Duringthelast recession, plenty of entrepreneurs scored by selling businessesondoing a phone bill audit. They took 30% of the first year's savingsand did thework for free. Today, there are countless ways businessescan save money usingtechnology and outsourcing, but few take fulladvantage. You can train them todo this and keep a share of the savings.

Thisrequirestruly creative thinking. There isn't anything that cannot beoutsourcedtoday - and outsourcing saves companies money. So throw your eyesout offocus and look around you. What do you see that can be outsourced byacompany that you know, that you can arrange. Put the proposal togetherandpresent it. Then ask as your fee a percentage of the savings. Thendo it again.

Connect like-minded people into a movement.

We'veseenplenty of headstrong bootstrapped entrepreneurs turn a blog intothecornerstone of a multi-million dollar empire. The secret: they don'twritetheir message for everyone. Instead, they use the blog as thecenter connectingpoint for a niche, and then go from there. It's easyto list the techsuccesses, but there are literally 10,000 other nichesjust waiting for someoneto connect them.

Theoperativeword here is niche - your corner of the world - that special groupthatis interested in the same things as you. Connect the niches - that isthisconnection. One message that suits all.

Connect people buying with people who are selling.

Youknowhow to use Craigslist and eBay to buy and sell... but most peopledon't.How about finding people in your town with junk that needsremoving, items thatneed selling, odd jobs that need filling... andthen, for a fee, solve theirproblems using your laptop and theseexisting networks? Imagine the power, justto pick one example, ofbuilding an email alert list of 500 garage sale bargainhunters. Everytime you email them, they show up. Now, you can walk into anyhome inany town and guarantee the biggest garage sale success they'veeverseen... and you have the photos to prove it. As long as you protectthe listand do for them, not to them, this asset increases in value.

Andthenbe super smart and take two of these ideas and tie them together. Dothegarage sales and write about them in your own newspaper.

When is the best time to start these new businesses?

Manypeople - whether they realize it or not - let the fear of working from home bethe biggest hurdle that they have to jump in the start-up of their business.The belief that they lack the discipline to effectively communicate withothers, that they would be too distracted, lured away by household chores,tempted by the television or challenged by the obligations of parenthood, stopsthem from ever truly giving themselves a chance. And often, they don't evenrealize that this is going on - it is almost subliminal.

Whatis not recognized is that the typical office has its own set of environmentaldistractions. Chatty neighbors, endless meetings, the loss of concentration,petty jealousies, angry co-workers and belligerent bosses. Of course, workingin an office has its positive aspects also - the sense of community. This isthe big lack that one has when one starts a business at home and this aspect of"community" must be created by all businesses that start as solos.

Sowhat are we really saying here - because most of us involved with iSpeedway aredoing our businesses from home. What are the special needs that we have - thespecial environment that we must put into place and the special tools that weneed to create for ourselves.

This month we are starting a series to deal with these issues.

Thefirst thing you need to understand is what you do have - your strengths. Whatis it that we all have? It is the ability to make this business work, if we arewilling to climb out of ourselves and do so. You have already purchased thebest technology in the business - now you have to couple with it -- the bestattitude.

Doyou have all of the information you need? You bet you do. As long as you haveaccess to the internet, you have all the information you could possibly need oruse. In fact, having information is never our problem - it always centersaround what we do with it and what our attitude is.

Let's get back to the basics and start with ten fundamentals.

First - get in the mood to succeed now and notlater.

Second - find your music and know what it isthat you want this business to do and to look like, when you get it up andgoing.

Third - make sure that you give your businessan atmosphere that allows it to grow. A hostile environment will not work. Ifyour family members are negative and are tearing down the business, either dealwith them directly and get the situation turned around, or if that cannot beaccomplished, then consider removing the business from this environment orconsider whether this business is for you.

Fourth - learn how to use your website, notjust casually, but intimately and expertly.

Fifth - make sure that all the tools on yourwebsite are up and running.

Sixth - learn your product line and make surethat you are price competitive as best you can, but the most important issuehere will always be your product knowledge. This activity is going to take timeand consistent research. Do not think that this is a one-time activity. Stayingon top of a product line is on-going work.

Seventh - decide how you are going tocommunicate with your customers and then learn how to do it well.

Eight - choose what is going to be your"unique" positioning in the marketplace. What is going to make youdifferent from the next person?

Nine - develop a business plan and stick toit

Ten - choose a financial advisor, setyourself up with the proper accounts, and listen to what he or she tells you.

Whenyou accomplish these ten basic steps, plus the addition of one more that wewill cover next week, you will then be ready to fly with your business.

THE DOWNTURN

For those of us who have been around for a while, we have amessage for you - "The sky is not falling". "It may be raininghard, yes, and there might be some significant water damage, but the sky is notfalling. What we are experiencing is a business cycle and we will be hereagain."

If you say those words to someone who has lost their job, have hadtheir home foreclosed on, or their savings account dissipated, then theythrough their emotion are going to feel very differently. But for those of uswho have watched cycles like this before and have been on both ends of thespectrum, it is very easy to recognize a cycle when it arrives.

Headlines are depressing and unrelenting and most businesses haveseen their customers press the economic "pause" button. But we stillhave a strong fundamental economy and businesses that create technology andservices based on this technology, will continue to flourish.

So what does this all mean to you and the business that you havestarted? It means that you succumb to fear - the fear that you read in thenewspapers and listen to on the television is a waste of your energy and yourtime. You need to stay focused on your needs, your business and your future.You need to be proactive and not sit on your laurels "because things arebad". Today, it will be the early bird that will catch the worm and thebusiness people who are willing to put their shoulder to the wheel, who will beready to jump on the profits when the market rise begins.

Keep your own counsel - Don't listen to others -Believe in You - Have the courage to acknowledge and execute what you need.

Now is the time to position yourself by acknowledging the downturnbut planning for the upturn. It is a time to distinguish yourself and yourproduct line, your services to your customers and the re-establishment andreinforcement of your value propositions. Now is the time to take advantage ofthe fact that you have time to do all of these things.

The one thing it is not the time to do - it isnot the time to do nothing.

THE DOWNTURN

For those of us who have been around for a while, we have amessage for you - "The sky is not falling". "It may be raininghard, yes, and there might be some significant water damage, but the sky is notfalling. What we are experiencing is a business cycle and we will be hereagain."

If you say those words to someone who has lost their job, have hadtheir home foreclosed on, or their savings account dissipated, then theythrough their emotion are going to feel very differently. But for those of uswho have watched cycles like this before and have been on both ends of thespectrum, it is very easy to recognize a cycle when it arrives.

Headlines are depressing and unrelenting and most businesses haveseen their customers press the economic "pause" button. But we stillhave a strong fundamental economy and businesses that create technology andservices based on this technology, will continue to flourish.

So what does this all mean to you and the business that you havestarted? It means that you succumb to fear - the fear that you read in thenewspapers and listen to on the television is a waste of your energy and yourtime. You need to stay focused on your needs, your business and your future.You need to be proactive and not sit on your laurels "because things arebad". Today, it will be the early bird that will catch the worm and thebusiness people who are willing to put their shoulder to the wheel, who will beready to jump on the profits when the market rise begins.

Keep your own counsel - Don't listen to others -Believe in You - Have the courage to acknowledge and execute what you need.

Now is the time to position yourself by acknowledging the downturnbut planning for the upturn. It is a time to distinguish yourself and yourproduct line, your services to your customers and the re-establishment andreinforcement of your value propositions. Now is the time to take advantage ofthe fact that you have time to do all of these things.

The one thing it is not the time to do - it isnot the time to do nothing.