Entrepreneurs discuss tips to help business get started and growing. Tips include getting a mentor, testing the idea and more.

Metro Tech small business consultant Sharron Jackson interview on FOX 25 on 11/24/09. Metro Tech is offering free business classes for business start-up. Classes cover taxes and writing a small business plan.

Four entrepreneurs discuss the idea of acquiring a small business as a route to entrepreneurship. The participants took different routes to Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA): search funds, a self-funded search, and a search sponsored by a private equity fund. Each entrepreneur shares his decision making on the right time to take the path of ETA. Participants: Moderator Peter Kelly; David Kennedy, Sean Callahan, Ciaran Power, and Michael Sanabria. Resources on Search Funds: www.gsb.stanford.edu Center for Entrepreneurial Studies: www.gsb.stanford.edu Recorded: Oct. 5, 2009 as part of Strategic Management 543 course.

Get technology planning assistance from Microsoft Small Business, and develop information technology solutions when managing small businesses.

Appearing 90 minutes into the show, investment advisor Catherine Austin Fitts spoke about the financial outlook. The global economy has been dependent on issuing more and more debt, and now that we can’t keep expanding the debt, “we’re literally seeing an economic contraction,” she commented. Prices have been held down as we print more cash, and now we’re going to have reconcile the paper to real things, leading to a deflation of income, but inflation of prices, she warned. What we’re watching is a financial system that is driving small business out of business, Fitts said, explaining that all the capital goes to Wall St. to the firms that have the inside deals. We need to change the economic model away from the centralized banks, she added. Fitts noted that one of the biggest financial mistakes that people make is that they don’t invest in preventative health care. As far as investments, she recommended precious metals, energy technology, as well pooling resources in investment clubs. Farmland with great water is even a better investment than gold, she said, as food you buy at stores isn’t always trustworthy. Life by Chance? During the first half-hour, Robert Piccioni, Ph.D. argued against the notion that the development of life happened by chance, citing the complicated and sophisticated design of DNA. His interview was cut short because of difficulties with his phone line.

Ed King discusses the second problem small business owners face, poor choice of opportunity, in making their business profitable and reveals the solution to this problem. If you wouldlike a discounted copy of the program visit www.joblossrx.com, #37

When writing a business plan, make sure to include the key components, such as an executive summary, an operation section, a management section, a marketing section, a finance section and an appendix. Find out how to write these sections of a business plan with the help of this free video from the owner of a small business. Expert: FJ Cava Contact: www.sfwebspot.com Bio: FJ Cava has an Master’s of Business Administration from San Francisco State, and he has worked with the Small Business Administration. Currently, he owns Bayview Webspot. Filmmaker: Sam Lee