Small Business Q&A© is written by veteran entrepreneur and DropshipWholesale.net founder, Tim Knox. Tim serves as the president and CEO of three successful technology companies: B2Secure Inc ., a Web-based hiring management software company; Digital Graphiti Inc ., a software development company; and Sidebar Systems , a company that creates-cutting edge convergence software for broadcast media outlets. Tim is also an expert contributing writer for Entrepreneur.com, the website of the national publication Entrepreneur Magazine. As if that wasn't enough to keep him busy, Tim also writes the weekly newspaper column "Small Business Q&A " which focuses on small business startup and success. More...

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• How To Really Get The Competitive Advantage
  One of the cool things about being an entrepreneur and business author and speaker is that I get to use all kinds of big words and phrases that make me sound much smarter than I am. For example, just saying the word 'entrepreneur' makes me sound quite educated and continental, despite the fact that the only subject in school I failed miserably was French. After an entire school year the only thing I learned to say was, 'Mon professeur est un porc de verrue, ' which loosely translated means, 'My teacher is a wart hog'. You can see why I got 'la F'.

• What Would You Do With A Second Chance?
  We?ve all wished that we could go back in time with our heads full of knowledge and our belts busting with experience and do it all over again. The proverbial 'second chance' is something we've all wished for - some of us more than others. Imagine how different our lives would be if we came equipped with unlimited 'do overs'.

• Biscuits & Bizness - Tim Knox Serves Up Business Advice With Humor, In New Book
  The title was pretty easy for Tim Knox to come up with. "I've always been a big mama's boy,'' Knox said. "She taught me everything I know." So when the Huntsville entrepreneur and author got a publishing deal for a business book, its title became "Everything I Know About Business I Learned From My Mama." Aside from being part of the title, his mom, Gertrude, also got the first copy as a present for her 80th birthday.

• Like Books, Entrepreneurs Are Always Judged By Their Covers
  In business and in life people judge you everyday, just as you judge everyone else. And most of us base our opinion of others on our first impression of them. We make the decision to either like them or loath them within the first minute and you know as well as I do, my holier-than-thou peers, that we do not do business with people that we don't like. First impressions are hard to change, so make every effort to make every first impression a good one.

• Entrepreneurs Learn This Lesson: Stop Sweating The Small Stuff
  Is the pressure of being in business getting to you? Do you feel like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders? Do you lie awake nights with a thousand points of worry flashing through your poor, tired brain? Welcome, my friend, to the wonderful world of entrepreneurship. Come on now, you really didn't think it was going to be that easy, did you? Forget all those reasons you've heard as to why businesses fail. It?s the pressure of entrepreneurship that sends many folks running back to the supposed security of a real job. I?ve seen perfectly good businesses flushed down the tubes simply because the owner couldn't handle the day-to-day pressure of keeping the doors open.

• Is Business Ownership In Your Future?
  The last time we met I told you about the U.S. Department of Labor's prediction that within the next ten to fifteen years fifty percent of the American workforce will consist of home workers, independent contractors, consultants, telecommuters, freelancers, and of course, entrepreneurs. Think about that for a moment, especially if you are a diehard nine-to-fiver who can't imagine yourself leaving the comfort of a regular job to try something different. The workplace of the future is either going to be an exciting or dreadful place, and it's up to you which side of the coin you fall on.

• How To Go From Worker Bee To Entrepreneur Wannabe
  When it comes to careers and business, my radio show partner and author of the best selling career advice book '48 Days To The Work You Love', Dan Miller , is a walking, talking encyclopedia of precise industry statistics. While I?ve always been comfortable using such statistically noncommittal terms as 'many, most, and some', Dan prefers to remember and espouse accurate numbers. I?ve told him time and again that most people don't mind fuzzy statistics. He keeps telling me that 58.9 percent prefer to have accurate numbers. Who can argue with math like that?

• How Do You Keep Your Best Employees From Jumping Ship?
  Before becoming a full time entrepreneur (or ontamanure, as my daughter calls me) I worked my share of jobs and had my share of bosses. Some of the jobs I enjoyed, some I did not. The same is true for the bosses. Some were decent folks who treated me with the same respect I gave them while others would have been better suited running a concentration camp. I shouldn't complain, though, because it was the worst boss I ever had who ultimately motivated me to start my own business as a way of escaping the shackles of employment.

• When It Comes To Starting Your Own Business Never Say It Can?t Be Done
  I ran across an interesting article in Wired magazine this week that told the tale of Kolo Soro, an elementary school teacher in the tiny village of Tomono in the northern Ivory Coast of Africa. This is an area so remote and void of technology that for generations communication between villages has been done by tying notes to rocks and having passing trucks toss them out the window at pre-described locations. Kolo Soro changed all that when he purchased a cellphone during a visit to a larger city and found that if he held the phone seven feet off the floor in a corner of his bedroom he could get a decent signal. Being an enterprising young man he hung the phone on the wall, hooked up an earbud, and started charging his fellow villagers 80 cents per minute to make calls. He earned $200 the first month.

• Use Email Marketing To Keep Customers Buzzing About Your Business
  The other day my radio show cohost, Paul Finley, mentioned that he had received an email from his dentist. The point of the email was to let Paul know that his office would be closed for a week and included instructions on what to do in case of a dental emergency. Obviously Paul?s dentist reads my column because I?ve been preaching about using email to keep in touch with customers for years. OK, maybe he doesn't read my column and is just a brilliant guy in his own right. Either way, the point is clear: using email ' no matter what type of business you're in ' is an excellent way to keep the lines of communication buzzing between you and those folks who keep you in business.

• What?s Stopping You From Starting Your Own Small Business?
  "I Don't Syndrome" (IDS) is a sad malady that affects many people who claim they want to start their own business, but never seem to get beyond just talking about it. The symptoms of IDS are a lack of belief in themselves, a fear of failure and ridicule, a misguided belief that lots of money is required to start a business, and lousy time management skills. IDS can even cause an otherwise intelligent person to question their own sanity. It?s a sad disease that has prevents thousands of people every year from achieving their American Dream.

• Learn To Focus On What's Important And Farm Out The Rest
  How many times have you looked around your small business and said, 'There just isn't enough time in the day to get everything done!? Welcome to the biggest realization you will ever make as a small business owner, my friend: there are only so many hours in the day and there isn't a darn thing you can do about it. So, instead of beating yourself up at the end of the day over how much you didn't get done, you should learn to make better use of the time you have. Your time should be spent doing only those things that help build your business and increase revenue, not mundane tasks that could be handled by someone else. It?s called 'working on your business instead of working in it'.

• Do You Want Fries With That Management Style?
  I?ve written many times about my vast experience in the fast food industry, not as a worker, but as an often mistreated customer. Each story typically involved bad food, apathetic employees, horrible customer service, and a vow never to return. That vow usually ended up in the dumpster when my craving for a chicken burrito got the better of my logic and principles.

• What Can American Idol Teach You About Business?
  Well, folks, as luck and ratings would have it, it?s time for yet another season of that train wreck of reality TV, American Idol; the show that attempts to separate the talented from the terrible and brings them all into your living room each week for you to enjoy. Get ready to call in and cast your vote for who should be applauded and who should be muzzled. How fortunate we are to be living in a time when we can judge our fellow man via text message.

• Good Help Really Is Hard To Find
  A few years ago I wrote a column in which I compared managing employees to herding cats: just when you think you have everyone organized in a happy little group and going in the same direction one cat breaks from the herd and heads off to do its own thing. Then another cat falls out of line, then another, then another. Finally two more cats ask to go home sick and three others just wander off after lunch, never to be heard from again.

• Mastermind Your Way To Business Success
  This is the time of year when our thoughts turn to ringing out the old and ringing in the new. It?s the time for wiping the slate clean and starting over; a time for new beginnings; a time for making New Year?s resolutions that, while spoken with the best of intentions, are usually forgotten by the time the black eyed peas are gone.

• Don't Start Your Business In "The Land of Most"
  Most people lack the ability to take responsibility for their own lives and thereby fail to plot their own course. Most people will never write down their goals or work to achieve them. Most people fail because they are too afraid to try. Most people are so broke they can't pay attention. Most people are miserable and let everyone around them know it. Misery is a shared emotion. Oh goody.

• Are You Willing To Do Whatever It Takes To Succeed In Business?
  Ladies and gentleman, meet Mo, Larry, and Curly Entrepreneur. These fine fellows are here today to help answer the age old question: Why do some entrepreneurs achieve stellar success while others achieve only moderate success while still others fail in business miserably?

• It?s A Baby Booming Time For Business
  The first wave of Baby Boomers turned 60 this year and as many approach the traditional retirement age of 65 they are finding that (a) they are still vibrant and don' t want to stop working; and/or (b) their life expectancy has been extended and they will be dead broke long before they are dead and gone. As a result Baby Boomers are not slowing down now that they're approaching what once would have been considered their 'golden years'. If you were a man you expected to retire at 65 and die at 75; and if you were smart you banked enough dough to see you comfortably through that stretch. We figured we'd get at least 10 good leisurely years before the grim reaper shows up without having to worry about money. Turns out, we were wrong.

• What The Heck Is A Podcast And What Can It Do For Your Business?
  Now I?m a pretty high-tech kind of guy. I pride myself on having all the latest and greatest techno gadgets for my personal and business life; including multiple laptop computers, the most modern cellular phone, and a Global Positioning System in my car to always tell me where I ain't. I know, it?s supposed to tell me where I am, but my brain doesn't work that way.

• How To Create Your Own Roadmap For Success
  When I was a kid my family often participated in that grand tradition called, "The Sunday Drive." You remember those long Sunday drives in the car with your family to nowhere? Sure, it was better than sitting at home because we only had three TV channels to watch and cartoons were only shown for a few hours on Saturday morning, but when you got back home didn't you always feel that you hadn't really gone anywhere. If you leave your house and don't stop until you reach your house, what's the point? I always hated those Sunday drives.

• Put Your Faith In Contractors, Then Pray Like Mad
  Earlier this year I was convinced by my loving wife and adoring kids that if I truly loved them I would have a swimming pool installed in our back yard. The experience did introduce me to an interesting class of entrepreneurs collectively called, ?contractors'. I don't mean to generalize, but the contractors I?ve been dealing with are a stereotypical bunch who drive really big pickup trucks and wear worn work boots and dirty jeans and torn t-shirts and sport three-day whiskers and go by names like Buddy, Bubba, Junior, Earl, and of course Tiny, who was the largest guy on the crew.

• Learning About Life And Business From The Back End Of A Boat
  In my last column I told you about the skewed parenting skills of my father, who, without ever realizing it, was quite the entrepreneurial genius. Though he never dabbled in business and it certainly didn't occur to me at the time, many of the lessons I learned from him about life can be put to practical use in your business today.

• Sometimes Business Is Like Fishing In An Empty Pond
  I?ve never been much of a fisherman. Sitting in a small boat for hours watching a red and white bobber float atop the water holds about as much interest for me as watching paint dry. My old man, on the other hand, would have rather fished than breathe. In fact, his favorite Bible quote was: 'Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and he'll sit in the boat and drink beer with you for life'. Needless to say, my old man wasn't much of a Bible scholar, but he was one heck of a fisherman.

• Piercings, Tattoos, and Other Important Matters Of Business
  I've been expanding my entrepreneurial horizons lately by meeting entrepreneurs in businesses I'd never been exposed to before. I learned that there are many kinds of entrepreneurs and each dances to his own drummer. Some do it the right way while others do it however they dang well please. I have found that their attitude determines the quality of work they do and most likely how long they will stay in business.

• When It Comes To Marketing Your Business Think Creatively
  If your business doesn't stand out in today's hyper-competitive market place there's a good chance that you won't be in business very long. There are countless others vying for the same slice of the pie that you are. There are dozens of competitors just up the road doing all they can to get the attention of your customers and take money out of your pockets. It?s called 'marketing', and some are probably doing a better job of it than you are and some probably worse. What can you do to position your business as the one customers notice? The secret to effective marketing is: think creatively.

• Operator Error Is Why Most Businesses Fail
  This is the column that probably gets me kicked out of the entrepreneurial chapter of the Priory of Scion. I look silly in those long robes anyway, so here goes. A thousand apologies to my entrepreneurial brothers and sisters, but. I think the more important question is: do businesses fail or does the entrepreneur in charge of them fail? I have to be honest and tell you that I think most business failures must be laid at the feet of the person in charge.

• Women Entrepreneurs Prove It?s Not Just A Man?s World
  I had the honor of speaking this week at a women's business association luncheon on the topic of entrepreneurship. When I mentioned to my wife the day before that I was speaking to a group of women entrepreneurs she asked, "Why on earth would they ask you to speak?"

• 6 Ways To Fund Your New Business
  I?m often asked: what is the best way to fund a new business? This question is usually followed by 'So, do you ever invest in new businesses?? The answers, respectively, are 1. there is no 'best' way to fund a new business; and 2. I do invest in new businesses, but darn it I can't today because I left my checkbook in my other suit.

• Companies Stifle Intrapreneurs At Their Own Risk
  I've noticed an interesting trend lately. Usually the e-mail I receive in response to this column comes from rookie entrepreneurs or established business owners seeking my input on startup matters, financing, employee relations, general management and leadership issues, policy matters, etc. Lately, however, many of the messages are coming from employees of medium-size and large companies who are growing frustrated at working in an environment that they deem (to quote one e-mail) "Intellectually stifling and (that) offers few challenges of one's creativity and innovation.''

• Which Affiliate Programs Do I Personally Recommend?
  I personally receive over a dozen checks and commission payments every month from various affiliate programs that I promote. Last month, those checks totaled more than $10,000 and some months they have been as high as $25,000. Given my success as an affiliate marketer, I'm often asked what affiliate programs I personally recommend. The answer is easy because it's actually a pretty short list.

• The Reasons Why Most People Will Never Find Online Success
  There is no such thing as a real get rich quick opportunity. If someone tells you that you can start with no money and no experience and make hundreds of thousands of dollars overnight they are lying to you and you are a fool for believing them. Yes, you can make lots of money in a short period of time as an Internet marketer, but you're not going to get rich this week unless you hit the lottery or your rich uncle dies. And you have a better chance of getting hit by lightning than either of those things happening. Be realistic, be smart, be logical. If it sounds too good to be true, it is.

• 11 Ways To Find Products To Sell On eBay
  I was part of an eBay Roundtable discussion recently with six other experts and we all agreed that the number one question most new (and even old) eBay sellers ask is: "Where do I find things to sell on eBay??" To help answer that question I have compiled 10 ways that anyone can use to find products to sell on eBay.

• Is Bad Customer Service Killing Your Business?
  It?s time to beat the old bad customer service drum again. I know, I?m sick of beating the drum, too, but as long as bad customer service runs rampant through so many businesses I feel it is my entrepreneurial duty to bring it to your attention. So grab a pew and prepare to listen to the sermon I?ve preached before: bad customer service is the bane of business. If the Almighty smote down every business that dispenses bad customer service the world would be a much friendlier, albeit much sparser place. Consider a world without malls and fast food joints' would it really be so bad?

• It's All Up To YOU
  If you're waiting for Ed McMahon to show up on your doorstep and proclaim, "This is your lucky day!" you are going to have a long, miserable wait. Ed can't make you a success. I can't make you a success. It is all up to YOU.

• Santa: The Consummate Entrepreneur
  You've probably never considered the fact that Santa is the CEO of a large organization that not only distributes a vast assortment of products throughout the world, but does so in a single night with just a sleigh and eight tiny reindeer. Sam Walton would have killed to have Santa's logistics manual.

• The Entrepreneur's Checklist
  I was asked the other day what personality traits I thought were important to entrepreneurial success. I immediately gave my preprogrammed reply about passion and dedication and hard work. After taking some time later to ponder the question a little deeper (I normally operate in shallow waters), I came up with a more detailed checklist for entrepreneurial success.

• Please Don't Buy Anything From Me
  This week I had one customer threaten to hunt be down and shoot me like a dog. Another said that if she could get her hands around my neck she'd strangle the life out of me. And still another sincerely hoped that I "burn in Hell for all eternity." What did I do to deserve these threats? That, my friend, is the rest of the story...

• What's Your Company's Email Policy?
  Does your company have an email policy? Did you even know there was such a thing? Well, there is, and if your company doesn't have one you are not only risking the professional image of your firm, but also risking potential liability issues that may arise from the misuse of your company email system.

• What Do Your Business Emails Reveal About You?
  Why should you worry about how your emails are reviewed by their recipients? Because in business, you are constantly being judged by your customers, your employees, your investors, your partners, and your peers.

• The 8 Things You Must Know To Build A Great Website
  Last week we talked about how a bad website can do your business more harm than good. That column brought several emails asking what is the key to building an effective business website. I replied with the same answer I always give: building an effective business website is a simple matter of definition.

• The Bad Guys Are Phishing For Your Personal Information
  The latest attempt by phishers (identity thieves) to steal the personal information of eBay members hit my inbox earlier this week and I have to say, this one is pretty convincing. Even this old dog did a double-take before realizing that the identity thieves were phishing for my personal information again.

• Why A Good Credit Score Is Important To Your Business
  Whether you're in business or an individual, you should have an idea of what your credit score is, even if you're not currently applying for credit. Knowing your credit score and occasionally checking your credit reports also helps you protect yourself from identity theft and credit fraud.

• The Time To Consolidate Your Student Loans Is Now
  Most financial pundits recommend that the sooner you consolidate and refinance old high interest student loans, the better off you will be. Federal student loan interest rates are at an all time low, but that can't last forever. By refinancing your student loans now, you lock in the interest rate for the duration of the consolidation loan. The first thing you need to do is find out if you are eligible for student loan consolidation.

• Dropship Your Way To eBay Success
  Dropshipping has been around since Sears first started selling goods from its mail order catalogs over a hundred years ago. However, the idea of dropshipping still confuses many people who don't understand exactly how the process works.

• How To Make Big Money On eBay Selling Other People's Stuff
  Since eBay launched the Trading Assistant program last year, over 50,000 eBay sellers have registered as Trading Assistants to help other people sell their goods on eBay. As a result, eBay consignment businesses have sprung up all over the United States and are now starting to appear in Germany and the UK. This means opportunity for you...

• What Makes A Good Leader? Ask Uncle Sam
  In a recent study conducted by the Army War College, subordinates of the major generals who are leading the war efforts in Iraq were asked to rate the performance of their superiors.

• How To Create Your Own eBay About Me Page
  Regular readers of this newsletter and my newspaper column know that I am a big fan of eBay's About Me Page feature. This is a special page you can create as part of your eBay account that is linked from your eBay ID (with a little About Me icon). You can use your eBay About Me Page as a sales tool. Customers can click on your About Me icon to get to your About Me page, which you can set up to include information about you, your interests, and

• What Is The Best Selling eBay Book Of All Time?
  I really can't say which one is the best selling eBay book of all time, but I can tell you there is one book in particular that I have been recommending for over a year now and the reason is that it is, quite simply, packed full of useful information that will not only increase your eBay sales, but bring more customers to your website, as well.

• Do I Really Need A Business License and Tax ID?
  I've gotten quite a few emails recently from ebusiness owners who seem to think that just because their business is conducted online or from the comfort of home that the rules and regulations that govern brick and mortar businesses do not apply to them. The ebusiness questions I get most often do not involve building websites or conducting ecommerce...

• How To Make Money As A Self-Improvement Guru
  As you know, I'm always on the look out for new and exciting products that will make you and me money. That's partly what this newsletter is all about: when I find new opportunities that show tremendous promise, I feel obligated to share them with you.

• How To Boost Your Bottom Line With Just Two Little Words
  I hate to sound like one of those cheesy get-rich-quick commercials, but this week I am going to let you in on a little secret that is so powerful that it will immediately change the way you do business. In fact, this little secret is so powerful that you will be amazed at its immediate effect on you, your employees, and your bottom line. This little secret is guaranteed to improve your relationship with current customers and if used wisely, can get you lots of new customers without spending a dime on marketing or advertising.

• How To Create Multiple Streams of Online Income E-course
  I love the E-course concept because it gives you the opportunity to learn from the comfort of home. There are no heavy books to lug around, no rushing off to class, no smelly dorm roommates :o)

• How To Profit Using eBay's Saved Search Feature
  Did you know that eBay will help you locate products you can buy cheap, then flip for a quick profit? No? Then listen up, because I am about to let you in on a little known feature of eBay that can literally stuff wads of cash in your wallet in less than 24 hours.

• You Get To Ask The Questions For Upcoming eBay Teleseminar
  Remember way back in November of last year when I invited you to go to my website and submit your most burning question about starting, running, and prospering from your own eBay or online business?

• Are You Mentor Material?
  Typically, there are three things every good mentor should have: time, patience, and a genuine desire to help another person succeed without expecting anything in return. If you have an abundance of those things, then being a mentor can be a highly rewarding experience. If not, please see the rubber plant reference.

• An Entrepreneur and a Life To Be Remembered
  Most of you who read this column probably have no idea who Corey Rudl was or what he accomplished during his short life, and that's OK. You also have no idea of the imprint he made on me and millions of others who make our living (at least in part) as online marketers. Again, that's OK. For all his accomplishments, those who knew him well have said that Corey was more concerned about building his businesses than being a public figure. By those accounts, Corey never really cared about being in the public limelight, even though he was probably the most visible and successful entrepreneur in his field.

• The Latest Email Scam Is Nothing New
  The eBay scam is just the latest in a long line of sophisticated attempts to steal personal information through online means. Customers of PayPal, Amazon, Dell Computer, eTrade, Bank One, and many other online merchants have been the target of such scams in recent years.

• Is Brick and Mortar A Passing Fad?
  During the dot-com boom the mantra was 'Brick and mortar is dead!? Then when most of the dot-com?s crashed like an elephant sitting on a wicker chair, the mantra suddenly changed back to 'The Internet is dead! Long live brick and mortar!?

• For Entrepreneurs A SIMPLE Plan May Be Best
  Let me give you a quick overview of a few of the retirement plans available to small businesses so you at least have an idea of what's out there before you start your search for a good financial advisor.

• To Go or No Go, That Is The Question
  Many entrepreneurs would rather have their front teeth pulled without anesthetic than go to the time and trouble of creating a feasibility plan; often because they are afraid of what it will reveal.

• How Good Is Your Big Idea
  Every business idea, no matter how good it sounds while bouncing around inside your head, should be put to the test before you invest time and money into its execution. Success lies not in what you think of your idea, but what the buying public will think. Many entrepreneurs find out too late that the public's opinion of their idea differs greatly from their own.

• Veteran Entrepreneurs Are Growing In Ranks
  What my eldest offspring doesn't understand is I have a great life. In fact, I am living the life I have always dreamed of living. My life just happens to revolve around Planet Business. I am an entrepreneurial addict, a business junkie. Business is my chocolate, my Krispy Kreme donut, my nicotine, my caffeine, my crack. Maybe I?ll start a 12 step program for entrepreneurs who want to kick the habit and charge a cover to get in. Hi, my name is Tim, and I?m an entrepreneur... Sounds like a great business idea to me.

• Opportunity Does Not Knock
  I can tell you that as a breed, entrepreneurs are an impatient lot and many jump on the first business bandwagon that comes along just for the sake of being in business. That?s a big mistake that usually comes back to bite them in their entrepreneurial behinds.

• Teaching The Big Boys To Think Small
  Last week I told you about a recent report from The Conference Board that has a lot of big company CEOs concerned about competition from smaller, more innovative and entrepreneurially-minded companies. To refresh your memory, The Conference Board's CEO Challenge 2004 reported that 87% of the 540 global businesses surveyed cited innovation and enabling entrepreneurship as priorities for their companies, and 31% considered these issues of "greatest concern'.

• Teaching Large Companies To Think Like The Little Guys
  The fact that innovation and entrepreneurship run rampant in smaller companies, but is often suppressed in larger companies is nothing new. Management guru Peter Drucker first addressed the issue in his 1985 book, Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Drucker wrote that one of the most often-asked questions in many a 1985 boardroom was, 'How can we overcome the resistance to innovation that plagues most organizations??

• Don't Be Afraid To Give Problem Customers The Boot
  We have all had customers who expected far more than was their due: customers who were unreasonable, overly-demanding, condescending, hard to please and sometimes, even dishonest in their dealings with you. When a customer's reasonable expectations become unreasonable demands you must decide whether or not that customer is doing more harm to your business than good.

• Cut Start-Up Costs By Using a Dropshipper
  Dropshippers, as they're called
  --are an excellent way to start your e-business and, if done properly, don't have to be a costly endeavor. There are literally hundreds of companies out there that will dropship products for you, everything from gifts and housewares to power tools and furniture.

• Is Your Website Credit Card Friendly?
  If you think hooking up a brick-and-mortar location with a credit card system stymies most bankers, try asking them how to do it on your website.

• Business Is No Guarantee of Riches
  Many entrepreneurs build solid businesses that provide a very comfortable living and many others do indeed get rich. Others simply find out that they have traded one job for another and still others discover that business really wasn't for them.

• Do You Pay Taxes On eBay Income?
  Last week's column on whether you were required to report income earned from eBay sales to the IRS sparked a number of additional questions and comments from eBay sellers who were hoping that I could somehow validate that their eBay activities were mere hobbies instead of actual businesses and therefore not susceptible to IRS taxation.

• Credit Cards, Merchant Accounts, and Your Bottomline
  The decision to accept credit cards is a wise one for any retailer. I agree with financial guru Dave Ramsey's teachings regarding the use and abuse of credit cards. Many people dig deep holes with credit cards that are hard to climb out of. But, from a practical business point of view, any retail business that does not accept credit cards is leaving money on the table.

• What's In A Name? When It Comes To Your Business, Plenty!
  In fact, deciding on a business name is one of the most important decisions you will ever make. The right business name can help you rise above the crowd while the wrong business name can leave you trampled in the rush.

• With a Lease, The Devil Is In The Details
  This week we'll discuss the most important aspect of the process: signing a commercial lease (insert dramatic music here). One of the biggest mistakes many entrepreneurs make when leasing commercial space is not reading the lease. Forget reading the fine print. When it comes to a lease its ALL fine print.

• The Internet Tax Man Cometh
  If your small business is like most, the majority of your large purchases are made locally from companies that already collect sales tax. Furniture and computer equipment are typically the largest ticket items a small business buys, so unless you bought your desks and computers off of Ebay (which is highly possible these days) you should be OK.

• The Business of Identity Theft
  The allure of PayPal is that it does not require the seller to have a bank merchant account through which to process credit cards. Anyone with a verifiable email address and bank account can use PayPal and the service can be implemented almost immediately after registering.

• Online Payments Make It Easy For Your Customers To Buy
  I have helped many clients set up online credit card processing systems and more than once I've had to sit down with the bank issuing the merchant account and educate them on how online payment systems work. Don't believe me? This is a direct quote (here's the Bible, here's my hand) from the manager who was in charge of processing Internet merchant account applications at a local bank, "When someone pays online how do they swipe the credit card in their computer..."

• Maintaining Your Business Website
  If you want to be a web designer, be a web designer. However, if the key focus of your business is building widgets, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that your time would be better spent building widgets, not Web sites.

• If You Build It, Will They Come?
  Assuming that a website will automatically attract customers is the single biggest mistake that many business owners make. It is this mistake that eventually leads them to dismiss their website as a failure and abandon their online sales efforts.

• Franchising Pros and Cons
  Some folks offered helpful insights and suggestions on how to pick a franchise and a few things to watch out for, while other emails came from current franchise owners asking me to help them sell their operations to Anthony R.

• Taxing eBay Part Deux
  Several folks argued that just because their little eBay hobby generated a little cash, that didn't make it a full blown business. It seems they consider the income from their little hobby to be financial manna from Heaven and thereby not taxable by earthly tax collectors. I?ve always been amused by folks who try to impress me with talk about their 'little side business' but when the subject turns to taxes they suddenly refer to it as 'my little hobby'.

• Taxing Your eBay Profits
  As a small business person-slash-advice columnist I dread the first quarter of the new year. Not because in my mind my own business fortunes start at zero again every January or because I have already dismissed every New Year?s resolution I made when the clock rang out the New Year. No, the reason I dread the first quarter of the new year is that my email box floods with questions about business taxes and the IRS, my two least favorite subjects on earth. It?s not that I am opposed to paying my fair share of business taxes. It?s that I consider the IRS to be a little like Beetlejuice, the movie demon who appeared only after his name was called three times in a row. My fear is if I write too many IRS columns their dark agents may appear on my doorstep, ready to drag me away to an uncertain fate.

• Do You Have What It Takes To Be An Entrepreneur?
  There are a variety of skills you'll need to succeed as an entrepreneur and chances are do not possess them all. One of the great things about being an entrepreneur is that if you lack certain skills you can always hire people with those skills to help round out your company skill set.

• How To Create Multiple Streams of Online Income
  One of my favorite things about being an Internet Entrepreneur is that I can literally wake up in the morning with an idea for a new product and h