Small Business Boomers

A friend of mine – another Baby Boomer – died last weekend and I went to his memorial service a few days ago.  What struck me was the old photos in the video slide show – they could have been mine … or yours.

On a pony. Remember when they used to have traveling photographers who came around and took pictures of children on ponies?   I have a similar picture.

On stair steps. In one photo he was standing on the steps of his house with his brother and sister.

In snowsuits. I was touched by the photo of him in a …read more

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TV, movies, everywhere you turn, you see photos of kids. No baby boomers. Where are the photos of baby boomers?
i use photos all the time for my posts, and every time I look for anything, I find photos of kids. I’m talking young people in their 20s. Not a baby boomer among them. For example, I was looking for photos of business conversations. All of them are of young people. The only way I can get a photo of a baby boomer is to type in “seniors” – older people. We Baby Boomers …read more

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People talk about “customer service” but no one does anything about it.  Instead, we have decided to forgo customer service in favor of “efficiency.”  I’m talking about those wonderful phone calls we have to make to talk to machines and punch 17 buttons in order to get to talk with a real person.  I am usually a very calm person but I get tense just thinking about having to do this. I become another person (a crazy one), and my husband has to leave the room.
Two calls this week sent me over the edge.  In the first, a charge was …read more

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I’m running a contest on my other blog – Home Biz Notes – and I wanted to let you know about it.  The prize is a Brother Color Inkjet “All in One” printer.  The winner will receive the printer directly from Brother.
Here is the link to the contest with details on how to win:   http://www.homebiznotes.com/home-office-brother-printer-contest-on-home-biz-notes/
You must comment on the HomeBizNotes post above in order to win the printer.  Comments on Small Business Boomers, while always appreciated, will not be counted in the random number selection process.
The printer is a Brother MFC-6490CW.  It prints in black/white and color, scans, copies, and …read more

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June Walker , tax expert and author of Self-Employed Tax Solutions, says in her newsletter that your primary reason for starting a small business should not be just for deducting expenses.  I agree.  She reminded me that there are a lot of scam artists out there who want to take your money for a list of “guaranteed” ways to deduct money and reduce your taxes to nothing.  This is like playing Russian roulette with all the cylinders loaded.  Your chances of scamming the IRS are slim to none.
Remember my post about starting a small business to achieve financial independence.  You …read more

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If you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.  (Henry Ford)
I often talk with people in their mid-50s and older who want to start businesses.  They invariably tell me, “I’m probably too old for this, but….” Then they proceed to explain why they want to start a business.  It usually has something to do with having worked for a large company for many years, and the desire to find something fun to do that will bring them some independence…and, of course, some money.  Sound familiar?
One man told me recently, “I am just going to do the traditional …read more

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I found an amazing video about a juggler and comedian named Chris Bliss that made me think about two things: Passion and Practice. If you want to succeed at your business (or anything else) in 2009, you will need only two things:
1. Passion – something that gets you up in the morning, every morning, excited to do what it is you are doing (note the smile on the guy’s face while he’s doing his amazing juggling act).
And
2. Practice – keep doing it every day, every day, every day. You don’t think this guy got this …read more

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And probably the most important thing we learned all year:
There Ain’t No Such Thing as a Free Lunch

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The contest is over and two “winners” have been announced. Of course, the winners are the organizations who received the publicity from your comments.
Thanks to all who participated!
The first two numbers generated by my random number generator were: 10 and 3.  If you count back, you can see that

Susan suggested Habitat for Humanity of the Greater New Orleans area
and Teresa suggested breast cancer research. I will make donations to the Susan G. Komen Foundation and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Images souce: PicApp

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Baby Boomers are generous folks.  I have been pleasantly surprised by the number of people who have taken time to comment on my “Help Me Decide” Where to Donate contest. I have received quite a nice list of excellent charities, including:

Cystic Fibrosis
Kidney Disease Foundation
American Heart Association
Breast Cancer Research (it was not specified, but I’d probably donate to the Susan G. Komen Foundation, unless the submitter has another specific organization)
United Cerebral Palsy
UNICEF
ASPCA
St. Jude Children’s Hospital
Salvation Army (several people)
LaLeche League
Habitat for Humanity of Greater New Orleans (they are working on rebuilding after the floods)

One organization that was suggested I had not …read more

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