If you're thinking of starting a business, then you should consider buying one. According to the BusinessesForSale.com team your chances of success will be greater.

The real test for a new business is whether it’s still trading after five years. It is generally accepted that only 20% of start-ups make it to their sixth birthday. That is why buying an existing business, as opposed to starting one, is a great way of improving your chances of success.

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The average entrepreneur in Britain works over 50 hours each week, and nearly two-thirds believe their family life has suffered because of their workload and stress, according to a new study.

Research from the chief executive membership organisation Vistage International and Growing Business magazine has found that the average chief executive and managing director works 5.24 days a week and 51.5 hours each week, yet those polled said they aspire to work an average of 42.5 hours.

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Every single day...

- Gold's gym members climb 1,700,000 flights of stairs - the equivalent of 11,000 Empire State buildings
- They run 556,800 miles - 23 times around the earth
- They cycle 236,670 miles - 750 times across the US
- They lift 3.6bn pounds - all the gold at Fort Knox 
                                    - They lose 43,835 pounds of body fat

Click here to buy your own Gold's Gym Franchise

Gold's Gym is probably the most famous gym brand in the world. The company operates 650 gyms in 27 countries and 43 American states and has some 2.5 million members worldwide.

The name might conjure up images of bodybuilding and Southern Californian sunshine - and it did, indeed, feature in Arnold Swarzenegger's career-launching 1976 film Pumping Iron - but the brand has moved way beyond its muscle-bound roots.

Today, 56% of its members worldwide are female, and the clubs are just as renowned for yoga and pilates as they are for traditional weight-lifting. Gold's has become the undisputed world leader in every aspect of fitness training.

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There are 100s of florist shops on BusinessesForSale.com. Adam Bannister interviewed florist shop buyer Kim Sheppard exclusively for BOB.

1. BOB: So were flowers a passion of yours?
Yes, I have always had a passion for flowers and when I was made redundant I decided to purchase the lease of a shop and turn it into a florist.

2. BOB: Was it particularly expensive to set up?
Yes – having purchased the lease, paid the solicitors’ fees for both myself and landlord (landlords generally expect you to pay their fees) insurances etc, the building of the shelves and shop fitting, it cost about £20K.

3. BOB: More than anticipated?
Yes, but then I had no knowledge of floristry, or indeed the setting-up costs, and no business background. I was led by information fed to me from other sources which did not turn out to be very effective.

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BusinessesForSale.com is proud to announce that The King's very own website Elvis.co.uk is for sale.

If you're into The King then this business is for you. The site describes itself as "an interactive online fan club and retail outlet for Elvis Presley fans..."

Click here to get more information about this opportunity.

Business plans should be seen as fluid documents ls that can change and adapt as you learn more about your own strategic aims and the sector you're in.

Take BusinessesForSale.com, for example. We planned on revenues from referrals. So if a business owner came to us looking to sell his business we figured that we could refer that owner to a business broker (professionals that buy and sell businesses on behalf of clients) for a cut of his commission (once the business was sold).

In theory, this sounded like an exceptionally good idea and something that all business brokers wanted to work with us on. However, in practice we found it very difficult to police.

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The Athlete's Foot is the world's first franchisor of athletic footwear and is recognized as the leader in athletic footwear franchising.

Robert and David Lando opened the first The Athlete's Foot store in 1971 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was the first athletic footwear specialty store of its kind in the United States. Soon thereafter, The Athlete's Foot began franchising domestically, with the first franchise store opening in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The first international franchise store opened in 1978 in Adelaide, Australia, the beginning of The Athlete's Foot expansion into 50 plus countries.

The Athlete's Foot's accolades include being named Success Magazine's #1 Franchise Opportunity and Sports Trend's "Trendsetter of the Year" in both the athletic footwear and virtual retail categories.

Click here to request more information from this franchise opportunity

From BusinessWeek. Sometimes your entrepreneurial dream becomes a nightmare, but life — and business — do go on.

Serial entrepreneur Ruth King has owned seven companies over the past 25 years and admits making her share of silly mistakes. King, 49, who still runs the consulting business she started in 1981, Business Ventures, as well as BusinessTVChannel.com, a Web-based television service aimed at small-business owners, wants to help today's entrepreneurs learn from the mistakes that she and countless others have made.

Her book, The Ugly Truth About Small Business: 50 Never-Saw-It-Coming Things That Can Go Wrong, and What You Can Do About It, presents 50 stories from business owners across the country.

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From Inc Magazine. Now more than ever, it's possible to start a great company for peanuts.

As he lay at the bottom of a hole nine fathoms deep, Baron Munchausen thought he was a goner. Then, so the tale goes, he realized he could hoist himself to safety using the sturdy straps on his leather boots. Today, bootstrapping - the art of starting a company with little or no money - is as romanticized as that 18th-century yarn.

More and more entrepreneurs have come to believe that it also represents the surest route to success. During the peak of the dot-com bubble, the current thinking holds, too much funding led too many companies to misspend. In contrast, to skimp and run a business from the garage requires discipline, creativity, and a true sense of what the market wants.

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Greece is one of the hardest places in the world to do business... the odds are stacked against startups, especially for foreigners.

Small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) form the foundation of the Greek economy, yet how easy is it to start your own business?

Greeks love self-employment and are often prepared to take more risks than northern European counterparts. According to a European Commission Enterprise Directorate survey in 2005, northern Europeans tended to prefer working for companies, whilst people in the south prefer autonomy. In Finland 68 percent preferred being an employee, while Greece (28 percent) had the lowest share of people who wanted to be dependent upon an employer.

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Barclays Bank released new figures showing a substantial rise in the number of budding UK entrepreneurs opening their doors for the first time.

Estimates show that 110,300 new UK businesses started up in the first quarter of 2006, almost one-quarter more than in the same period last year (88,800). It was the second strongest first quarter on record since Barclays started tracking the market in 1988.

Owning your own hotel remains one of the most popular ways to start a new business. At BusinessesForSale.com there are 100s of opportunities to choose from.

Every year thousands of people – ranging from the semi-retired couple to the lifelong hospitality professional – buy B&B's or hotels, with the businesses as varied as the buyers.

It is hardly surprising, when you look at the statistics.

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The average person is bombarded with over 3,000 brands each day. So if you're in business, you will need a memorable name and slogan that stands out.

When you consider that 60% of an average person's email is spam and that the average American or Western European spends more time using media devices such as television, radio, Ipods and cell phones than any other activity while awake (see here), a memorable slogan can become a powerful tool in marketing your brand.

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Ask a group of 18 to 25 years olds about the idea of becoming an entrepreneur and almost three quarters will say that it is a good career choice.

So you probably should not be too surprised that youngsters are setting up businesses at an earlier and earlier age.

Sarah Green, Oliver Bridge and Jake Lunn all run their own companies - selling furniture, shoes and personalised napkins, and all of them are making real money.

Just one thing - Sarah is aged 20, Oliver is 17 and Jake is 10.

So how did they begin?

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BOB received these great podcasting facts from Julia Dorofeeva. She runs a dating blog. She says...

Today I read that US internet users are more likely to download a podcast than try and find a partner online!

Also, according to research firm Nielsen//NetRatings, 9.2 million web users, nearly seven per cent of the online adult US population, recently downloaded an audio podcast. Video podcasts accounted for four per cent of the audience with 5.6 million users.

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For all things women and podcasting (and how podcasting can help your business), then log onto the Women's International Podcasting Expo 2006.

"Podcasts are not just something for the uber-geek," says Elisabeth Lewin of PodcastingNews.com. "They are being developed by a diverse bunch of people, and audiences range from the toddler to the retiree, the hobbyist to the CEO," she adds.

This is a virtual event which means you can enjoy the expo from the comfort of your home or office. The expo runs between July 14-16.

Click here for more information

A new study shows that a lack of awareness amongst the general public is hampering the growth in franchising.

The study conducted by international franchise Ovenu, the oven valeting opportunity, reveals that almost one third of people have very little idea of what a franchise is.

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The team at FranchiseSales.com are very excited to launch an India version of the site.

This new area of the site caters entirely for the Indian market and reflects the continuing aim of FranchiseSales.com to be the premier site for international franchising opportunities. Currently, there 60 franchises available for sale in India. This number will increase to over 100 opportunities in the coming weeks.

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If you've never done it before, interviewing someone for a job can be extremely difficult. Here are some tips on how to structure an interview:

• Welcome the candidate, make them feel at ease
• Introduce yourself and briefly explain what the interview will involve
• Give some background on business and on the role
• Encourage candidate to talk about their skills and experience, why they applied
• Ask open-ended questions
• Keep control of interview
• At the end of interview, ask if they have any questions
• Inform them of the next stage of the process
• Thank the candidate for their time