Why A Team Tutoring Program Is Good For Your Childs Learning

Why A Team Tutoring Program Is Good For Your Child's LearningA team tutoring program has been very successful in helping young people succeed academically. Why do they do this? Here are some important reasons.We know that the most efficient teacher is the one who is the most intelligent. That is the reason why we don't prefer the smartest students to the ones who are slow. If you combine this with the fact that a great educational atmosphere can be fostered in a private tutoring session, it should be no surprise that we are asking for more tutoring programs. It is often the case that only those students who are clearly not gifted can benefit from group tutoring. Those students who are more clever may need a coach to help them improve.Children, particularly those who are taught individually or do not receive extra responsibility, often become independent and may not develop the skills that are necessary to succeed in school. In fact, most people who are formally trained in schools hav e no time to improve their performance in school. The late Sir Kenneth Clarke, one of the founding fathers of the British system of education, put it very well when he said: 'Only the truest and most serious failures in the achievement of school or college have any hope of a position in the labour market.'The subject of teaching has always been done with a certain amount of nervousness or doubt about its proper and correct way. It is always assumed that we know how to teach, and that only a tiny handful of people have all the answers. But when you learn to work with a team, you suddenly realize how much smarter you are.For example, in a group setting, the person who wants to teach is aware that he or she is not the only one who has the answers. That person can work to improve that person's performance so that the learning takes place at a faster rate. In fact, most teachers are only able to learn the correct information when they are part of a group and the individual experiences ho w the other individuals are thinking. This has to be understood by the person teaching, as a sense of confidence takes place when that person knows that there are other people who can learn as well as he or she can.If you show a child's mind and personality, you will always find it quicker to motivate the child. For example, children love to give their parents a hug when they have had a successful day. If you help to create that child's appreciation, the parent may actually become more motivated in the day's tasks. That is why group tutoring is so effective.Team tutoring is a fantastic way to teach. It is also the perfect combination of age and education. Take some time to consider why a teacher needs to be helped by a group of students. You will then be able to focus your time on the other important aspects of education.

SAT vs. ACT - which test should you take

SAT vs. ACT - which test should you take One of the most common questions I get from my students is whether they should take the SAT or the ACT.   Frankly, the answer to that question depends on each student’s strengths, weaknesses, and personal preferences.Back in the day, the tests were mostly regional: students on the coasts took the SAT, and those in the middle of the country took the ACT.   Now, though, students all over the country often take both tests.   Colleges accept both the SAT and ACT, so it makes sense for students to try both tests and see which one yields a higher score.There are several major differences between the SAT and the ACT:1) The SAT is more focused on complex problem-solving and critical thinking, and the ACT is more straightforward.   Generaly speaking, students who enjoy solving puzzles and reasoning through complex situations will prefer the style of the SAT.   The ACT is better for students who appreciate straightforward questions, both in math and reading comprehension.2) The ACT has a sci ence section, and the SAT does not.   Now, before you write off the ACT, thinking youve forgotten everything from science class, take heart ACT science is more like reading comprehension with charts and graphs.   Its not an easy section, but you dont need outside science knowledge to get a good score.3) The ACT is faster-paced than the SAT.   Most students feel time pressure on the ACT, especially on the reading comprehension and science sections.   Both sections have 40 questions to complete in 35 minutes.   Timing practice is essential to doing well on the ACT.4) Theres no guessing penalty on the ACT.   The dreaded guessing penalty on the SATmost of my students strongly dislike being penalized for wrong answers.   This doesnt happen on the ACT you just dont get credit for the question.   If the guessing penalty really stresses you out, you might prefer the ACT.5) There are no vocabulary questions on the ACT.   The ACT doesnt have sentence completion vocabulary questions like the SAT does.   If vocab is a big problem for you, you might like the ACT better.   On the other hand, if you have a great vocabulary, this could boost your score on the SAT.6) ACT math covers more trigonometry than SAT math does.   ACT math questions (especially the harder ones) will use basic trig concepts like SOHCAHTOA.   Make sure you understand this concept before taking the ACT.For all the differences between the SAT and ACT, most students end up scoring similarly on both tests. However, some students do much better on one test, which is why we recommend that all students take a practice SAT and ACT and compare the results.   Wed be happy to give you those tests and help you analyze your scores just get in touch with one of our directors at info@ajtutoring.com!

Adverbs, Adjectives, a TED Talk, a Video and an Exercise

Adverbs, Adjectives, a TED Talk, a Video and an Exercise This week were combining a new video with exercises and a very interesting TED Talk. We hope the video and exercise will make this TED Talk by car sharing pioneer Robin Chase, founder of Zipcar and Buzzcar, easier to understand for our English students. The grammar focus of this lesson is using adjectives with adverbs. Combining these in English can get complicated. For example, we can say, The dog was very hungry, but we cannot say The dog was very starving. Why not? Watch the video below to learn. Choose the correct adverb to modify the adjective below. Write your answers in comments and we will respond.How was the test? Not good, it was (absolutely/really) difficult.Are you hungry? Yes. Im (absolutely/very) starving.Did you like the movie? No. I thought is was (totally/very) awful.Did you have a good vacation? Yes. It was (really/very) fantastic.Do you like talking about business? Yes. I think it is (very/absolutely) interesting.Learn the following vocabulary words to help you und erstand the video.  Write your answers in comments and we will respond.Push the envelope Approach or extend the limits of what is possible.Yard sale A sale of used household belongings, clothes, furniture, etc. usually held outside the home of the seller.Bake sale A  fundraising activity where baked goods such as doughnuts, cupcakes and cookies are sold.Peer  A person of the same age, status, or ability as another specified person.Revel To take great pleasure or delight.Take it up a notch Digging deep in yourself to apply more effort toward acheiving a goal.Join up To become a member or to form a new group by partnering with another person or entity.Can you answer the questions about the video below?  Write your answers in comments and we will respond.How much less do Zipcar users drive? Why?When did they start BuzzCar?What does a company do well?How many people joined Carpooling.com?What did the CEO of TopCoder say?Who beat out Google video? Why?How long did it take Robin to figure out the insurance challenge? elisabete dias Adverbs and adj exercises: 11-realy 2- very 3- very 4-realy 5- very LOIEnglish Elisabete:Question #2 is absolutely. There are some adjectives that are extreme that can only match with an extreme adverb. (starving, filthy, delicious, hilarious, awful) these match with extreme adverbs (absolutely, completely, incredibly, totally) Question #3 is totally for the same reason. Daniel Webster Bayes 1. really 2. absolutely 3. totally 4. really 5. absolutely

Decorate With Chi Feng Shui For Health And A Better Life

Decorate With Chi Feng Shui For Health And A Better Life Photo courtesy of elledecor.com Like a roiling tornado tearing through the calmest of suburbs, the spiral staircase inhales and uproots energy in its path, spewing chaos in its wake. This may seem like an extreme, confusing example of the effect decor and home layouts have on our health and energy patterns, but ancient Feng Shui practices suggest it as a simple matter of fact: Curved staircases are best. Spiral staircases, resembling corkscrews boring into a house, are the worst, wrote Kathryn Weber of  RedLotusLetter. They become even worse if they are placed in the center of the house or by the front door. Beyond the mere spiral staircase, Feng Shui asserts that just as humans have an energy or life-forcereferred to as Chi  in Chinese medicinerunning through their bodies, all homes and spaces also contain the same flow of energy in the form of Feng Shui. This energy can be hindered or heightened depending upon the placement of certain decor in the home, and is believed to have an impact on not only residents emotional state and moods, but also their health. Before you start worrying that your home might be impacting your health negatively, however, know that simple changes can be made that dont require a total move or remodel. To Begin: Discover the Bagua Map Photo courtesy of gowithharmony.com. Originating from the I Ching, the Bagua  represents the nine energy centers of the home and specific rooms. These energy centers correspond to the specific areas in our lives such as health and family, wealth and prosperity and others listed on the map above. To discover which areas correspond to each aspect, stand at the Entrance Quadrant, aka, the front door, of your home or apartment with the map above parallel to the floor and the Entrance Quadrant touching your stomach. This will show where the areas in each quadrant of the map fall in your home, so you can then begin to organize and place objects in each of the spaces that magnify or correct its Chi. In some cases, youll want to use the Bagua Map on specific rooms; if so, simply stand at the entryway of the room of your choice, and split it up into the quadrants the same way you would the entire house. According to Care2.com: If your home is not a rectangle or square, you may be missing areas of the Bagua.  If this is the case, you can do a mini-Bagua for each room of your home and enhance the wealth corner of each room. Treat the main entrance to the room like you would the front door of the home and lay the Bagua accordingly. This energetically brings back into the space the missing area. Health: The Center of the  Bagua The Health section of the Bagua lies at its center (sometimes also in the center-left) and touches all quadrants, reiterating the point that without health one cannot be truly balanced in life. This area also represents a grounded nature and should be filled with Earth tones and stabilizing features such as paintings of landscapes and brown, yellow, or other Earth-tone paints. Care2.com also recommends avoiding placing water images and/or tones, such as mirrors, in the center area since the floaty and unstable quality of water will destabilize the earth element. The Elements and Health Along with purifying and reorganizing the center Bagua, it is important to pay attention to the use and placement of the elements throughout the home, as too much of some elements can derail efforts to increase  Chi  in an area and increase problematic health symptoms. Feng Shui recognizes five elements: fire, water, earth, wood and metal, with each working to harness a specific energy. Fire Fire encourages boldness and represents enthusiasm and leadership. With a perfect balance, fire can be an extremely inspiring force, but too much fire can cause anger, irritability and aggression. Lack of fire creates an opposing effect, causing low self-esteem, lack of inspiration and coldness. Candles, incandescent lighting and sunlight add fire to an area, while water tones such as blues minimize it. Wood Wood represents strength, intuition, creativity and expansion. Too much wood in the form of plants, furniture and paper can create stubbornness and inflexibility, while a lack of wood can cause depression and result in a lack of creativity. Metal Metal deals with the mental and intellectual, and is often represented by oval shapes, objects made with metal, stones and white or gray pastel colors. Too much metal can bring about negative thoughts, impulsive speaking tendencies and a chaotic mind, while a lack of metal can cause quietness, lack of focus and loss of motivation. Earth Earth, as reflected by the center Bagua, represents grounding and stability. An overabundance can create a heavy seriousness and boredom, while a lack can lead to chaos and disorganization. Rectangular paintings, shapes and images of landscapes represent Earth, as well as plants and any object having green, brown, yellow or gold tones. Water The water element highlights emotions and spirituality and can heighten wisdom and inspiration. Too much water can lead to a sense of feeling overwhelmed, as if you were drowning, while a lack of water can result in stress and loneliness. Water can be brought to a space through blue, green and purple tones, as well as mirrors and fountains. Common Feng Shui Mistakes and Corrections Door Opening to a Wall Doors that open directly into a wall can create the feeling of being blocked, according to Houzz.com. To correct this, Houzz recommends hanging artwork that draws the eye in, and that while mirrors are typically used as a cure in Feng Shui, one should avoid hanging a mirror reflecting back out the door, since this is essentially shuttling energy outside. Heavy Objects Hanging Overhead Heavy objects can be anything from lamps to chandeliers, and while they can add a certain modern look to a space, they can also create the subconscious stress of pushing down and worry over the object falling. Houzz recommends moving furniture such as tables or beds from directly underneath large hanging objects. Stairs Facing a Door Stairs are often referred to as raging rivers in Feng Shui because of their powerful energy-carrying properties. In the case of stairs leading down to a doorway, this essentially means all the energy of the house is flowing down the stairs and out the door a counterproductive situation. To counteract this effect, it is recommended to hang a mirror that reflects back to the stairs in order to reflect the energy back inside. It is also recommended to avoid hanging artwork in a descending fashion down stairwells, as this increases the energy flow to the door below. While implementing Feng Shui across an entire house may seem like a chore that could potentially cost a small fortune, making simple changes with mirrors and splashes of colors representing the elements in specified quadrants can be a cheap step in the right direction. Looking for a more convenient way to furnish your off-campus apartment? Rent stylish furniture from CORT and save time and money. For more information on furniture rental packages, click here.

4 Ways for Students to Expand Their Vocabulary - TutorNerds

4 Ways for Students to Expand Their Vocabulary - TutorNerds 4 ways students can expand their vocabulary in any situation Many students aim to expand their vocabulary, whether theyre in elementary school learning new words or high school students preparing for college entrance exams. Its essential for students to learn different words with similar meanings as well as the emotional connotation of particular terms and phrases. Some terms are formal while others are casual and certain terms are only used in specific professions or fields, often called jargon. Additionally, ESL students want to expand their vocabulary from the bottom up so they can work towards fluency. Whatever a student’s goal is there are some ways they can expand their vocabulary and become a better writer. Expanded vocabulary practice can also improve any student’s reading comprehension skills. 1. Academic reading Students who are preparing for the SAT or ACT should think about doing a little bit of academic reading our Orange County test prep tutors are here to help you succeed. This type of reading is different from reading a novel or other fiction text because it tends to be mostly informative in nature and contains a lot of terms specific to a particular subject. Younger students can also participate in this reading as long as its age-appropriate. A student’s classroom teacher is always one of the best resources when compiling a reading list of age and skill level appropriate text for students in any grade. 2. Word of the day Students can learn new vocabulary one word at a time by using simple and easy online tools such as thesaurus.com to learn synonyms and antonyms of any particular term. Many online study tools provide suggestions that have an emotionally similar term and will also inform students which words are in current usage and which ones are archaic. Learning just one word every day is a great way to expand vocabulary overtime because it gives students a chance to absorb the meaning of a word and use it in their daily life rather than studying a list of dozens of words at once that are easily forgotten later (READ: 5 Tips for Success in English Class from a Private Irvine English Tutor). 3. Writing skills and word variety Many students will use the same word over and over again in a homework assignment or a research paper, ultimately making their writing less interesting than it could be if they were able to vary their word choice. Students are encouraged to underline or highlight words they use over and over again in their writing and look up synonyms. Students can talk with their teacher or private tutor to find out which words they tend to repeat and also determine which synonyms are the most appropriate in a specific situation. At first, students may choose synonyms with an emotional meaning that doesnt quite fit within the parameters of their assignment but, over time, students will gain the skill of word choice and become better writers. 4. Film and TV Some students understand new words better if they can hear them spoken rather than read them in a book. Students can learn tons of new vocabulary words by watching film and television shows to figure out which words are appropriate in a given conversation. Film and TV shows are especially helpful for ESL students who want to expand their vocabulary and work towards fluency. Its helpful to see a character’s reaction to certain words or phrases and determine if they were used in a comic or dramatic situation. ESL students will also be able to pick up on the formality of a situation and determine if they should be using that word in a professional situation or only in a casual discussion with close friends. Our in-home Irvine English tutors are here to help your child expand their vocabulary. All blog entries, with the exception of guest bloggers, are written by Tutor Nerds. Are you an education professional? If so, email us at pr@tutornerds.com for guest blogging and collaborations. We want to make this the best free education resource in SoCal, so feel free to suggest what you would like to see us write.

How to Properly Showcase Your Internships on Your Resume

How to Properly Showcase Your Internships on Your Resume Photo Via: Pixabay.com 1. List Everything Relevant First, and easily most importantly, you should be listing all relevant experience on your resume, which includes internships. Basically, you need to think ahead to the position you are aiming for, the field that its in, the responsibilities you should have to hold this position and what they are asking for as requirements. In this way, you should match your relevant internship experience to the position at hand. For instance, if you worked at a radio show 3 days a week but you are applying to an office position, odds are the radio experience isn’t as relevant. For this reason, first ensure you are focusing on the tasks, positions and experience that is the most relevant to the position that you are applying for. 2. Prioritize Over Part-Time Positions Holding part-time positions throughout your college career is also known as a bit of a resume booster. That being said, when you are looking at prioritizing your resume, your part-time jobs should fall second to your internships, so long as your internships are more relevant to the position that you are applying to. This means that if you have experience working as a Starbucks barista and then held an internship through which you edited content for a publication, in applying to a position at a magazine, you should be listing your internship experience before your part-time barista job experience. While most employers will want to see that you have done both, it’s more important to the job you are applying for that you prioritize the internship experience, as it’s more relevant to the position you’re applying for. 3. Elaborate on All Responsibilities As previously stated, some internship experience can be pertinent to the position you are applying to, no matter how menial the task may seem. For this reason, you should certainly be including all of your responsibilities on your resume. For each internship that you are listing on your resume, you should be listing all of the tasks that you performed in that position. While it may seem a bit redundant and overwhelming, it’s best to first include all of your tasks, then remove some until you feel that the bullet point fully encompass that position. Again, you never know what responsibilities are going to resonate with an employer, so, especially when you are working with minimal experience, listing everything that you did in a given internship is going to set you apart form the competition more than you know. 4. Include Important Date Information When you are listing your internship experience, it may not feel all that important, but you should always list your dates of employment. When it comes down to it, including your dates of employment lets the potential employers know your work history in full. For instance, was this a contract position that lasted 3 months, or was it a long-term internship that was cut short? Or was it a long-term position that you stuck out the whole way through. These dates can tell an employer the full story, so you’ll want to include them in your resume if they strengthen the story you are trying to tell. Infographic Via Canva 5. Note Reference Availability When you don’t have a lot of experience, to begin with, as is typically the case with entry-level applicants, it’s hard to sell yourself on paper, as there really isn’t all that much to work with. For that reason, you should be including information regarding your references. For instance, rather than sending along a resume that just doesn’t tell the whole story, you should be noting your reference’s availability upon request. Note that you never want to include your reference’s information right away, but rather want to note that references are available upon request to ensure the potential employer knows that your work was strong enough that you were able to garner references. Also make sure that when you are picking out your references, that you are using the most important positions on your resume. For instance, you don’t want to note your reference as your manager at McDonald’s when the more relevant experience is your internship with the school newspaper. So be sure that you are not only including the fact that references are available, but that you have saved references that are actually applicable to the position you are applying to and that they can back up your most relevant experience. 6. Focus on the Pertinent Tasks As previously stated, you should be including all relevant tasks in your resume. To begin, you should always list out all of your responsibilities, then you can hone in on the most important tasks as you work through your entire resume. In this way, you should be focusing more strongly on the tasks that are pertinent to the position you are applying to. The best way to manage this is to have a copy of your resume that lists out every task that you performed in a given position. From here, every time you apply to a new position, you should be focusing your resume based on the position at hand, removing the tasks and responsibilities that are less pertinent to the position. For instance, if you are applying to a position at a publication, you should be including your writing and editing experience, but your experience scheduling and booking flights for an executive is less pertinent to that position. 7. Include More than Less Information On this same note, you definitely want to include more information than less, but you don’t want your resume to be too long, either. As a general rule of thumb, and especially if you don’t have years of experience, you should only be listing one page worth of experience. Generally speaking, employers don’t want to see more than one page of experience, as they are looking to skim your resume and determine whether or not you are a candidate that they wish to invite in for an interview. For this reason, you want to include all of the experience that’s potentially relevant that you can fit on that one page. Still, you don’t want the resume to appear over-crowded or to go over the one-page threshold as an entry-level candidate. With these items in mind, as previously mentioned, include all your experience and then subtract and add as needed based on the position that you are applying for. The more tailored you can make your resume to the position in question, the more likely you are to catch the potential employer’s eye as he/she is skimming through and choosing the right resumes for the job. 8.  Note Any Achievements As far as pertinent information goes on your resume, you should always be noting any and all achievements from your internships on your resume. While you always want to include your academic achievements in this section of your resume, it’s also very important that you are noting your internship achievements, if applicable, as these are going to be the most relevant when you are applying to new positions, especially as a first-time applicant. For this reason, you should be noting whether or not you received any awards at the company you interned with if there are any other items of note that you won and/or earned, or simply if you had any outstanding achievements throughout the internship that should be noted on your resume. Remember that your resume is the perfect time to showcase your skills and accomplishments, which means that it’s not bragging, but rather in your best interest, to include every relevant achievement on your resume. Photo Via: Pixabay.com 9. Note Any Promotions/Responsibility Changes In this same vein, you should always be noting any promotions and/or changes in responsibility at all of your internships. While it’s rare for interns to be promoted, there are many interns that will be taken from intern to part-time or full-time employee, which does fall in this promotion category. If this is the case, you should be showcasing that change in title on your resume. Basically, you do this in listing the positions separately on the resume, one that outlines your position, dates and responsibilities for the internship, and another that outlines the position, dates and responsibilities for the promoted position. In this way, your potential employer sees that you have experience as an intern and as an employee, but also that you were able to move up in that company, which speaks volumes to your work ethic and the potential you have at the company that you are applying for. Employers frequently look for title changes and other similar information when they are screening candidates, so to have this as an entry-level applicant is going to set you far apart from the competition. So while the position change may seem miniscule, it’s going to speak volumes to a potential employer. So don’t leave it out of your resume, or limit your resume to only one of the titles that you held at that company. 10. Prioritize Internships Over One Another Last, but definitely not least, you should certainly be prioritizing your internships over one another. While your internships likely all feel equally important to you, certain internships are going to be more important to employers than others. For this reason, if you are one of those individuals that held multiple internships throughout your college career, you will need to prioritize your internship experience when you are crafting your resume. In this way, you should outline every single internship that you had throughout college. From here, you should limit your internship experience to one, full page of internships. Then, you can list out all the tasks for those internships. Finally, you can remove the tasks that are not relevant to the position that you are applying for. As previously stated, you don’t want a resume that’s so long an employer won’t bother reading it, but you do want to include as much information as possible to showcase your experience as it relates to the position you are applying for. As such, you should always outline absolutely everything that you can and, from here, you can hone in the important details to make sure that your resume is completely tailored and oriented towards the position that you are applying for. Again, holding internships throughout college is in your best interest, as they are frequently referred to as resume boosters. That being said, it’s imperative that you leverage these internships when writing your resume to ensure that all potential employers have a full understanding of your qualifications and background. Writing a resume is no easy feat, especially when you are an entry-level applicant, but there are certainly ways to ensure that you are a strong contender when it comes to a new position simply based on the way that you format, layout and fill out your resume. The above ten tips are a helpful starting point in ensuring that your resume is saying all that it should be, but it’s also a good idea to attend resume building classes, seminars and workshops to really focus on creating and maintaining an effective resume, at the beginning of and throughout your career. No matter how you build it out, your resume is the means through which you will earn a new position, so make sure that you are fully committed to making it the best that it can be.

Starting From Scratch The Basics of Entrepreneurship

Starting From Scratch The Basics of Entrepreneurship image via www.mahmoudzalt.com According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, an entrepreneur is someone who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise. Not everyone is cut out to be an entrepreneur. Starting your own business requires a lot of patience, money, and time, and definitely a spark of passion. If being an entrepreneur is something you think you are cut out to do, here are some pieces of advice to keep in mind for creating your business and keeping it afloat. Have a good team: When you start a business, you want to make sure that the people you have on board with you are smart, well-rounded individuals, who you can trust and who will help your business reach its full potential. Eric Pellaton, who has been an entrepreneur for ten years, said that he recommends “hiring people who are smarter than you.” image via teams-fs.com Having a team of people with their wits about them will aid you when you need people to bounce ideas off of or even get help from. “You can’t do everything all by yourself in the business, so it will definitely help to hire the right people and therefore have a team which excels in different areas,”  Pellaton said. Daniel Vazquez, CEO of Hoplon Financial Group, agreed with Pellaton. “Surround yourself with those that are much smarter than you and you can trust it’s okay to be the dumbest guy in the room, he said. A lot of the time, entrepreneurs get trapped because they have a great idea, but they themselves don’t know how to run a business. This is where a good team comes in. Hiring someone with business management expertise will allow you to put more focus on your idea and how you want it to play out. Georg Cramm, a founder of ADS Engineering GmbH in Basel, Switzerland, said it is essential to “get to know your business partners before you start business with them, because you are going to need to be able to trust them.” Starting a business is risky enough, and you don’t want to be associated with people who may not have the same interests as you. Cramm gave me an example that happened to him when he was starting his first company.  â€œMy very first company I founded in 1988 out of college. As diploma work my colleague and I designed and built a solar city car. During this work, we met people that were interested in our work and they asked  us to join them in founding a company to build and sell solar cars. Enthusiastic as we were at the time, we joined the “party.” The relation didn’t last too long (about 8 months). I learned my lesson!” This is a perfect example about how you need to know who you are going to be working with and how rushing into things is never a good idea. Be protected: Though having a good team is essential, it is still a great idea to protect yourself, because you never know what may go wrong and according to Pellaton everything that can go wrong will go wrong twice. image via globalgoodgroup.com Keeping that in mind, you want to be able to prepare for the worst. Gilbert Fluetsch, founder of Fluetsch Consulting, said that “in order for an entrepreneur to be protected, he/she should form a partnership, LLC (limited liability company), or even Incorporate.” Pellaton recommended to “set up a contract and already have a good lawyer at your disposal.” Having these things already worked out will save you a lot of time and energy, and you won’t have to be scrambling if something gets messy in the business. Cramm said that he utilizes a memorandum of association. “This document regulates how the value of the company is defined  at any time and how the shares of the company are treated,” he said. You want to make sure that you clearly outline things like what happens to the shares when a partner leaves the company, who can buy at what price, etc. Pellaton also mentioned that you should pay attention to the administration and accounting details right from the beginning. Things will get very complicated if you shove these off to deal with at a later date. Another helpful piece of advice from Cramm is to “check your company name and make sure that you will not be confronted with any trademark issues.” The same goes for patents; you really want to avoid infringements. Let’s talk money: So you have a great idea. Now what? In order to get your idea going anywhere, you are going to need some money. image via thewritersguidetoepublishing.com Fluetsch said “once you have an idea on what you would like to do, you put a business plan together that describes the market you are going to tackle, the economics, and last but not least, the financials.” Most of the time, entrepreneurs start out with a small loan from family members to get their business started. When starting a business you are going to need lots of patience, because you definitely don’t want to jump into something you can’t handle. You want to make sure that the funding for the starting phases will be well covered. Vazquez recommended not to “spend money you think you are going to make before its made.” You definitely don’t want to jump the gun and have to pay for it later, literally. You also have to realize that when you start a company, the decisions you make are not only affecting you, but everyone that you work for. “Remember that you are responsible for the financial well being of all that work for you so keep that in the back of your mind with every decision you make,” Vazquez said. Here is an article on Entrepreneur.com that will give you some guiding tools on how to raise money for your business. Know what you are getting into: When starting a business, you need to be realistic and ask yourself, according to Cramm: 1)     What is your core business? 2)     What is your market? 3)     Who is your team? 4)     How are you financed? 5)     How is your cash flow planning? These questions will give you a good foundation for a business plan. Pellaton also said that the business process is going to take “three to five times longer than you thought and cost way more than you would have imagined. image via www.roundpulse.com Dreaming up something is one thing, but putting it in action is a whole different ball game. Here is an article by Scott A. Shane in The New York Times, highlighting that “failure is a constant in entrepreneurship.” Now, this isn’t to say that you should just give up and quit on your idea, it is just to give you a realistic perspective of the things that are going to be pinning against you. Fluetsch mentioned that switching from being an employee to an entrepreneur means “you are switching from a steady paycheck, benefits, and a relatively secure work environment, to a new, unknown situation.” When you have your own business, there won’t be a constant paycheck each month. You are going to have to constantly be looking for new business, and satisfying your customers to stay afloat. image via havingtime.com The verdict: If you know that starting a business is what you truly want to do, you need to make sure that you have the passion, the wits, and the patience to pull it through. You will have to put in long hours, make sacrifices, trust the people you work with, and make tough decisions from time to time. Vazquez said not to give up. “You will find that success is right around the corner and usually its around the corner you never turned because you gave up.” No one said it would be easy, but if you can pull it through it will definitely be worth it, and I salute you because venturing off on your own definitely takes a good amount of guts! Run your own business, get control of your future, make an impact on your life. To learn more about College Pro, click here or call 1-888-277-7962.