The Sunday Young Entrepreneur News

It’s that time again – only this Sunday has somewhat of a theme – going from small to big! We have four articles to cover, so let’s get started.

This article is based around a small business owner wondering if he should expand. The situation goes like this:

• Guy makes/sells terrariums
• Wants to expand, but not too fast

There’s some pretty good advice given in the article. Basically, if you happen to expand too fast, there are a few ways to mitigate the number of orders:

• Raise prices
• Create a waiting list

“Take a step back and create a business plan” was the main theme of the article. The individual who wrote into Fortune is a young entrepreneur who is ready to quit his day job. If sales show there is potential, there is no need to jump into the big business world. Often, entrepreneurs won’t be ready for such a management position. Hopefully you will take some valuable information away from that article.

The New York Times recently did a business profile on a company that creates a new style of baby bottles. The part I found interesting in the article is when different manufacturing hosts were being discussed – between manufacturing in Taiwan and in China. Despite being less expensive in China, the company found that there is much less pollution and higher wages in Taiwan – and the cost difference isn’t enough to turn them away. As much as I would have loved to hear of them producing the product in their home country, I guess encouraging research of manufacturing dynamics works too. So where, in your opinion, would be the best place to manufacture these bottles (if not in Taiwan)?

Selling products online is not easy, according to this Fortune article posted on CNN. You can’t just come up with an idea, paste “IDEA FOR SALE” on a website, close your eyes, open them, and expect $5,000,000 in your PayPal account. You have to sell it. It may be online, but products don’t ask for customers to buy them (unless it is a product that is designed specifically to ask for customers to buy them) – you have to sell your product. If you started a business online and aren’t turning a profit – you either have too much competition or no one knows it is there! Things to remember:

• Namedrop, namedrop, namedrop, namedrop your website everywhere!
• Online selling/marketing takes work… trust me.
• Don’t lose focus

This isn’t anything critical – I am just posting this article up because I love Scotland! Anyways, according to The Herald, a new award recognizes young entrepreneurs that increase tourism in Scotland! I guess that means it is time for me to start a business selling Scottish maps and plane tickets!