What Does It Take To Start Your Own Business?
How many times have you thought to yourself, "Wouldn't it be great if I could start my own business, be my own boss, and finally earn what I am worth?" There are many people who have this dream, the problem is they have no idea how to go about it and get bogged down by the details.
You certainly should not take this list as an end all for what is required to start a traditional brick and mortar business; however it will outline some of the steps involved so that you can have a more clear understanding of what is truly involved.
1. A Business Plan.
You may require consultation with a business coach or some other professional, but the first thing you need to do is outline a plan of action and also define what your mission is going to be. What services will you provide? What products will you offer? Will you need to hire employees, rent office space, get a small business loan? These are just a few of the things you will need to consider when drafting your business plan.
2. Hire Professionals.
You are going to need to hire a lawyer and an accountant at the very least. The lawyer will provide guidance about company decisions such as incorporating, becoming a sole proprietorship, etc. Your accountant will provide tax advise and also lead you in the right direction as far as obtaining funding to get your business off the ground - which leads to step 3.
3. Get Financing
Once you have come to a conclusion as to how much startup money and capitalization you will need, you then need to go out and obtain those funds. You may want to consider a business loan or perhaps private investors.
4. Get Your Accounting System Into Place
Your accountant can advise you on different types of software available to track your business records and thing such as payables, receivables, payroll, etc. You will also need to acquire an EIN (Employer Identification Number) as well as account for employee benefits and tax information among other things.
5. Decide Where You Are Going to be Located
You know what they say is the most important thing about starting a business - location, location, location! You will need to consider things such as visibility, access, and will also need to setup utilities, install furniture and equipment and determine rent if you are leasing.
6. Hire Employees
Depending on the nature of your business, you may need to hire help to run the register, phones, etc. You will also need to provide IRS forms to your employees and you may want to consider background checks and references for your potential employees.
7. Setup Merchant Accounts
Any legitimate business these days takes plastic, so you will need to setup merchant accounts with all of the major credit card companies.
8. Advertising
How are you going to get the word out? You need to let people know you are there and what you can do for them. You can run newspaper ads, radio spots or distribute flyers. You may even want to run special "grand opening" promotions.
Going back over this list might make you think twice about starting up that business. You may not have considered everything required to get off the ground and may not be ready to make such a large investment. But you still have the dream, so what are you to do? Fortunately, there is another option!
There are literally millions of people who run successful home based businesses and the risk of doing so is significantly lower than that of a traditional business and the upside is much higher as well due to not having monthly obligations such as rent, payroll and other brick and mortar expenses that can eat at your bottom line. Another great thing about exploring home based business opportunities is that the initial investment is next to nothing in most cases compared to what a traditional business would cost.
So if you still have that dream of owning your own business and being your own boss but are not ready to jump into a brick and mortar business, the important thing to remember is that there is another option. Take some time to look at home based business opportunities. You'll be pleasantly surprised.
Related Tags: home business, entrepreneur, work from home, work at home, business, self employment
Paul McDonald is an IT professional turned entrepreneur whose goal is to assist 100 people per year in starting up their own home business by teaching them the same simple 3 step business model that he utilizes. For further information visit http://www.livewealthylivefree.com
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