are busy scrubbing their homes to rid them of all signs of chametz. In honor of this season of cleaning, here are 6 (mostly) free tips on housekeeping for your computer that anyone can do to keep it optimized and in good health:

1. Antivirus program – make sure you have a good antivirus program installed on your computer, and that is constantly being updated. Two good antivirus programs are Norton Antivirus and McAfee, and they cost about $40-$50 for a one year license. These programs are constantly monitoring your computer’s activity in the background, and scan documents and email attachments for potential threats. Once a week, manually update your antivirus program and run a complete scan of all of your computer.
2. Disk and registry cleanup – as you install, uninstall and run your programs, a lot of garbage files are created that take up space and slow down your computer’s performance. I use a free program called CCleaner to clean up my computer. CCleaner analyzes your hard drive for files that can be safely deleted, such as temporary files and cookies. For example, I just ran it and deleted 360 MB of extra stuff. Then it scanned the computer for issues, and identified registry files that needed to be fixed.
3. Update your Windows and Office software – To update your Windows, go to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/. It checks your computer to see what updates you need, and installs them for free (as long as you have authentic Windows software).
4. Protect your computer against spyware – As you surf the web, chances are little files and programs are being deposited on your computer without your permission. It is recommended that you run at least two different anti-spyware programs, since they tend to catch different things. I use Windows Defender and AVG Anti-Spyware, both of which are free. Update your anti-spyware programs and run a full system scan at least once a week.
5. Disk defragmentation – In Windows go to Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter. Analyze your hard drive, and then defragment. Defragmenting your disk organizes your file system and helps Windows read files faster. Don’t do anything on your computer while it is defragmenting your hard drive. Do this about once a month.
6. Backup backup backup! Wouldn’t it suck if that paper you were working on for days was lost forever? Backup as frequently as you don’t want to lose new information. You can burn your information onto a CD or DVD, portable hard drive, or use any of the online services. Just make sure to do it.

A happy computer means a happy computer user!

Happy Pessach and enjoy the matza!

Related posts:

1. Cool Tool: Use LogMeIn to Access Any PC Over the Internet Like many people, I use more than one computer for...
2. 8 Bootstrapping Tips That Will Cut Costs Today The following is a guest post by Heather Johnson. Her...
3. Cool Tool: Zoho Planner – Every to do has its place One of the challenges of running your small business is...

It is apparent that many women find the work environment to be a hostile place. Stories abound about women being asked all manners of inappropriate questions in interviews, such as if they have children, do they plan on having children, what does their husband think of their career, etc. Employers want assurance that work will come above all else, and an employee must commit to that work ethic or else.

For mothers of small children, this approach is particularly problematic. As we know, children are unpredictable. They can get sick, they can have vacations, and they may just want and need attention. All of this demands time and understanding, something rare in the workplace.

Many newspapers have reported about the high-power career women who have left their jobs to pursue a career in caring for their children. But do they do this out of will, or because they feel that they are forced out?

Of course, it is not only women that seek a better balance between family and work. Many men also would like to have more time to spend with their families and children.

The ROWE approach – Results Only Work Environment

Self-employment is one option for those seeking greater flexibility in their jobs. But self-employment is not for everyone, and many prefer the security of a monthly paycheck.

The answer (possibly): ROWE – Results Only Work Environment. This is an experiment that has been implemented by Best Buy, whereby bosses have no say in scheduling and can only judge employees by tasks successfully completed. So workers can work when and were they want, as long as they fulfill their responsibilities. This “experiment” has been in place for five years, and Best Buy reports that employee productivity has increased an average of 35% in departments covered by the program.

This plan not only increases productivity, but also saves them money:

“The per-employee cost of turnover is $102,000, and ROWE teams have 3.2 percent less voluntary turnover than non-ROWE teams. So once Best Buy’s 4,000-person headquarters is completely converted to ROWE, the company stands to save about $13 million a year in replacement costs.”

I can personally attest to the ridiculousness of time-based employment. In one of my first jobs, I was employed as an editor for 20 hours a week, and up to 40 depending on the workload. I was completing the editing work in 5 hours. To fill up the remaining 15, I offered to take on other tasks. I ended up reorganizing their library and became their “librarian”, helped the bookkeeper with her backlog, and I even started working for another department doing research and improved their client-communication material. Not to mention that I worked with them on writing their brochure, and managed the project for improving their CRM system. But when the end of the year came, they saw that I was missing many hours because often I would come in a half hour late or leave a bit earlier because of my kids – this adds up over a year. They didn’t care that I was doing three times the amount of work, and made me pay for my missing hours. Some of you may think this is totally fair on their part, but I felt very unappreciated (and soon left to more appreciative pastures).

The conventional time-based work environment penalizes those who are efficient. It may even encourage people to waste time – why should they fulfill a task in one hour if it means they will only get recognition for one hour of work? Better to drag it across three hours, and make the boss happy.
Will companies begin to adopt ROWE? I don’t think so, at least not in the foreseeable future. It’s hard to get executives to wrap their heads around this new way of thinking. But at least there’s hope on the horizon!

Related posts:

1. Coaching tailored for women and work After I gave birth recently, I found myself in an...
2. Art, Life and Business If music be the food of love, play on; Give...
3. How do you fit exercise into your work schedule? According to the entrepreneur experts, it is important that business...

“I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.”
-Winston Churchill

“Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.”
-P.J. O’Rourke

“Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.”
-Ronald Reagan (1986)

“In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other.”
-Voltaire (1764)

“The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin.”
-Mark Twain

Related posts:

1. Smile if you pay more taxes Unquestionably, there is progress. The average American now pays out...
2. Israeli small businesses doomed to failure The Israeli economy is growing at a tremendous pace, yet...
3. The Joy/Nightmare of Self-Employment in Israel About two years ago I decided that conventional employment was...

After I gave birth recently, I found myself in an entirely new situation with regards to motherhood and work. For the first time, I gave birth not as an employee, but as a business owner. This meant that I could not expect a maternity leave like the one I had known after my previous child was born, where I switched off almost all connections from anything work-related. I did not know what I was in for, and I have to admit that the new reality of business-owner/new mother caught me off guard.

Before I gave birth, I made an effort to find information that would help me manage business and baby at the same time. Most of the information that showed up in searches was related to the technicalities of maternity leave and receiving compensation. There was almost nothing about women business-owners and how they should handle their maternity leave period.

After Tifferet was born, I became aware of the difficulty of my situation and began blogging about it for two reasons: 1. Writing is a therapeutic activity, and it helped me get my head around my current situation; and 2. I was hoping that other women could benefit from reading about birth and business.

Surprisingly, a man expressed the most interest in what I was writing. Bill Dueease is a business coach who was inspired by my writing to create a page on his coaching site dedicated to women and the dilemmas they face with regards to work. He recently completed the page, and posted the link in a comment. It looks like he’s managed to identify almost all of the possible situations, at all stages of life that women face with regards to work and family. Does he have the answers as to how to manage these situations? Right now only his clients will know. In the meantime, my “maternity leave” ends in two weeks, and I still don’t know the answers, although I think I’m starting to get an idea. Stay tuned…

Related posts:

1. Self-Employment and Maternity Leave: Part 2 In Part 1 of this series, I wrote about self-employed...
2. Women in the workplace A recent conversation on the Digital Eve Israel mailing list...
3. Don’t type on the baby In Part 1 of my series on Self Employment and...