2) Do you have the characteristics of an entrepreneur?

There are certain traits and attitudes that make some people more suited to running a successful small business than others.

In one study where entrepreneurs were given a list of attributes and asked to rate their importance for success, the seven most highly ranked qualities were perseverance, the desire and willingness to take the initiative, competitiveness, self-reliance, a strong need to achieve, self-confidence, and good physical health (William E. Jennings, “A Profile of the Entrepreneur” in Entrepreneurship: A Primer for Canadians).

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Thinking of starting a small business? You’re on the right track. There’s a lot of thinking to be done before starting a small business of your own.

Starting a small business is one of those huge, life-altering events. Think of it as a marriage; running a successful small business takes the same depth of commitment and desire. As in a marriage, you’re going to be living with your business 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Like any relationship, if you want your small business to be successful, you’re going to have to work at it. And it’s going to have its ups and downs and surprises.

But on the positive side, if you’re the right person with a solid plan, starting a small business of your own can be the most satisfying, exhilarating experience of your life.

This article looks at four aspects of starting a small business so you can make an informed decision about whether or not starting a small business is right for you:

• basic questions about running a small business
• the characteristics of an entrepreneur
• necessary abilities for successfully operating a small business
• reasons for business failure

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By Shari Waters,

Do you have a marketing idea? At the end of this article, you can Share Your Ideas with others.

Small business owners can easily get too involved in the day-to-day operations of their retail stores to spend any time brainstorming marketing ideas orpromotional events. Some retailers worry that marketing is too expensive, others may find it too time consuming. Without announcing who you are and what you sell, how will anyone know? Here are 50 marketing ideas for retailers.

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You will often find that many people confuse marketing with advertising or vice versa. While both components are important they are very different. Knowing the difference and doing your market research can put your company on the path to substantial growth.

Let’s start off by reviewing the formal definitions of each and then I’ll go into the explanation of how marketing and advertising differ from one another:

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#1: Change the Way You Think About Money
The general population has a love / hate relationship with wealth.  They hate people who have it, but spend their entire lives trying to get it for themselves.  The reason a vast majority of people never accumulate a substantial nest egg is because they don’t understand the nature of money or how it works.

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