Starting
Your Own Business:
What Does It Take?


From the desk of
Leonard Martin:
Dear Friend,
How
many times have you, or someone you know, said something
like
"I've always wanted to have a business
of my own. Something I'd really enjoy doing. I'm so
tired of going to work building someone else's
dream. I want to be my
own boss and build my dream!"
Lots
of people have the dream of owning their own
business,
but they get bogged down
in the details of how to go about it.
This page
isn't meant to serve as a complete business start-up
guide, but it will give you an idea of some of
the steps involved in starting your own traditional business.
It will also give you an option to get started in
what the SBA has defined as one of the fastest
growing segments of our economy, working from home.
To start your
own traditional "Brick & Mortar" business there are
8 extremely important steps to getting started:
1.
Hire Professionals
The most important professionals you'll need in the
beginning are a lawyer and an accountant.
The lawyer
can help you get organized on paper as a corporation,
partnership, sole proprietorship, or some other type
of company. If all goes well you shouldn't need the
lawyer very often after your initial set up.
A good accountant
will help you decide what will be most advantageous
tax angle to organize your business as a legal
entity.
A lawyer can also help you
register your business and get any licenses and permits
you will need, and can advise you about patenting
your idea or protecting your intellectual property
by requiring everyone you discuss your business with
to sign non-disclosure or confidentiality agreement.
2.
Make a Business Plan
You may need to hire a writer or other business professional
to help you write a business plan.
There may be a
class offered by the SBA or similar agency in your
area. These classes are great and often take a full
semester to complete and tuition is usually
required. One benefit of the class is that you'll
write a business plan as a part of the curriculum.
One way or another you'll need someone
to help you get organized as to what your business's
main purpose or goal will be and the "best guess" as
to the steps necessary to get the doors open.
This could be anything
from serving hot dogs to people outside the home improvement
store or providing technology support to major players
in the business world.
Either way, you need a plan
that sketches out how you will proceed toward your
goal and an estimate of how much money you'll need
to get there.
What will your equipment costs be?
Will
you be hiring employees?
How about renting office
space, utilities, insurance, etc.?
This is only a
partial list of cost estimates that should be included
in your Business Plan. Depending on the business you
start you may have many many more to consider.
3.
Get Financing
Now that you have a complete list of cost estimates
your banker will consider your proposal. Without a
very detailed cost estimate the banker wont even
talk to you.
A banker will ask questions like...
How much start-up money will you need?
What is your expected overhead?
Have you researched
the market to get projected revenues?
Do you have
savings you can use?
Banks like to see you make an
investment of your own money in your idea.
Do you
have friends or business associates
who might want to invest in your venture, or do you
need a bank loan?
Whatever the situation, you'll need
to present a copy of your business plan to bankers
or investors if you need to borrow money to get your
company rolling.
4.
Set Up Your Record-keeping System
A good accountant can advise you on the best record-keeping
software for your business, and help you set up a
system for keeping track of payables, receivables,
sales tax, payroll, employee benefits plans, and so
forth.
You will be relying on the accountant for at
least your yearly tax return for your business, and
possibly for quarterly payroll and sales tax returns.
If you have employees it is a really good idea to
have the accountant figure out your payroll,
withholding and taxes. Your accountant can also get you an EIN number (Employer
Identification Number) once your lawyer is done with
setting up the legal entity.
5.
Find a Location
Depending on your business, finding a great location may be very important.
If you need to be visible to the public (say your
business is a bookstore or restaurant), then you'll
have to think long and hard about where you should
set up shop.
Location can make you or break you-and
the rent is due no matter which way your fortune turns.
You will also need to get a phone, yellow page
advertising, get the utilities
turned on, install your furniture and equipment, and
get a sign or two that shouts "Hey look! We're
here!"
6.
Set Up Accounts with Credit Card Companies
Every brick-and-mortar business these days takes plastic
or they don't stay in business.
You'll pay a small
percentage for every credit or debit card transaction
a customer makes.
You will need to invest in a method
for checking the validity of debit and credit cards-like
those "Slide Card Here" machines at cash
registers everywhere.
7.
Hire Employees
You may not need to do this step if you're a one-person
operation.
Maybe you can get by with just one part-time
person to answer phones and do some of the paperwork.
Of course, it depends on your business and whether
or not you want to take some time off. You can probably
run a small bookstore by yourself, but even a tiny
restaurant means you'll need a cook, several servers,
someone at the cashier, and so forth.
You'll need
to have them complete various forms for the IRS, and
you may want to run background checks or at least
check some references before you hire anyone.
8.
Promote Your Business
Decide what in addition to yellow page advertising
you will do so you can let people know you exist, what
you business can do for them, and why they should come to you
instead of someone else.
Common forms of advertising
are TV and radio commercials, newspaper ads, flyers,
and coupons that appear in booklets distributed by
local companies.
The
list above might make you think twice about starting
a business of your own. It's a big, big risk.
Perhaps you aren't looking
to make such a huge time & financial commitment regarding the
hiring of professionals, finding a location etc
Now you have a good idea why so few people actually
take action on their dream to be their own boss.
The biggest
roadblock to starting or buying a traditional business
is that you will be required to make a considerable up-front cash
investment.
In addition to the large investment of
money, the
time commitment you must make when starting a business
can ultimately turn out to be far greater than what
you have experienced in any job, and the cash return
on your investment is
not necessarily worth the extra time or financial
risk.
But
let's look back at the way this article began: "I've
always wanted to have a business of my own. Something
I'd really enjoy doing. Be my own boss."
There is another
option!
Without all of the headaches of traditional business.
According to the
SBA, this
option is currently one of the fastest growing
segments of the national economy.
There
is a very simple way of attaining this goal that has
worked well for millions of people.
You can have your
very own business in your home, and you can cross
off all or most of the steps listed above.
The best
part of exploring home-based business opportunities
is that there is little risk
and the upside is tremendous.
Many
of the inconveniences and pressures of the traditional
business are eliminated with a home based business.
Realistically
you will not find a legitimate "Home
Based Business" opportunity...that does not require
some financial and time investment.
If you believe
in the "Good Fairy" you'll end up chasing one empty
promise after another.
So lets take a minute and get
real.
If you are serious about starting a legitimate
business with a solid system, real products, a proven
track record, an effective marketing system and 67%
profit margins...
There
is another option.
Fill
out the form below, and I will provide you with additional
information about an opportunity that is truly shaping
my life and allowing me the freedom to live out my
dreams without all of the headaches and costs of a traditional
business.
Sincerely,
Leonard Martin
1-800-804-6817
lmartin@HomeBasedBusinessMatrix.info
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