Ask practically

Ask practically anyone you meet and you’ll find out that they have “the next big” business idea. We all think we do. So if that’s the case, how come there aren’t more entrepreneurs out there? How come people aren’t leaving their day jobs in a mass exodus, following their dreams of entrepreneurship?  

It takes money.

An idea will only get you so far. But unless you have the financial backing to turn that idea into a reality, you don’t have much of anything. That said, the average person often doesn’t have the funding to give their idea a go, and the fear of leaving a steady paycheck is enough to keep that dream stuck inside their head, where it will never amount to anything. 

But not you. You’re an entrepreneur at heart. It’s in your blood, and you’re not going to rest until you give it a go. So you’re on the prowl for start-up capital. All you need is to land the right investor and you’ll be on your way. 

It sounds good, right? The problem is that it isn’t easy. Let’s face it – to someone who has the money, you pose a big risk. After all, they’ve probably heard all the statistics on the large percentage of start-ups that fail. So how can you overcome the doubt and convince a potential investor to fund you the cash you need to get moving on the idea? 

You’re going to have to avoid these 5 common mistakes...

1. Underestimate how much funding you need

One of the biggest reasons start-ups fail is not accurately calculating start-up funding. And it’s not necessarily that the entrepreneur didn’t get what they asked for in the beginning—it’s that they didn’t ask for enough.

It may sound silly, but a lot of people simply do not do the due diligence necessary to truly understand how much money they’ll need. This is often because the starry eyed new business owner expects things to go his way, so he’s unrealistic about needs. Rather than calculating costs if things don’t go well, he often will figure out how much money he’ll require assuming everything goes right. Big mistake. Assume that everything will go as bad as possible and plan accordingly. Then if you have more capital than necessary…well, no harm, no foul!

2. Don’t have a solid business plan

Let’s face it. Potential investors are going to be skeptical when you present them with your idea. So you need to do everything you can to try and show them that you’re not going to blow their money. Simply presenting a creative idea won’t accomplish this goal. You need to show them that you have a well-developed plan. That means a complete business plan. Consider getting help from a business plan writer here if you don’t have experience writing them.

A domain name

A domain name is a unique alpha-numeric address used to identify and locate a specific computer on the internet. They allow users to type in a name that is easy to remember, such as smallbusinessbc.ca which is then translated into the Domain Name System (DNS) as a numerical address (Internet Protocol Numbers) such as 69.90.63.128. DNS allows you to access a website without having to remember the numerical address.

What Is a Domain Name Extension?

A domain name extension is what appears after the domain name. For example, in www.smallbusinessbc.ca ".ca" is the extension. Choosing your extension is just as important as deciding on a domain name, the extension lets users know what type of website they are visiting, is it a Canadian business or an organization? There are many extensions available.

Where Can I Register a Domain Name and What Will It Cost?

You can register a domain name online with a domain name registrar. For a list of registration authorities, visit the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

If registering a .ca domain name, you can have 2 to 50 characters in length. If registering a .ca, .net, .org domain name, you can have 1 to 67 characters. Letters and numbers with hyphens in between are acceptable.

The cost to register a domain name depends on which company you decided to go with, on average it will cost about $10 – $30 for a one year subscription. It is suggested that you register your domain name for three to five years to ensure you maintain the name and the registration cost is less expensive over a longer period of time.

For more information on how to select a doman name, see Choosing and Registering an Effective Domain Name.

Choose a Domain Extension

Choose a Domain Extension

At this point you'll have a range of domain name extensions to choose from. A domain name extension is the letter combination to the right of the domain name itself after the period. Below, is a list of the more popular extensions and what they mean. com Short for "commercial" - designed for commercial enterprises world-wide.

• .com is the most popular and important extension for those selling on the Internet, yet it is also the least available
• .ca Short for "Canada" also available, .uk (United Kingdom), .nl (Netherlands) etc. These are country specific extensions
• .biz Short for "business" – created as a supplement to .com addresses
• .org Short for "organization" – designed for use by non-profit making organizations such as charities and clubs
• .net Short for "network" – originally designed for use by Internet Service Providers
• .edu Short for "education" – designed for educational organizations
• .gov Short for "government" – designed for use by government
• .info Short for "information" – unrestricted use

You will have to decide which extensions are most important to your business. This will depend on your audience, the nature of your business and the image you want to promote. Keep in mind, you can choose more than one extension in fact, choosing all applicable extensions is recommended to ensure maximum exposure and minimize mistaken identity.

If you are promoting or selling a commercial product or service and have to choose between a .com and another extension, consider registering a .com extension first, even if it means choosing an alternate domain name. The reason for this is that .com extensions are still the most popular and most likely to be typed in by a user guessing at or trying to remember a domain name. Second, as a Canadian organization a .ca should also be considered then, .biz and others.

Register Your Domain Name

Buying an Available Domain Name

Once you have chosen your domain name and checked its availability, registering your name is easy.

For a list of registration authorities, visit the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

When choosing a registrar:

• Avoid organizations that charge too much. Anything above $50 CAD for a .ca is too high.
• Choose an organization that offers timely telephone and email customer service, comprehensive FAQs, and an easy to use website.
• Choose an organization that offers features you may want to take advantage of, now or in the future, such as Domain Forwarding or Domain Gripping.

The cost of a domain name varies depending on the extension you choose, and the features offered by the registrar such as Domain Forwarding or Gripping, but averages between $30 and $50 CAD per year.

In most cases, you are required to register and pay for your domain name online using a credit card, although some registrars will accept cheques.

Keep in mind, when you register your domain name, you are not buying it outright. Think of your domain name like a phone number you are paying for the right to use it for a period of time. You can register a domain name for one year, two years, five years etc. After that time you will be given the option of renewing for another period.

Buying Already Owned Domain Names

If you have your heart set on a particular name that has been taken, online registrars also offer the ability to view purchaser contact information and, if you are willing to negotiate price you may be able to purchase the domain from another.

Want to Find Out More?

Attend Small Business BC's Getting Online seminar series to find out how to get your business online, measure your success and use social media to promote it.

Alternatively contact ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) or CIRA (Canadian Internet Registration Authority). 

Effective Domain Name

Research an Effective Domain Name

List all the keywords that relate to your business.

Consider not only your company name but also your industry, products, services, audiences, and key differentiating factors.

Brainstorm word combinations.

Chances are that each of the keywords you've listed has already been taken separately. But, you can utilize your list to form two-word combinations. Try to choose words that are not easy to misspell, or are not easily confused with others. Consider combinations with and without hyphens.

Also consider choosing a name that says what it is that you do. For example, if your business name is "My Name and Associates", but your service is accounting, you may want to choose a domain name which incorporates keywords related to accounting: accountants, tax return, tax filing etc. Choosing a keyword-rich domain name will not only make your address easy to remember but it will also help your website rank higher in Internet search engines.

Check Your Domain Name Availability

To see if your name is available, you can go to the web page of any accredited registrar (there are hundreds out there) and type the name you want into the search box on their site. The program will tell you right away if your name is available. Check all of your top name choices, and minor variations of them. If the name you've chosen is easily misspelled, you may also want to consider checking and registering misspellings of the name and pointing those additional domains to the same website. You may also want to consider checking and registering hyphenated and non-hyphenated versions of the same name.

What's in a name

What's in a name? Plenty, especially if you are marketing or selling online. A domain name provides an online identity and contact point for your business or organization. Marketers are so aware of the monetary value attached to names and their use on the Internet, domain name buying and selling has become a business in itself; some coveted domain names have been sold for more than a million dollars.

In fact, domain name squatting or hijacking that is, registering a brand-recognized internet address with the sole intent of selling it to the highest bidder has been the focus of many lawsuits.

It's not surprising, since domain names help build brand recognition in the same way that a business name or product name can. And, considering how people use the Internet often guessing an address based on a company name or product, a well-chosen domain address can increase an organization's website traffic and in turn, impact their bottom line.

That said, choosing an appropriate yet available name is no easy task in a saturated market - world-wide, registered domain names near five billion and counting.

Therefore, choosing the right domain name means balancing availability with brand recognition and user appeal.

Below, are some tips on how to choose and register an effective domain name for your website.

Choose a Memorable Domain Name

On the Internet, short, easy to remember names that relate to your core business work best. Nevertheless, simple, very short domains are often unavailable so, unless your company or product name is unique, you may have to create a two-word combination.

When choosing a name, keep in mind that you are not restricted to your registered business name. Therefore, although you may want to choose a name that contains all or part of your company name, alternately you may want to use the name of a product or service that you offer.

Sometimes we all need

Sometimes we all need a little help from the electronic world. As apps become more widespread and powerful, entrepreneurs are turning to these tools to help their businesses run more smoothly. These seven apps will help make your day-to-day business life more efficient and organised.

1. Xero 

This bookkeeping app is perfect for small businesses. The online software lets you monitor your cashflow in real-time and can be viewed from anywhere you have an internet connection, including your iPhone

 

The app is easy to set-up and use; simply go to the website and sign-up for an account. If you’ve used other software or a series of spreadsheets prior to using this app, you can import this data directly into the app. There is no need to re-input the information. Once the account is set-up, you can then download the free mobile app, which will sync with the web app to give you real-time information on what money is going in and out of your business.

 

Another benefit of the app is that it can automatically reconcile with most of the Canadian banks. Once hooked up, it will speak to any account, credit card or PayPal account you ask it to. Dealing with foreign markets? The tool monitors exchange rates for over 160 currencies every hour, allowing you to see real time data.

They even make it easy for your accountant, allowing you to invite an unlimited number of people to access your account for free while controlling the sections they can view and their editing rights. 

 

Want to make sure your invoices stay on brand? The app allows you to tailor its templates with your branding and formatting. Once set-up, you then have an option to include payment links at the bottom of your invoices so that clients can make direct payments to you using their credit card or PayPal.

 

The system also plays well with others. The team at Xero have developed many partnerships with other apps, meaning you can: manage payroll, use it as a point of sale, manage inventory, use it for e-commerce, track your interactions with a CRM and much more.

Pricing

The free trial will help you understand how the tool works. The trial lasts for 180 days and will enable you create five new invoices and reconcile 50 bank statement lines. 

 

Once you have decided that this is the app for you, there are three monthly price plans to choose from, at: $19, $29 and $39 per month. 

2. Payfirma

It’s now easier to take payments anytime, anywhere, with Payfirma’s mobile app. The app allows you to accept payments, offer returns and pre-authorise transactions using a simple plug-in swiper. 

 

Want to keep track of where the majority of your sales happen, geographically? The app allows you to tag each transaction with a location on a map. You can even check your sales trends on your phone to monitor how well you are doing that day, week or month. 

 

As an added extra, you can help save the planet by emailing receipts to your clients. Once you have taken the payment, the app delivers an e-receipt direct to the customer’s inbox.

 

The app is fully secure and holds no data on the card swiper or the phone. All data is held in a cloud account, accessible through a secure gateway.

Pricing

The app is free, however the card swiper costs $99. The app does not require the swiper, however, the app can be used by typing in the credit card number, if you are looking to save some money. 

 

There are additional payment processing fees, which include:

• Monthly processing fee: $15
• Monthly statement fee: $10
• Fee per transaction: $0.25
• Visa/Mastercard rate per transaction: $1.99