What You Must Know Before You Become an Entrepreneur
August 16, 2011 | 
Author Does entrepreneurship interest you? Could it be that you plan to get your own store where clientele can come by? You may also prefer to become a health, cosmetics, and beauty product dealer. If you wish for, you can also have an online shop. Each will, naturally, have its own array of pros and cons. Find out which option works the best for you.
To make the most of the market, you may even employ a little bit of each method.
After you determine what selling method you are going to use, it's time to start on the search for the perfect location. When in business, it is very important to pay attention to location. Consider the level of foot traffic that an area gets when you are choosing a store location. If you wish to sell online, make your mark on a fashionable networking web site and advertise as much as you could. On site stores could also greatly benefit from an ad campaign. If you possibly can, take out an commercial in the paper, on the local radio, or even on TV. This helps get your label around. It is also significant to value the importance of ‘word of mouth’ marketing. Ask shoppers to tell people they know about your store and about what you'd do. These approaches can help to boost sales.Aside from just figuring out where to sell and how to advertise, you should also find out what you should sell. For example, you can go for dermatologic products and urge clientele to buy Acnezine Acne treatment. There is no limit to what you choose. Trade a wide range of products if you desire. If you favor, you can also service a specific market like nail fungus cures and sell Zetaclear Nail Fungus Relief.
Once you know what it is you desire to sell your next step would be to make sure that the goods are of good quality. Before you decide on any particular product, make sure that you read as many testimonials as you can first. For instance, before you are looped into selling stretch mark creams from Revitol, guantee that you read Revitol stretch mark creams product reviews. This can help to ensure that you are advertising only the best. That way you can establish trust with your clientele.
It is also crucial for you to have a good relationship with your providers. This is another great reason why selling a good product is so vital. Think about it, if you know that you are selling a good product, you won't be bothering your providers with a lot of complains about product quality. It is also vital to go straight to the manufacturers whenever possible.
The Many Needs Met by a Small Business Loan
As many small businesses struggle in difficult economic times, small business loans are reaching heightened demand. With multiple applications for the money one borrows, these loans can be a convenient way to take care of financial woes faced by the business. From start-ups to expansions, small businesses everywhere are benefitting from the small business loan.
A common use of the small business loan is to purchase or replace company assets. From inventories to manufacturing machinery, assets can be a wide variety of things. Essentially, the company's assets are what allow the business to gain profit. Without assets, the business fails. Without funds to purchase assets, the business simply doesn't stand a chance. Even if you're looking to expand your business with additional assets to increase production, a small business loan can certainly help.
As most of us know, businesses commonly seek ways to improve their overall look. From new signs to complete remodels, it's important that the business look its best to attract customers. A small business loan is a great way for the business owner to find the funds to allow for such steps to be taken. If the overall appearance of the business is causing a loss of customers, the business owner is compelled to take action to resolve the issue. From a quick paint job, to an entirely new look, a business loan can give the business the financial freedom to improve their look.
Another obvious application of the funds secured through a small business loan is the purchase of property on which to conduct business. From expansions to a start up, the business must have a location at which to operate. The most common use for a small business loan, naturally, is the initial investment of said location. With so many options available, it's important for the business owner to be knowledgeable about the best loan to suit his or her particular needs.
No longer as simple as setting up shop, the world of small businesses continues to evolve. With more new businesses opening their doors every day, the demand for loans has increased substantially. From day to day operations to big projects, small business loans are useful tools for the business owner to create and maintain a highly profitable operation. Whatever you're in need of when you seek out a lender and fill out an application, there is a small business loan tailored to fit your needs.
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Tags: action, appearance, application, business, care, chance, demand, freedom, investment, issue, Loan, location, look, loss, machinery, manufacturing, money, need, operation, production, profit, purchase, shop, small business loan, small business loans, use, way | 
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Need Money for Your Business?
I found this really cool website where you may want to get funding for your fledgling donut business, it is a peer to peer loan network... I like to compare it to the Ebay of Loaning Money...It is a VERY cool concept.. Watch the video for a tour of the site. If you are looking to finance your donut venture but have been turned down by banks, this may be a viable option for you.... Definitely worth a shot without all the hassle!
Click Below for the Website I'm talking about in video
General Donut Shop Questions
Here are some more questions I have been recieving over the past several months.... I am going to do a posting once or twice a week of all the questions I have recieved.. Don't worry I will not post your name or give any identifying information.. If you don't want your questions published, let me know. You can click on the Ask A Question tab to ask your question.
Richard asks…
I gotta have some ideas to increase sales for my donut shop.. do you have any ideas? Especially around the holidays?
I was trying to ask this on the forums but was locked out for some reason and I have had no response from admin... I purchased an established donut business and would like to find out how to drum up business... and bring more attention to my shop... I would like to keep it clean since it is a family business and town..
John answers:
First I'd like to congratulate you on your donut business.. I should be asking you questions not hte other way around.. 
But how about having some holiday donut decorating classes, how to make donuts and the fillings that go in there... Have some special holiday only specials.. really decorate your store for the holidays.. Maybe you could do somethng for the kids as well.. like have a coloring contest with a prize from the store.. perhaps maybe even sponsor some senior or children's events at your store.. I know that a store (not donut) does that around my area and seem to be quite successful with it...
Linda asks…
I work for ( manager) for a donut shop and need some ideas?
I am trying ot think of things i can bake and sale for halloween i am going to try candy apples but is there anything else u think would be good or u would like to see in a donut shop???
John answers:
I would try anything with nuts and candy corn, add some orange color in there... always a hit..
Robert asks…
I am looking for a donut cutter in madrid?
John answers:
I don't think donuts are cut.
Maria asks…
I am a student and am looking to find out the percentage percent charged on gross sales by a franchise (for a donut shop)
I am doing research for school and am purchasing mock businesses... I chose to start a donut shop.. I am going to use your blog (with your permission) to get some ideas and mention in my assignment... thanks so much!!!
John answers:
That is very interesting... good luck on your project.. We still have a ways to go, but we are well educated (we feel) in the area of donuts.. To answer your question, not all franchises charge a percentage of sales..
I emailed you some links about franchising, specifically donuts, and yes you can use our blog in your research. Good luck!
Posted in Donut Business Questions | Tags: bake, basis, bread, business, business plan, candy, climate, customer, cutter, Decorate, donut business, donut franchise, doughnut business, doughnut franchise, doughnut recipe, event, family, flower, foot, General, good, goodwill, halloween, help, holiday, how to start a donut business, how to start a doughnut shop, hte, industry, Information, luck, machinsJohn, madrid, manager, margin, Nuts, orange, percent, permission, Pretzels, prize, project, reason, sale, shop, something, store, student, tab, Thanksgiving, time, town, work | No Comments »
Your questions about How to Start a Donut Business
Each week (maybe even 2 or 3 times a week) I am going to answer questions that I've recieved since starting this blog almost 2 years ago.... I still get questions averaging about 3 or 4 a week... I am going to start sorting through my email and posting the answers to all the questions I have recieved... of course the names have been protected and I wouldn't dare put anyone's real name unless I was asked to..... Keep those questions coming, you can ask them on the Ask a Question Tab.
Today I am answering questions about donut franchises... enjoy!
Charles asks…
How do I start a donut business such as Dunkin or JCO? or JCO Donuts?
I know its a franchise business so I want to know how much is the money involve n what license do i need to apply ... I can't seem to find any definitive answers on franchises...
John answers:
Personally, For donuts, I would not franchise... I have looked into different franchising oportunities and it just isn't worth it in my opinion. Now I agree that branding makes a huge difference in a restuarant on in the food industry.. however, donuts are a little different. If you have a good donut recipe and something catchy, you would not need the huge overhead of a franchise.
My suggestions.
1. Attend some training in baking or confections... a lot of times there are classes at your local community college.
2. Experiment of the different donut
variations ... check our our website mydonutrecipe.com Ed Chastain also puts out a good product where he teaches you how to make donuts, it is really that good. Experiment and come up with something on your own.
3. Open your donut shop with coffee, your own drinks... something catchy.
4. Start selling your donuts to churches, concessions (see our main blog), see if people like the taste of them before you invest in a lot of equipment, etc.
This is cheaper but riskier... but business is all about risk..
Lizzie asks…
where is the JCo donuts & coffee headquarters?
John answers:
It is owned and operated by the Johnny Andrean Group and has its HQ in Jakarta:
Supermall Karawaci
Phone (021) 5421 1998
Email : hello@jcodonuts.com
http://www.jcodonuts.com/
Maria asks…
where I can buy donuts in Krakow, Poland?
John answers:
Wow, this is an interesting question... Personally I have never been to Poland (lived in Europe for several years though, specifically in Germany) The only thing I know about Polish donuts is "paczki" though I have never had them personally... I run into a lot of recipes for them.. going to have to try them one day soon I guess.
Posted in Donut Business Questions | Tags: Andrean, business, coffee, college, com, course, daleko, difference, donut, doughnut, Dunkin, email, equipment, food, good, Group, industry, jco, Johnny, Karawaci, Kawiarnia, license, line, lot, money, oldtown, Open, opinion, order, overhead, phone, place, recipe, restuarant, shop, something, store, Supermall, taste, tea, ThanxPowered, today, training, Yahoo | No Comments »
The Latest News, Ask Us a Question and New Design
Well, I was once excited about putting our fledgling donut shop in a high traffic outdoor shopping/entertainment area... I have to admit I was lazy and didn't follow up on all the details. I just have so many projects sometimes I find it difficult to focus and zero in on any one thing. This was the perfect place I thought for our donuts.... It was in a very high traffic area and right next door to Starbucks.. It was small enough that the rent wouldn't be high.. we most likely would not have a lot of people eating them indoors... Well I went by there the other day and there is now a pretzel shop in there.
I have heard people express concern that donuts is a cold weather food.... people just don't go and buy donuts like they do pretzels.. Maybe you have to have a different reason for people to buy them? I am not sure about that.. I go back and forth. I think with enough traffic about anything will sell... as long as its decent. This place had the traffic, that is for sure. I still think that the less risky avenue would be to start out concession style. You can read about some of that on this blog... though we've yet to do that.
We get quite a few questions on our blog about the donut business.. Though we are far from experts we try to answer as many questions as we can.. It was cumbersome to ask us a question before, so I made a special page for you to do just that.. ask us anything related to the donut/concession business. We will post them on our blog. Hope everyone is enjoying the new design of our blog... I wanted to try something different and this is the result!!! Be sure to check out our sister sites MyConcessionBusiness.com and MyDonutRecipe.com Good Luck Everyone!
Business Advice from an Experienced Donut Seller
Below is Part 4 of the email I received from a successful vendor who sells mini donuts and other items at his trailers. Thanks Dave for sharing this info with our readers!
Also, you never want to get too far ahead of yourself with making the donuts. I'll start the morning off with one batch, which gets me about 12 bags. When I get down to 2 bags, I'll start another batch. When I start frying, I turn my exhaust hood on, and the aroma gets drawn out of the trailer into the field. And this aroma draws people to my trailer! Smell sells when it comes to donuts! I've seen some vendors with smell-sensitive things like kettle corn or mini donuts who want to make their entire product first thing in the morning, so they can just sit there and sell and collect money for the rest of the day. Then they sit there and wonder why they can't move their product. Smell sells... trust me! Make them as you need them, that way the smell will keep drawing people to you, and people will get them nice and hot when they're best. And if people get donuts that they think are really good, they'll be repeat customers. It took me 5 years selling at the same location to build my business to where it now is. That trailer is a stationary unit by the way... it stays at the market year-round, and has not moved from that spot since 2006. I usually sell between 150 and 200 bags of donuts on a typical day now... I think my record day in 2010 was 236 bags. There are days I cannot keep up with the demand... I've got people placing orders and waiting, and I just keep making them as fast as I can. It takes the machine about 1 minute to make 1 bag of donuts. So there are mornings I'm literally making $3 a minute for hours. And that's just on donuts. I sell so much coffee that I needed to invest in a second commercial airpot coffee maker. I could not keep up with just one machine. I sell usually around 30 airpots worth of coffee in a morning. I also do tea, hot chocolate, iced tea, iced coffee, smoothies, canned soda, and bottled water. It is a relatively simple menu, but the trailer runs like a well-oiled machine, and everything I sell is very high profit. I buy bottled water cases at Costco... it amounts to about 15 cents a bottle, and I sell it for $1.50. On a hot summer day, I could easily sell 50-70 bottles of water. Another thing I should mention, which I think is a large part of why I have been successful there at the market, is because I keep my trailer very clean. People like to see that. I also like to use all professional signage... I think hand made signage is tacky and looks unprofessional. I got those "Dave's Donuts" signs made up last year at a professional sign shop. People want to shop at a trailer that looks professional and clean, and if you have a good aroma coming from it, that's a plus as well.
Back in 2007, a fresh squeezed lemonade stand opened up 2 spots up from my donut trailer. It was a simple setup, just a table and umbrella and ice bucket, but damn... they did a good business! They'd have a line on any sunny hot day during the summer. That space had been vacant for a while, and I was kicking myself for not starting up something like that on my own. I told myself, if and when the time comes that they close, I'll take over. Well, 2009 came along and they never returned. 2010 came and the spot was still vacant. So I finally took some initiative and talked to the market manager, and he agreed to rent me the spot to sell lemonade. So then I had to find a trailer, outfit it how I would need it for lemonade, and get it to the market ASAP because the hot summer days were quickly ticking away. I found a used 6'x10' concession trailer on Craigslist that I thought would do the trick. It's my only "real" concession trailer... a Haulmark, not a homemade job. And what a difference in quality! I will NEVER buy another homemade concession trailer. The Haulmark is very well built. No leaks, and a solid floor. Here's a video of what it looked like when I first bought it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3V2w5cNmDIU
Stay tuned tomorrow when Dave talks about the importance of your stand or trailer and why it should look good. He gives you some advice on where to find wraps and things to make it look its best!
Still wondering where to sell your donuts? Ever thought about selling them concession style? Below is an excellent site to get you started, it will help you answer a lot of questions you may have. There is no limit to the number of questions a future business owner can ask, this site really breaks it down for you. Definitely a good read.
Posted in Concession Business, Donut Equipment, Starting a Donut Business, Starting a Donut Business - Legal Issues | Tags: aroma, Auto, bag, business, coffee, concession, demand, Draft, everything, homemade, hood, info, lemonade, location, machine, menu, plus, record, Seller, selling, shop, sign, something, spot, table, tea, time, umbrella, worth, year | No Comments »
Flea Markets Aren’t a Guaranteed Money Maker?
Below is Part 3 of the email I received from Dave. I am posting it for everyone to learn from, with his permission.
Posted in Concession Business, donut recipes, Starting a Donut Business, Starting a Donut Business - Legal Issues | Tags: amperage, bag, batter, board, coffee, cup, electricity, Everyone, flavor, Flea, hood, machine, mark, menu, permission, power, promo, ribbon, sausage, table, temperature, time, tin, waste, year | No Comments »
Selling Donuts – Email from Someone who is actually doing it
This is part 2 of the email I received from the concession vendor who sells everything from donuts to ice treats. He gives some advice on where to respond to ads and mentions a website that he uses and had success with. If you are interested in the selling your donuts concession style, you really owe it to yourself to check out the site mobile catering business... don't let the word "mobile catering" confuse you, it is just another way to say concession business.
Here is part 2:
Thanks Dave for all the first class advice you have given to me and our readers. Looks like you really know this business! Be sure to visit tomorrow for Part 3 of his email. Yes, it is quite an extensive email, thanks again Dave!
Posted in Concession Business, Donut Equipment, Starting a Donut Business, Starting a Donut Business - Legal Issues | Tags: Auto, balance, Belshaw, card, center, chowder, credit, Draft, egg, event, everything, good, HUGE, interest, lesson, manager, Nobody, operation, ribbon, selling, someone, spot, time, Vendors, waste, weekend, year | No Comments »
Walking the Walk – Selling Donuts – Italian Ice
Hi Everyone, I wanted to share with you an email that I received from one of our blog readers... I am posting it here with his permission. I think our readers will gain a lot from his experience in the field. It is a lenghtly, informative email so I am going to break it down into 3 or 4 sections posted in 3 or 4 days. Hope you enjoy. Below is discusses how he got started and a little advice for setting up your trailer. A lot of people reading this blog are interesting in selling the donuts concession style, for example at flea markets and the like. If you are interested in doing that, there is a great website that will basically "hold your hand" and teach you the ropes in explicit detail, head on over to:
I don't do a lot of promotion of the site, except in the forums I've added a banner.. but it truly is a good resource. Here is Part 1 of the email, thanks again Dave for your excellent advice! I have found (and as I have told Dave) that people in the concession business are so secretive with their information so this is a rare glimpse in someone that is actually walking the walk.
Posted in Concession Business, Starting a Donut Business | Tags: blog, blueberry, business, concession, condition, detail, event, Everyone, eye, framing, half, head, Hope, Ice, Information, John, linoleum, milk, money, Nobody, permission, plywood, shake, shop, someone, something, time, trailer, weekend, year | No Comments »
