Karol Gajda, guest posting on zenhabits.com, has authored a succinct and excellent guide for beginners starting a small on-line business.  Here’s the summary:

1. Focus on what’s important: Action
2. Invest in education
3. Ask for help
4. Participate in the community
5. Don’t quit your day job

His post is absolutely worth the 7 minutes you’ll invest in reading it, even if your business isn’t primarily on-line or that small.

The Absolute Beginner’s Guide To Starting A Small Online Business

As a performer, the perils of picking a stage name are plenty.

Writing in the NY Times, Allan Kozinn charts the decisions of pop performers and bands—and even a classical music group or two—as they struggled to find their perfect name. Here’s one of his most astute observations:

Sure it’s about marketing. Welcome to 2010. But it’s about music too. Getting listeners stuck on your name is just about getting noticed and guaranteeing you’ll be remembered. That could be a double-edged sword. If, having lured the curious, you give a killer performance, the name becomes a gift that keeps on giving. On the other hand, if you fail, you fail in a bright spotlight, and that catchy name will have listeners saying, “Oh no, not them.”

Learn the name-picking secrets of the best by reading Would They Sound as Sweet by Other Names? via NY Times

Photo by Gene Hunt

Most people carry some debt, whether it’s a credit card balance or the money they owe on a car loan or home mortgage. Debt is not necessarily a bad thing, but it can become a problem if you allow it to get out of control. The Texas Society of CPAs offers these tips on mistakes to avoid in managing your balance.

Don’t Forget to Pay With Cash
If you have enough cash to pay for a purchase, don’t be tempted to put it on your credit card instead. That’s an easy way to spend more than you intended–and in many cases more than you can really afford. Before you reach for that plastic, think about whether you’ve got the dollars you need for the purchase. If you do, set the credit card aside for the bigger-ticket items that are on this month’s budget.

Don’t Ignore Your Credit Report
Credit agencies maintain information on your credit history and give you a credit score based on whether you make your payments on time, run up heavy balances and other factors. Lenders use your credit score to decide whether you qualify for a new loan and what interest rate you ought to pay for it. If the information in your credit report is incorrect, you could end up being denied a loan or paying unnecessarily high interest rates. You are eligible to receive a free credit report from each credit agency once a year, so take advantage of this option and review the information carefully. If there are errors, inform the agency and ask how they can be corrected. Be aware, as well, that any suspicious entries in your report could be an indication that an identify thief is using your identity to run up debt without paying it off. That’s another good reason to keep an eye on your credit report.

Don’t Miss a Payment Deadline
Skipping a payment or mailing your check a little late may not seem like a big deal, but it can cause a big headache. Not only will you likely be stuck with a late fee, but your creditor may also raise the interest rate it charges you. When other creditors see the late or missed payment, they may deny you credit or raise the rates they charge you. This small step can become a costly mistake.

Don’t Stick to the Minimum Payment
If you’re squeezed for cash, it is better to pay a little rather than nothing at all, but try whenever possible to pay off as many of your recent purchases as possible. If you pay as you go, you avoid interest charges on your purchases altogether. Even if you can’t cover your full balance, paying only the minimum that’s due lengthens the amount of time you’ll have that outstanding balance-—and that you will be paying interest on it.

Don’t Leave Your Creditors in the Dark
Creditors understand that good customers sometimes fall on hard times, especially in the current troubled economy. And they’re often willing to work with you to prevent your account from falling into default, but you have to let them know that you’re facing problems. If you lose your job or face some unexpected financial hardship, contact all of your creditors immediately. Ask them if it’s possible to pay a lower interest rate or minimum payment for the time being, or if you can skip payments altogether for a few months until you’re back on your feet.

Consult Your CPA
Whatever financial issues you’re wrestling with, remember that your local CPA can help. Turn to him or her with all your questions about any financial issues facing your family.

Not saying “no”

Growing up, saying the word “no” usually got us into trouble.  And even though as adolescents and adults saying the word “no” usually kept us out of trouble, we still carry around a deep-seated bias to tell people “yes” when we really mean the opposite.   Artists, especially performers, have a strong need to seek approval from their audiences, and saying “no” isn’t usually a crowd pleaser.  But there are times when saying “no” is the better choice… for your business, for your artistic career, for you own sanity.

Why should you want to say “no” to something?

• it isn’t in line with your long-term plans
• it keeps you from accomplishing more important results
• it doesn’t provide you with learning or growth
• it’s not worth the headache or heartache you’ll feel doing it
• it doesn’t pay you timely

These questions apply equally to potential jobs as well as your daily activities.  When a client calls with a request, don’t just say “yes” automatically.  First, consider if what you’re being asked to do is in line with your business plan.  If it isn’t, turn down the work.

Some film crew friends recently complained that they haven’t been paid for a job.  They’ve spent more time collecting their pay then they did earning it.  Even if the production company eventually makes good, my friends won’t do another job for that company… because strong cash flow is a key component of my friends’ business plan.

Saying “no” to potential customers, to potential income, can be one of the most difficult actions a business owner can take.  But if it’s in line with the vision and written plan you have for yourself and your business, it can be the right action.  Marketing guru Seth Godin offers some reassuring advice:

You can dissipate your gift by making people with the loudest requests temporarily happy, or you can change the world by saying ‘no’ often.  Saying ‘no’ to loud people gives you the resources to say yes to important opportunities.

Learn to strategically say ‘no’ to others and say ‘yes’ to your success.

Delegating too much

Even though you didn’t become an artist just to balance a checkbook, you must know how to balance it.  It’s so important to have a good—though not necessarily expert—understanding of every aspect of your business.  You must know a little bit about every part of your business so you can guide and direct those people you hire to help you get things done, whether as employees, contractors, or vendors.  Only then can you decide what concrete steps you can take to either gain needed skills yourself or properly outsource them to a professional.

A clear picture of the end result you desire is an absolute must in proper outsourcing.  But so is the “follow up” component.  Delegation is not abdication.  No one will be as interested in the success of your business as you… not your employees, not your banker, not even your mother.  I know of a dance studio that nearly went bankrupt when its one employee charged tens of thousands of dollars of personal items on the owner’s credit card.  The owner never reviewed the charges on the credit card statements each month … statements were just passed on, unopened, to the same employee “trusted” perpetuating the fraud.  Not everyone is out to steal you blind, but unintentional errors or customer service missteps can be just as costly.  When it comes to delegation, a smart business owner lives by the motto, “Inspect, don’t expect.”

Not delegating

As a business owner, you have a vision, a product or service, and a business plan.  You work untold hours and in the pursuit of your dream you wear many hats.  Artisans often wear the most familiar and comfortable hats made of creative, flexible logic tasks like generating their art and working with studio staff or assistants.  The less comfortable hats of technical and analytical tasks of business monitoring, money management, legal considerations, and communicating with an audience are more likely to collect dust on the hat rack.  When an artisan’s business fails, it’s usually because they neglected one or more of these crucial areas.

The leadership development experts at The Wendling Group offer these tips:

• Delegate routine activities, even though you don’t want to.  These include fact-finding assignments; preparation of rough drafts of reports; problem analysis and suggested action; collection of data for reports; photocopying, printing, and collating; and data entry.

• Delegate things that aren’t part of your core competency. For small businesses, these include accounting, web site design, deliveries, hardware upkeep, software help, graphic design, travel arrangements, patenting, legal issues, and even HR functions such as payroll.

After reading the routine activities they suggest delegating, I had to chuckle at their comment ‘even if you don’t want to.’  I don’t know many artisans who would want to do any of the tasks they mention.  Instead, here’s the underlying idea: what lower-value tasks are you doing yourself simply because you enjoy them or feel you can’t delegate to someone else?  But first you must inventory your business skills to get a thorough understanding of your strengths and weaknesses, and the value that each brings to your business.  Focus your efforts on the highest value activities, and delegate the remaining tasks to others.

Not planning

Artists often think of planning as the antithesis of the creative act.  But in practice successful works are seldom, if ever, created without forethought.  Writers go through drafts, jazz musicians rehearse together, visual artists start with sketches and studies, and improv actors have a basic premise and outline of the action.  So should it be with your business.  Written planning provides owners with a map to reach their goal of a successful business.  Yes, your plans should be written down, because the act of writing fixes your often-elusive ideas into a tangible form… and making them solid makes it more likely you’ll achieve your goals and not just endlessly think about them or talk about them with friends.  Sculptor Bruce Beasley said it best, “the artists I have known who have had rewarding and successful careers are those who have been able to make very clear choices about their priorities and expectations.”

But planning doesn’t have to be the anxiety-inspiring ritual we make it out to be.  Write down your answers to these questions and you’ll be 82% better off than someone who dreams big but can’t commit even to a piece of paper.

Core skills – What do you do as an artisan?  What types of projects are you passionate about?

Business skills – What do you know?  What don’t you know?  What don’t you know you don’t know?  What concrete steps can you take to either gain needed skills yourself or properly outsource them to a professional?

Target audience – Which clients offer the best opportunity for business growth?  How do you reach them?  What do they read?  Where do they frequent?

Studio/Office – Where will it be located and how will it be equipped?  What’s the minimum you can get by with in your first year?

Financial Goals – How much income can you realistically expect each month for the first six months?  What expenses do you anticipate over the same time period?

Treating your business like a hobby and vice versa

Whether it’s choosing the right medium to draw on a particular paper, knowing which f-stop will best capture your vision, or where to breathe in a song for the biggest emotional impact, you’ve spent years or decades honing your core skills as an artisan. Once you introduce money into the equation, you’ll need an additional set of business skills in order to find a market for your art, deliver it to your audience, and collect payments on a consistent basis. So if you really just want to do, make, or perform your art and don’t need income from it, then save yourself the frustration and focus only on your art. Ars gratia artis… art for art’s sake. But if you’re going to feed yourself, clothe yourself, or keep a roof over your head with money from your art, then treat the endeavor for what it is: a business. You’re not selling out; you’re setting yourself up for success.