You have a dream about starting your business. This
is a wonderful time to be thinking of starting a business.
Economic development agencies at the federal, state and
local level of governments are ready and willing to help
you get that dream off the ground. You can tackle the
start-up process yourself or you can team up with agencies
such as Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) or
Service Corps of Retires Executives (SCORE) that provide
free counseling for businesses—both start-ups and
existing businesses. Your local library has numerous
books to help you through the process as well.
The first step you must take is to determine whether
being self-employed is really the path you want to follow.
It has many rewards such as independence, profit
potential and flexibility of schedules. But, the road is not all paved with
gold—do
you have what it takes in terms of motivation and drive to succeed? Do you have
the support of your friends and family?
Do you have both the technical and business skills
that you will need to achieve success? If your answer
to any of the above questions is not an unequivocal
yes then maybe you need to assess what steps you need to take to prepare
yourself better to succeed.
Training is available through many sources in the community
if you need additional business training. You do not
need a college degree to succeed, but you do
need a working knowledge of business skills such as management, accounting
and marketing
to grow your business. Check out the local community college for both their
credit and non-credit business courses. The non-credit offerings often
include seminars
that meet for only a couple of hours, but are targeted to very specific
business topics such as hiring employees or effective
networking. Longer courses are
available such as the Fast Trac© program, which takes 15 weeks to help you develop
a complete business plan.
The Internet is a great source with many tools for small
business owners and entrepreneurs. Check out the Small
Business Administration’s website www.sba.gov for
help with planning, financing, marketing and
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management issues. The website also includes sample business
plans to help you formulate your plan. The SBA is affiliated with many community partners that offer
training courses as well. The complete calendar for training
courses is available on their website.
The more you learn and plan for your business the more prepared
you will be to deal with the roadblocks ahead.
Do not underestimate the amount of capital it takes to start
a business. You must cover all of your start-up and operating
costs until you reach the point where you are breaking even.
Understanding where and when this point will occur helps you
determine how much financing and what type of financing you
must procure. Writing a business plan helps you anticipate
the potential problems and develop a “plan B” to
overcome the hurdles.
The following checklists will help provide you with a path
to achieve your dream!
Is a small business the way to achieve your goals?
• What qualifications do you bring to the business?
• What is your comfort level with risk?
• Is your family supportive of this venture?
• What do you hope to achieve with this business?
• What type of business are you interested in starting?
• Is there a market for the product or service you want to provide?
• Who is your target market for this product or service?
• What is the competition like in your selected market?
• What would be your competitive advantage?
• Is the competitive advantage sustainable?
How will you organize the business? Each of these structures
has different tax and liability implications.
• Corporation
• Partnership
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• Limited Liability Company
• Sole Proprietorship
Select a location for the business.
Determine anticipated start-up expenses.
Develop a list of
potential monthly expenses.
Identify all financing resources available at the local,
state and federal levels of government and determine which
are most appropriate for your type of business.
Establish a bank account for the business.
Determine the suppliers that you will need to run your business
and investigate the credit terms available from each.
Investigate all start-up procedures specific to your industry
(do you need any permits or licenses?).
Meet with an accounting professional to determine the record
keeping needs specific to your type of business.
Meet with an insurance professional to evaluate your risk
management plans.
Write a business plan to outline your business strategies
for the next 3-5 years.
Secure financing if needed.
© 2005, Joyce Ezrow
Joyce Ezrow, Professor
Business Management, FastTrac© Certified Instructor
Anne Arundel Community College
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