So, how DO you start your own business?

[Desdinova]

I've read many posts here about starting your own business, and I've heard it from many other people, but the thing is, exactly how do you start it?

I've read about what people want their business to achieve, but haven't read a damn thing about how to get it started.

Now, I must say that I've been successful in everything I've put my mind to. I know if I put my mind toward starting my own business, I'll work like hell to become successful.

Again, how the fvck do you start? What are the best ways to get the word out? Is it absolutely necessary to have a building to start, or can you just start it out of your garage or home?

If you guys have any suggestions for sites to look at or books to read, please list them.

 

[Egoist]

hit the bookstores man.

learn, learn, learn.

oh and

incmag.com
entrepreneurmag.com
startupjournal.com


do you research. absorb all you can.
oh and make sure you want your own business. it can be a pain, you know?

good luck.

 

[spider_007]

WRITE A BUISNESS PLAN- can't stress this enough.

go get a licenece for your buisness, and go at it....

be creative (i don't meen in the artsy way eather.)

 

[LowPlainsDrifter]

Find a skill that you're good at, even if it's a simple "trade" like plumbing, and let people know you're around to do it.
Then, do your very best work on each and every customer so that they recommend you - this is how you build word of mouth business.

 

[HateOnMe]

Hmmm curious at this as well, Well what books do you guys recommend thats actually worth reading on this subject, business plan? Figurin out a talents hard, whats skills do I have no one else does. I had a friend great with hiphop style art, he started up a cloths company and his clothin designs are hittin up to the East coast. Hes my age makin thousands a month, visiting other countries. All I can do is draw stick figures.

 

[STR8UP]

There's NO how-to manual....

Here's the deal.

If you want to own your own business it's as simple as getting off your ass and making it happen.

There. Now get started!

Seriously....there isn't anything mystical about it. I didn't know what I was getting myself into when I got started, I just took it step by step and it all fell into place.

You might (probably will) lose money the first time or two around. At minimum you will likely just keep your head above water for several years until you realize that you are doing something wrong and finally make corrections that put you on the right path.

Keep in mind that there is a BIG difference between being a businessman and being self employed. Most people who own businesses are working long hours and getting paid little if any more than an employee would.

If you only remember ONE THING I say it should be that you need to get out of being a worker and into being a businessman. You will be starting out self employed, the trick is to work yourself into being a businessman/investor ASAP. Tattoo this on your forehead if you have to!

If you need ideas on how to finance your venture with little money, check out No Cash, No Fear by Terry Allen. He gives some very creative ideas for starting businesses without a lot of money.

Also read Owning a No Cash Down Business by Arnold S. Goldstein. Good info on BUYING a business creatively without a lot of cash. I read this book last year, and ended up finding out a couple of months ago that one of my good friends actually knows the author pretty well. It's a small world....

 

[diplomatic_lies]

1) Walk to your local business registration office (if too far, take public transport, which requires another set of instructions)

2) Inform the person at the counter you want to start a business.

3) Fill in the form.

4) Wait 2 days.

5) You've started a business!

 

[S-lemond]

starting a business for dummiesss

 

[spider_007]

what kind of buisness are you starting anyway???

 

[misterethoughts]

I am trying to do a freelance writing business. Copywriting, Technical Writing type of deal. I am pulling a few hundred a month. I am hitting small and big companies.Writing anything that is needed. Just keep pushing keep working hard. Like many people mentioned, read,study, observe and associate with business minded people.

 

[Chaos-Knight]

I'v already started my own buisiness,
I haul cars/trucks and machinery...

But I still have alot of things to learn.

It could be a year or two before things really begin to flourish,
right now it's part time and I work another job when
I'm not working for myself.

The best tip I could give is
Get a cool buisiness card made up then spread them
everywhere, give them to people you talk to,
pin them up on bulleton boards.

Buisiness cards have gotten me about 75% of my jobs.
Without cards or advertiseing things would be really slow.

I'd like to hear what kind of buisiness your starting.

 

[Mystic]

Im going to be a sophmore in college this september. This summer me and my 2 best friends have started our first "real" business. We sell brand new products on our website with its own niche market. We have a lot of ambitious plans and hope to make profits soon, we have spent the past 3 months setting it up and are almost ready to go live and begin the initial marketing phase. I hope it works out, reading these financial threads here always intrigue me and I am aspiring to be extremely successful someday like all 3 of our parents have been, Successful Entrepreneurs...

As far as actually setting up the business from my experience heres what we did.

1. Figure out what you are going to do.
Weve always talked about what businesses we would like with lists of pros and cons for each idea including semantics of the operation and feasibility. Pick one do a bit of reasearch, brainstorming and set out to achieve your goal.

2. The legal aspect
For our internet business we needed a Tax ID number (FEIN#) to register with suppliers. I reccomend setting up a LLC, sure you could use your social security number as your business ID but do you want to be personally liable for everything? **** no, go down to your state capital and fill out the forms. Call up the IRS get your Tax ID, fill out forms to register with your state. Easier said then done it can get confusing at times but you gotta do what you gotta do. With your LLC make a bank account, nowadays you can manage everything online, online banking allows you electronic management of your cash.

3. Selling
What is your sales venue going to be? Were using the internet as our storefront. I dont know much about brick and mortar stores, except there is a ****load of overhead involved in setting one up, however if you buy say a franchise you have a high chance of success as well as someone to hold your hand. Completely up to you, my partners and I grew up in the internet age.

Yeah and thats a simplified version of what ive learned thus far. Maybe in a year or 5 (hopefully not the latter) I can post a how I made it to a million thread detailing my adventure. Good luck on your endeavor, as Calvin Coolidge said "The business of America is business."

 

[Bible_Belt]

Many businesses are based upon possessing specialized equipment that would be cost prohibitive for most people to buy or even rent. Equipment may be heavily depreciated to offset taxable income.

imho, the most important part of getting any new business going is reinvesting your profits back into the business. Spend money on things that make money, like new and better equipment, advertising, and marketing.

 

[GirlCrazy]

As far as I know, it's as easy as filing a DBA ('doing business as') with a local newspaper.

"As of [date], [some guy] will be doing business as [Some Guy's Company]"

You take the newspaper down to your bank and open a business account in your company's name as a sole proprietor, and then you're in business.

It doesn't shield you from being sued, though. To do that, you need a corporation or an LLC. It's a lot more work, such as having to elect company officers and a board of directors. Then you take your corporate seal down to the bank and open an account for your new corporation.

There's some funny rules for starting up a corporation. You can't just put $20k into your corporate account and start doing business. You can however 'loan' your corporation money, which it has to pay back at current interest rates. If you don't start it out perfect, the 'corporate veil' won't have integrity, and you're open to being sued.

Most corporations are incorporated in the State of Delaware. Something like 75% of all corporations are incorporated in Delaware.

 

[Bonhomme]

First and foremost, you must have or be able to borrow more than sufficient capital to get it up and running, and keep you going until it becomes profitable enough to support you. Allow for about 2 to 3 times the amount you originally expect.

Some businesses (such as mine {home inspections}) are not very capital-intensive, in terms of equipment requirements (but advertising is very expensive), but are very knowledge-intensive. Others require a great intial capital outlay. Consider these factors. Avoid expenses that involve long-term commitments at first like the plague. Almost all my advertising is month-to-month or one-off.

 

[ScrewIt]

I suggest taking a business class somwhere. It will at least teach you how to write a business plan, which involves research beforehand.

Recently I've jumped into the freelance bandwagon...however i hope to start a design studio when i get enough capitol and experience in the field. however my field of study included a few business classes so i already have some insight into writing contracts, proposals, letters, business plans. Any in-depth contract you write (and read) should definitely be looked at by a lawyer, unless however you have credentials in the law field and have experience.

A great way of bringing in clients is to self-promote or advertise, marketing materials work very well.