It sounds very contradictory. (1) There is lots of money for business, and (2) Don't use it.

But that is the truth. There is lots of money, more than there has been for a long, long time. Investors are really wary of the real estate market, so business investments at all levels is the next best thing.

But investors on all levels want companies that are frugal. Need furniture for your employees? Great. But don't spend $5,000 on a desk. And don't hire every type of employee you can think of.

The Silicon Valley garage style business is definitely the order of the day. HP and Apple, and most other great companies in Silicon Valley, became great because they knew how to leverage the money they had.

This has immense implications for your business plan. Don't just BE frugal. SHOW how you are frugal. If you are buying used equipment, say so. If the CFO will also be handling AR and AP, say so. Strut your stuff.

TOP FREEBIE
PAINT.NET

Three people recently have told me about a free image program. It's called "Paint.net", but is accessible at www.getpaint.net . I downloaded and tried it.

This is a powerful program. It uses layers to create stunning effects, with every bell and whistle that you could imagine.

But it has a couple of serious drawbacks. One is that there is no documentation. If you are a great intuitive learner, fine. I suspect, too, that if you have experience with Adobe PhotoShop you will really like this program. If you don't have that experience, well you are out of luck. The "tutorials" are actually forum based discussions from testosterone driven teenagers who love shiny cars. They have been saying for two years that they will create a lesson or two for beginners, but it still isn't there.

Far more satisfying, at a price of only $99 is my web editor of choice. It includes a graphics program. That, together with a couple of freebies like Dreamlight Photo Editor, and I can get some decent web graphics.

I don't, for the most part, think very highly of the "business plans" that come out of academia. They tend to be for huge companies with impossible dreams. This one from Yale University is different. It is for a smaller non-profit coffee enterprise. And it makes sense. It's very well written. No wonder it was a grand prize winner in the non-profit business plan competition!

SiteSell -- the web host that judges its success by your success. Take a look at some SBI clients that have made it to the top 1% of all sites.

Why incorporate your business? You can’t afford not to!
PROTECT your Personal Assets. SAVE on Self-Employment & Income Taxes.
It’s quick and easy with The Company Corporation®

____________________________

I'm the person in the lifeboat, where if the lifeboat was full of holes and going down and all there was a Dixie cup, I'd be the one still bailing the water even though clearly that Dixie cup would not be able to get the water out in time to save the boat. But I would be of this belief that it could happen. Maybe I've just had too many experiences in my life where I've had things which were not supposed to happen to me: none of this was ever supposed to happen to me. I was never supposed to have a film career, and I didn't go to film school

Michael Moore, writer, filmmaker, and political activist

____________________________