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We are very pleased to welcome the Army Navy Military Expo (ANM Expo) to our Off Price Show in August.

 This “show within a show” consists of about 100 suppliers of military apparel and accessories, and will attract a delegation of 900 buyers, some of which are also Off-Price Show buyers who are very pleased with the one-stop shop.

 We had a very good meeting this week with David Castlegrant and Eric Brackmann from David Castlegrant and Associates, the management firm for the ANM Expo.  Their vendors also share our excitement about the new partnership as their category is often lost or under-promoted at the larger general merchandise shows.

For more information on the ANM Expo, go to:

http://www.armynavymilitaryexpo.com/

I was pleasantly surprised and quite shocked to be awarded the Fast Growth 2008 award by bizSanDiego last night at the Prado in Balboa Park. We were notified of the nomination a month ago, and had no clue that we were the #1 Fastest Growing company in San Diego until the count down began. The bizSanDiego put on wonderful award ceremony and recognized 20 of some the best organizations in the area. I wanted to take this opportunity to thank: Brian Sacks, publisher, for his incredible coverage of the San Diego business environment. John Lincoln, associate editor and web master, for his interview of myself and every other candidate ( John is an amazingly talented young man whose got a shining future ahead of him! ). Roger Hurni, creative director, for his design and interactive development of the publication and all online media contributions. We all thank the entire staff at bizSanDiego for their contributions and can’t wait to see them grow!

None of this is possible with out having a vision and establishing an organization full of talented, passionate, and energetic people that add something that is irreplaceable: Human Power. Often the most forgotten asset in organizations are the people dedicated most to the cause. Businesses need constant innovation to survive and move forward. Providing an environment that nurtures creativity and growth is imperative if a company wants to attain any type of growth. There are some great companies that do this already. Google is a prime example with their 80/20 rule for engineers. What that means is that 20% of their time is spent just thinking and creating something they are passionate about. No strings attached. You can find many examples of human power out there, but I encourage all of you to listen and realize that micromanaging gets a company nowhere. Let your people try different tasks and let them develop on their own. Giving those most dedicated to any cause autonomy, independence and trust has huge rewards—-for everyone.

JP Communications Inc thanks all of you!!! for making this happen. Our customers, users, employees and numerous other contributors to the JPC network—thanks to all of you and keep letting us know what we need to build. You all make it happen.

ps: The bizSanDiego has some great community involvement. The bizSanDiego blog is a phenomenal read for all you locals.

If you are trying to start a small business,my advice is go with the low-hanging fruit,which simply means pretend you are a monkey. Do you want to climb all the way to the top of the tree to find a banana? Maybe, but that’s only because some smarter monkey already grabbed the bananas on the lower part of the tree, barely had to even stretch their arms to get a great breakfast. Everybody has some low-hanging fruit and you would be crazy not to reach for it first.

This exercise is called “Who Do You Know?” and it works.

You aren’t seriously going to tell me you don’t know anyone who needs to buy a product you could supply are you? Basically, you review a guided list and discover how extensive your personal network really is. Do you know anyone who matches these relationships or occupations?

Family Members - These people are probably your closest connections,not only do these relationships and roles vreate product needs, these close contacts also have their own businesses and interests that quickly expand into a new web of potential connections

• Father
  Mother
  Grandmother
  Grandfather
  Brothers
  Sisters
  Aunts
  Uncles
  Cousins
  Girlfriend
  Boyfriend

Hobbies and Interests - This is a powerful motivating force forpurchases and specialty items, and even better almost everyone you know has a high level of expertise in some hobby or interest,unless they just watch TV all day. There are a lot more than this, but this is a great start.

1. Aerobics
2. Antiques
3. Art
4. BibleSchool
5. Bicycles
6. Books
7. Boys Club
8. Cameras
9. Camping
10. Fisherman
11. Girls Clubs
12. Girls Clubs
13. Golfing
14. Gymnastics
15. Handicapped
16. Hunting
17. Helath Club
18. Karate
19. Miniture Golf
20. Music
21. Painting
22. Pets
23. Photography
24. Religion
25. Scuba Diving
26. Sewing
27. Skiing
28. Soccer
29. Softball
30. Volunteers
31. Wine
32. Woodworking

Professions and Jobs - Most everybody has one unless they just sit around watching TV all day.

Accouting
Acting
Advertising
Air Force
Airline
Alarm Systems
Architect
Army
Auctoneer
Babysitter
Banking
Barber
Beauty Salon
Bookkeeping
Brooadcasting
Brokers
Builders
Buses
Cable TV
Credit Union
Day Care
Dentists
Dermatologists
Designers
Detectives
Diet Industry
Direct Mail
Disc Jockey
Doctors
Dry Cleaners
Electrician
Engineering
Entertainment
Eye Care
Farming
Film & Video
Fireman
Florists
Food Service
Furniture
Gardens
Gift Shops
Government
Grocery Stores
Hair Care
Handyman
Helath Insurance
Hospitals
Hotel
Income Tax
Insurance
Investments
Janitor
Jewelry
Lawn care
Leasing
Libraries
Loans
Lumber
Management
Manufacturing
Mechanics
Mobile Homes
Mortgages
Motels
Movie Theaters
Museums
Navy
Newspapers
Nurses
Nutrition
Office Machines
Office Furniture
Optometrists
Orthodontists
Pediatricians
Pedicures
Perfume
Pest Cintrol
Pharmacies
Phones
Pizza
Plumbing
Police
Pools
Preschool
Printing
Property Management
Psychiatrists
Publishers
Radio
Railroads
Real Estate
Rehabilitation
Rental Agents
Reporters
Resorts
Restaurants
Roofing
Sales
Satellites
Secretaries
Security
Shoe repair
Signage
Social Services
Sporting Goods
Steam Cleaning
Surgeons
T-Shirts
Teachers
Telemarketing
Therapists
TitleCompanies
Towing
Training
Transmissions
Trucking
Unions
Universities
Vending
Weddings

Yep,these are long lists but this kind of data mining of yourown big juicy brain can really pay off. Find out who you know explore those connections and see if it doesn’t give you an idea you can use.

How To Find Buyers For Your Imported  Products

The standard way to run a business is to select a product, find the market you can sell to and adapt as necessary to that buying population’s needs. But, you can escape the competition if you disrupt that process and work a better, less exploited angle. Why not go the opposite direction, find buyers, get their product needs and then get a product that meets their needs.

I am lucky in that I am easily interested in the details of other people’s occupations. If I’m at a party or a wedding, I am likely to engage the person next to me in a discussion about what they do. For me this is fun, but it is also away to investigate and find underserved markets. Toward this application,ask these people what kind of products they need, or that are popular that are imported,or difficult to find. A good friend of mine overseas, was talking about the popularity and low quality of the health pamphlets in local pharmacies. That kind of marketing intelligence is pure gold. He was actively looking for people that could produce pamphlets on a wide range of health topics, that he could bundle with simple displays and offer to local pharmacies.That’sexactly the kind of vacancy that you could never find out about without talking to your contacts and if you were in a position to move on it,could make you a killing,

If you meet a service provider or advisor like a banker or accountant, ask them what kinds of needs their customersare frequently seeking.My accountant has recently gotten into the insurance business, why did he do that? Because,he recognized that many of his customers had the need, but who wants to go out actively seeking insurance quotes? Nobody unless they absolutely have to. That’s why the TV is full of advertisements touting how incredibly easy it is to get a good quote.  Because they know you will probably go without insurance rather than seek out the unfamiliar market and try to navigate it on your own. An insurance product that meshed with small business needs and could be competently sold by a CPA means you have a powerful influencer advisor working for you.

Visiting flea markets is one of my favorite ways to get ideas. You can see a lot of shoppers quickly and really get an understanding about what they will plunk down hard cash for, at a wide range of price points.

Take a look at the attendance figures for trade shows to find an expanding market. According tothei Trade Show Week article about 2007 trade show attendance, the consumer trade shows are hurting but motorcycle shows, specialty recreation shows (like snowboard shows) and pet industry shows grew like crazy.

Get to know your local retailers and find out who they are buying from. That’s the 2nd best ways to find a wholesaler (the best way is linked).

This is one of those small business topics that someone starting their own business typically pays WAY too much attention to. Yes,you need one,and it certainly assists you in looking more professional, but it is so easy to get an acceptable logo, that you really shouldn’t stress out on it. If you immediately need for your business to place your logo on something very expensive like a trade show booth or a billboard, that’s a different story but if we are talking about 20 bucks of Vista Print business cards and some letterhead, just go for it and be confident that you can always change it later. Anyway, there must be 50 ways to get a decent logo, but there’s no point in discussing all that, work on your business not your pretty little pictures.

I made this logo in 40 seconds with a free logo generator.

Sure, it sucks a little,but how good a logo do you need for a website that sells audiobooks read by pirates? Products like that sell themselves.. I like the site I linked to but if you put ‘free logo’ into Google, you will be confronted with all manner of online generators.

If you start looking for professional logo design,it will usually run you about $300. You can get it a little cheaper by signing up and advertising the project over at Guru.com or GetAFreelancer, if you’re feeling cheap and adventurous. But, honestly, I can get them done better and cheaper and now you can too.

It’s so simple…hold a contest.Graphic designers love to do their work,they love to get feedback on their work and they love to show it off,particularly to each other. Not a thing in the world wrong with that and you can leverage it for exceptional value. Head on over to Digital Point Forums (another fine San Diego-based company) and toss up a prize in their contest forum. You can get basic logos better than you can make for $50 by Paypal, but if you want to really get some nice entries, offer the princely sum of $75 dollars to the winner and a $25 second prize, this helps you get a nice volume of entries.If the prize is nice, you can usually get some revisions to the one you want. Don’t be a jerk to these people, they are hustling and they are willing to compete with their talent for your prize and they definitely deserve respect and gratitude, but at the end of the day you have a sweet logo for pocket change and finding value is always a good feeling.

Limited Liability Company

The limited liability company (LLC) is a relatively new form of business organization in the US, but is available in every state. You can pay taxes as an individual and you have good liability protection. Check your state, but mostly you must have at least 2 owners to form an LLC. You issue sharesof stock but stock certificates are not required. An LLC is a great choice for a small company if you have foreign owners or investors, as they are restricted from participating in an S Corp.

An LLC files Articles of Organization with its home state rather than the Articles of Incorporation that a corporation would file. An LLC in some states has a built in dissolution date i.e. the comapny can’t have an unlimited duration, but states are examining this and many of them are changing the laws.

A key component to the Limited Liability Company is a separate document called the Operating Agreement (or Management Agreement). You can file a pro forma operating agreement easily enough butin general you dowant tospellout the obligations of the members of the company in some detail,this is where your lawyer makes his money:)

Pass through taxation is really the chief benefit of the LLC. You can reflect the profits or losses of the company in their entirety on your personal income tax returns this means that you will not suffer double taxation on corporate profits.

Like I said, check your state but if the fees are not too much (I’m looking at you California) then an LLC is often the best choice for a new company with multiple owners.

Relate Posts on Other Blogs:

How to Become an LLC

Six Different Types of Public and Proprietary Companies