Erica's Homework:

Needs of a small business owner
(Research based on interviewing two small start busniesses located in the YMCA, physical therapy office, and food cafe)- Both rent space from our organization.

1. SUPPORT- both of these owners felt it was very important to have someone on their side, whether it be family, friends, or even a consultant.
2. KNOWLEDGE and ADVICE- the lady who owns the physcial therapy office said she was always looking to speak to other people who had started their own physical therapy businesses- most of the businesses she spoke with were in a different part of the country to eliminate threat of local competition.
3. One-Stop- Shop- both business owners like to get all of their office supplies, and business collateral in one spot- one is currently using Office Depot. Being able to get it all done quickly so you have more time to concentrate on your customers and growing your business.
4. Credit Options- both of these owners put a substantial amount of personal $ into opening theie businesses, not leaving a whole lot for incidentals and minor things like paper, pens, etc. They would have loved to have been able to open an account with a supplier...etc.

I looked at Staples and Office Depot to compare their small business sections.
On the staples website there is no easy access to get to business section, in fact I had to type the words small business into the search function.
When it did search it retrieved 17 books about small businesses.

Office Depot- This has a very thorough Business Section- right on their home page is a link to "our Services" this offeres a Business Resource Center, that consists of options to take free online seminars, design business cards, forms stationary, and it even has a print center. In addition their is a small business library, expert advice, and purchasing solutions. (Everyone take a look at this website :)

Thanks guys, can't wait to see what everyone else comes up with..

Welcome Ladies!

Hey Everyone!



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Homework due Tuesday June 30, 2009

-Think about what the needs our for small business owners (0-4 employees counts as a small business)

-Target Market/Research competitors existing small business sites.



Thanks Ladies!