If you own a business then I am sure you have felt the pinch of our economy. I know most of has felt the effects in one way or another. But if you are a small business owner it is probably especially hard on you. What can you do to make sure your business survives? I don’t have any special tricks for you or the answer to that question. But I can offer a couple of tips based on what I have read.

One thing you may want to consider is get to know your customers. Maybe create a email list or a mailing list and send out cards or even photo cards . The more you create a personal relationship with your customers the better the chance that you will have repeat business. That’s what I would hope to receive from some of the people I do business with.

I don’t think there are a lot of people in the US who have vision insurance.  I was reading an article on New York Times about this very thing.  It stated that only 17% of employers offer a vision plan to their employees.  We did have vision insurance until my husband became self-employed.  Now?  No vision insurance for us.  But guess what?  I need glasses.  I need them in order to see far away.  So, I have two choices.  Don’t wear any eyeglasses and have a hard time seeing.  Or cough up a bunch of money for glasses.

Turns out- there is another choice.  In that very same article in New York Times they mention an optical site that offers discounts on eyeglasses and anti wrinkle eye cream .  This company offers generic frames which includes your lenses for $8 and up, email me and I’ll direct you to the site.  Now that?  I can afford.  I can even afford to buy a couple of pairs just in case I lose or ruin one.

Basically what I am telling you is- if you need glasses but you don’t have a vision plan you can still afford to buy the glasses you need.

I know that most people are usually looking for some ways to save some money. Especially with how our economy is right now, most of us don’t have a whole lot of extra money to spend. One way you can save yourself some money is to look for the best deals on insurance plans, like disability insurance . Use the internet and search for the best rates, there out there.

When my husband I first got married we spent quite a bit of time looking for the best insurance company for our insurance needs. And by we, I mean me. I made a lot of phone calls. I made sure we got all of the discounts possible. And we are definitely saving quite a bit of money on our insurance. So, make sure you shop around for the best rates.

The Internet can be a great tool to save some money.  One thing that I use it for is to find coupons for my purchases.  I very rarely make an online purchase without a coupon code.  I love to use sites that offer great products at a great price.

Since I have kids I am always using the Kids and Baby sections of sites, and looking for the the deals. Everytime school time comes around I look at a lot sites for deals on clothes, toys , shoes, and just about everything else.

If you’re looking to save some money be sure to search for online coupons before all of your online purchases. And don’t buy anything until you searched for a code or coupon, there out there, you just need to look.

There are a lot of ways to save money, one way are blogs. There are a ton of blogs out there. I even came across a carinsurancelist blog . Which is kind of funny since we ever use one of our cars. However my wife wants to keep it on the road in case our main car breaks down. So a friend of ours recommended we call our insurance provider to get some new low rate. Sure enough- they lowered our rate because we rarely drive it. They do however want to know how far we drive, which isn’t very much at all. I think it’s like 50 miles a month, if that. I would recommend that everyone call their provider, it worked for us.

If you own a home then you know you need to have insurance on your home. All banks these days won’t even give you a loan on your home until you have a insurance provider lined up. You have to protect your home as well as your valuables that are inside your home. But with all of the choices out there how can you possibly know the best home insurance you could have? I would recommend that you contact your car insurance provider, or any other provider you already use. In most case you can get a discount on other services they may offer. Also, use the internet to find more rates and discounts. Not only can you find discounts on home and auto insurance, you can find great life insurance online quote . You just need to do your research and a simple search to find what you’re looking for. The great rates are out there, just go looking for them.

As most of you know, and feeling, the world’s economy is in the worst shape it’s been in since the great depression in the 1930’s. Lately just as things seem to be getting better something happens for the worst. It seems like every day you hear that more and more people are losing their jobs. I read that the America unemployed is at it’s highest it’s ever been. Right now the national unemployment is still over 10 percent. And many of these people have no where to turn to pay their bills. Most are using their credit cards, selling their gold and gold coins to help get by until they find work. This people are going to be taking on so much debt their going to file for chapter 11 before things get better. Just because the stock markets are up doen’t mean things are ok. We need jobs, and fast!

Recently, Hubby and I took a big step- he left his job to pursue his life-long dream of owning his own business.  He is very good at what he does, but things are a bit rough as we are in the beginning stages of a new business.  Since all of this is new to us we have had to look into some financial reporting software to help us keep track of our income and expenses. I can you that there’s 2 parts to running a business, doing the work is the easy part, keeping track of everything is a pain.

Times are hard financially right now for many, many people.  At one time people were able to put away part of their paycheck every week into a savings account.  We all know we should have money set aside in an emergency fund just in case something happens.  But so many are struggling to just pay their regular bills.  Maybe you fall into this category.  So, what do you do if an unusual expense comes up?  What if your car breaks down?  Or there is a medical emergency and you have to pay part of the expense?  You could get a payday loan to help you if you are in this situation.  Or you can call on family members to help.  I would recommend that you ask family first, if that fails then get a loan.

Over the years my husband has talked a lot about starting his own business.  The problem with starting a business is that it is expensive!  You need a lot of money for the start up costs.  At one time we almost started a candy shop in a mall but things did not work out and we ended up not being able to do it.  But, I learned a lot about starting a business as we worked towards started that one.

You will probably need a loan when you start your business.  Unless you are fortunate enough to have some extra money in the bank you probably don’t have the money you need.  You are also going to need to be able to take credit card payments at your new business.  Finding a good merchant processer good be a pain. 

There is a lot of information out there for you.  Be sure to research and plan very well before starting your new business!