A cute and catchy cake business name.? -

I am a full time college student with a 5 year old son. I am trying to start a small business on the side of decorating cakes and cupcakes. I ve already had a lot of orders and even repeat customers, but can t seem to come up with a name. I ve had suggestions from friends but none seem to spark my interest. In my cakes I tend to lean more towards the total personalization of the cake and never having two cakes alike. (most of my customers really like that idea)So please help!!!!Thanks, Bree

Hello Bree,You go Girl....! I also started a business from scratch. I also asked for input for a name for my business. My business name ended up including part of my personal name. Would you mind sharing as much of your name, here, as your comfortable with, and maybe that will help someone come up with a name for your business. For example, let s just say your business name was Bree s cakes , when you answer your phone, you would say, hello, this is Bree . The other person on the line would now know that they are speaking with the owner of the company. How many companies can you call today and actually get the owner on the phone??? It makes the client feel important, and that is the first step to great customer service. Just a thought for now...

How about incorporating your name like:Cake s A BreezeThen if you pass out flyers or anything they can say: Make decorating that next special cake a breeze :)

How do you get investors for a small business? -

I live in a small town of 6500 people, and would like to know how to look for investors for a business. Our downtown area is comprised mostly of lawyer offices, law enforcement, and the courthouse/detention center. I have a very good idea but I dont know how to go about looking for investors. Any assistance would be very much appreciated! Thanks!

if those websites ever worked,there would be a lot more rick people out thereit s not that easysmall business probly means ull have to find them urself. usually family is a good place to start. then friendsthen if that doesnt work go public on whatever scale u can

start with your local SBA or SCORE office if you have one. they usually have sponsors for small business loans.if you are looking for private investors you can try the local chamber of commerce. there are usually private investors on a small scale that frequent those offices and you can connect with them there. be careful with there private (individual) investors though. do your homework and ask around for their reputation before engaging in anything.you can also seek out angel investors or venture capitalists (through Google) in the area. but these guys are usually very specialized and are mostly in the high tech or some form of technology ventures.Nero makes a good point that your best bet will be asking your family and friends and convincing them to become your investors. Most small businesses are started this way. See my blogs on small business accounting - numberspeople.posterous.comW. Michael Hsuwww.levelvi.com

Need wholesale web sites that deliver to UK pet supplies amp; gift packaging......? -

can anyone help??

Hi,It may help you if you visit this wholesale site:http://www.simplywholesale.co.uk/amember��

For pet suppliesTry:http://www.esources.co.uk/wholesale-suppliers/257/For gift packagingTry:http://www.esources.co.uk/wholesale-suppliers/206/You will find all the verified pet supplies and gift packaging wholesalers you need there.

Google surely

How do you start a non-profit organization? -

Do I need an attorney? Or can I do it on my own? I need to fill out a 501c3 form. And that s pretty much all I know.

Here s a good overview of the procedure:http://www.wikihow.com/Start-a-501c3-Non��

Get a group of people together suitable for the type of non-profit you want to start, one of whom would be an attorney. Sounds simple, I d say. He would take it from there and would probably get business from the group so would not charge you anything to start the corporation.

Can I ship an envelope as first class mail and claim it as a package? -

The problem is I want delivery confirmation but it says the envelope has to be more than 3/4 thick in order to get delivery confirmation. Can I claim it as a package instead so I could use both? Would thet not ship it and return it to me? Any advice? I don t really want it to be bulky since it s just a book and I m trying to save on shipping.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!All you re going to do is screw up, and it ll cost you more than the normal postage!

A book is a package because it is not a flat document. If you want to save on shipping, send it Media Rate.

Can I sell things via a blog? -

I have books, records, cd s, magazines etc...which I occasionally sell on e-bay. Is there any reason why I can t set up my own blog...listing my items for sale...and selling them that way? Obviously it wouldn t be a bidding site...but I could just list all my items with selling price...and delete them as they sell. Any opinions and/or advice would be gratefully received. :)

Sounds like a great idea, but the only problem is that you must know how to drive traffic or else no one will ever visit your site. Plus, you have to have a lot of inventory in order to support a site and keep people coming back. Good Luck!

As you already have the items on ebay, would you do better to use your blog to promote those items with pictures of the items and links to ebay? I use my blog to promote my goods from my website. www.heritagepolish.blogspot.com shows you what I mean.

Hi,I am a web developer (usually working freelance) I am in the process of setting up a partnership.If you would like an extremely good e-commerce site feel free to get in touch. This would be better than a blog.MSN: support@hostitlocal.co.uk

Why do businesses not take money when power is out? -

This happened in the shopping center where I work, The power went out some shops just stayed closed, and some kept track of the money and everything themselves.In major businesses and stores where evreything is electronic, it s not as easy as looking on a tag adding everything up, then accounting for taxes. Those items that were sold are still in the system may not be accounted for later once power comes back on. So sometimes it s just easier not to take any money at all.

Their accounting may all be done electronically, so accepting money or any sales would create a mess accounting wise. In stores like walmart their inventory is set up in a way that as soon as an item is checked out, there is another one being taken off of a shelf at a warehouse to replace the one you just bought. If there is no power then this would not happen.