Posted on 04/24/2009 3:21:21 PM PDT by Optimus Prime
I was curious about the process of creating a small business, and I was wondering if anyone could provide any info that I might find useful?
First up, are there any books which're useful for anyone interested in starting a small business? Any titles which provide a lot of help?
Second, where can one find possible sources of funding for a small business? Bank loan, of course, but anywhere else, in addition to fronting whatever you can?
Last but not least, anyone here create and operate their own small business? What sort of things did you plan for ahead of time, and what unexpected turns did you end up taking?
If anyone here has any light to shed on the subject, I'm definitely interested in hearing what you have to say. Thanks. :)
How To Make A Small Fortune: Take a large fortune and start a small business.
Senior Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) at the Small Business Administration: http://www.score.org/index.html
Read this book: E-Myth by Michael E. Gerber
One of the best books for the small businessman I have ever read.
After that read: How to Sell Anything to Anybody, by Joe Girard. Best book on pure selling ever written IMHO
Buy low, sell high.
LOL! That’s like the advice for becoming a millionaire. First start as a billionaire, then buy an airline.
Research, Research, Research! Market, finacial needs and investors will help as well.
Been there and done that. A Computer and simple bookkeeping software, (Quicken or Quick Books) will help you budget and track your progress. A company checking account will help to keep personal and company funds separate and the Dummies reference will help
More seriously, before you go getting loans, start the business on some smaller order so you can establish some working experience and markets. People get in up to there eyeballs in warehouse and plant before they even know if they have a viable business.
SB owner here. 1st off, if you’re s start up, your chances of surviving 5 years are slim. Hire a professional to do your payroll (assuming you have employees) if you can afford it. Employees will be your biggest headache. You’ll sh*t a brick when you see how much taxes you pay. Incorporate. Plan on working much harder than you do now. I haven’t had a vacation in 3 years. Bottom line is that it’s incredibly rewarding at times and incredibly disheartening at times. Follow your dreams. Don’t take no for an answer. Figure out what people want(or need) and the easiest and most cost effective way to get it to them and you’re golden.
Check the laws and regulations in your state for setting up a business. You can likely find what you need on the website for your State’s government.
Napoleon Hill, Zig Ziglar and other of the genre
start with Think and Grow Rich,
stay away from naysayers, join your local Business association.
read everything you can regarding the type of business you are looking to set up.
Instead spend ALL of your time determining WHY and ultimately IF you want to start a small business.
Once you have satisfied all of the reasons to/not to do it, then worry about how.
Especially in this environment.
Having done it 3 times, best of luck, schu
Don't delude yourself into the belief there's a market for something just because you like it.
Whatever you think it will cost you in the first 5 years; it will be more, probably much more.
Try to NOT borrow any money.
Work out of your home / garage for free rent first. Less risky ?
Work in the field / profession as an employee first. This may help you decide if you want this type of work before investing any personal money.
Get good insurance, set up legal protection so as to not lose your home if things do not go well ( Think LLC or such ).
Talk to local retired business owners at Rotary, Elk, Eagles, your church...for local issues.
Do a detailed, written business plan and budget.
Like one of the other posts said - figure out WHY you want to do this. I GUARANTEE you that it's more time consuming than you think it's going to be.
Write out a business plan and have someone reliable look it over.
Retain a GOOD accountant. You might not need bookkeeping from them but a good accountant can keep you out of a LOT of trouble.
Plugging numbers into Quickbooks or some other program is really easy to do. It also doesn't mean a damned thing if you don't know what the numbers mean or if they're showing up the way they're supposed to. Learn what a Balance Sheet, Income Statement and Cash Flow statement are.
After you've done all that, go talk to some other business owners in the field you're looking to get into or similar fields and see what they have to say. Don't do this first because 90% of what they say will be different than what you have just learned.
Go back to the accountant and tell him/her what the other business owners have said and make sure that you can reconcile THEIR answers with the accountants answers (a GOOD accountant will be able to explain what, why and how what you heard from others is BS or good advice).
bump for later
When I asked him what that was, he said:
"People come to me and ask about running a restaurant. I tell them "Don't do it. That'll be a hundred grand, please.""
What kind of business? Where? How old are you?
In my experience the SCORE folks are big business men and know very little about small business.
An IRS agent that came around to bug me but was a very good guy said that SBS gave you enough money to hang you with. If you are a politically connected type, they might help.
I have operated small businesses for 40 years. Until recently, I always had at least two. My rule is stay one corporation ahead.
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