Startup: Can I REALLY Start My Own Business?

To put it in the words of Bob the Builder, "Yes, you can!'  Anyone can realistically start a business with an idea and some hard work.  The U.S. Economy is not ruled by the big dogs.  Almost 99% of all businesses are classified as small businesses. Those small businesses in turn employ 80% of the American population. 

There is no special training or skills needed to run a business.  All it truly takes is the a dream and the ability to roll up you sleeves and get down to business.  You've got to be able to go outside of your own skill set to learn new things or be able to seek out the folks,that can help you execute on your concept. 

It doesn't take the next great invention to launch a business either. Just about anyone can come up with an idea to leverage their skills, interests, or expertise. When it comes down to it, starting a business is as easy as coming up with Ethel idea, making it official,and sorting out how to pay for it.   You can go sleek and simple on a shoestring budget or big and splashy with startup cash in the bank.  

You can even do most of the work from the comfort of home.  In fact, nearly 52% of all small businesses are home based according to the Small Business Administration. More and ,pew dreams are launched from the kitchen table, garage or home based offices than anywhere else. 

Once you can get past the fear of starting up on your own, you will find it surprising how easy it is to launch your own small business!

How to Start Your Business on a Budget

We've all read the stories in the business blogs of the brand new startups that are rolling in the capital.  If you don't have an endless credit line or a crowd of angel investors lining up to help fund your dream, you may need to learn how to make your business dollars stretch a wee bit further. 

Here are some tips that can help you start your business on a budget:

Start virtually: An office may be a luxury for your startup phase. Thanks to the rise of the digital age, there are lots of online tools and apps that can help you navigate.  Take advantage of Google Docs for sharing of documents, Skype for voice and video communications, Toggl for time tracking, and Square for invoicing and payment processing.  If you don't have a need for a physical location for your business, it is a cost that can be put offuntil you grow enough to support it.  Restaurants, retail shops, and manufacturers will need a dedicated space, but many of us can work out a home office, garage, or local coffee shop until we start generating solid cash flow.

The cloud:  Not only is the internet good for online tools and applications, it has given us access to ample digital storage and reduced the need for expensive software solutions.  Rather than pay the upfront cost of pricey brand name software, a little bit of surfing can bring you access to free or inexpensive options available on the cloud.  All you need is access to a laptop, tablet or cell phone and you can use and access your documents just about everywhere.  Dropbox makes sharing of documents seamless regardless of size.  Google Docs doesn't just save documents, it gives you the functionally of Microsoft Office while allowing multiple users to edit them from anywhere.  Adobe Creative Cloud eliminates the hefty price tag by giving users access to their software on a subscription basis for a fraction of the cost.  Whatever your needs, odds are that you can find the software you need hosted somewhere in the cloud.

Outsource: There is no need to staff up as you get your business up and running.  Every hire should be focused on achieving the targets you set in your business plan and supported by your financial growth.  Most other business functions, can be handled by independent contractors.  Look for affordable skilled professionals on sites such as Upwork, Guru and even Twitter.

Get social: Online social networks are not just for entertainment, they can be cheap or free marketing tools that can spread the word about your business.  Build your profiles on whichever channels you feel would give you the best contact with your target market.  Then devote a few hours each week getting the word out about your awesome products and services.  Build a website blog using targeted keywords to drive more traffic to your brand.  A little hard work can help you reach those early adopters that can place the spotlight directly onto your business. 

Act like the big dog:  You company may be small, but you can convey the image of a big player.  A well-designed website is essential to give the illusion of big.  Wix and SquareSpace are affordable options that give you access to an eye catching collection of templates that are as unique as your business.  Make sure to spring for the customized domain email.  An email address ending with @gmail.com or @yahoo.com is a dead giveaway that you are bootstrapping. 

A small business needs to make the most out of every dollar especially through the startup phase.  If you keep a close eye on your costs, listen to your instincts, and take advantage of the small business edge that gets lost in the corporate culture, you can grow your company into a big dog in no time. 

Business Planning: Choosing the Right Business for You

Millions of people dream of starting their own business each year.  A small fraction of those are brave enough to actually take the plunge.

The most difficult decision that entrepreneurs face when they make the decision to work for themselves is in deciding what type of business they want to go into.  Before you rush into something merely based on what may make you the most money, you should take an honest look at the priorities of you and your family.  Running your own business can bring you much more than financial success or failure, it can bring you a much broader sense of fulfillment and control that you could ever expect.

It is absolutely vital for you to think things through before you jump into business ownership. Too many entrepreneurs end up bored and discouraged because they didn’t take the time to consider their options and select the right path for them. Take a little time now to set a vision for yourself to set up the ultimate success of your business, it will make the road you take that much more enjoyable.

To help you make an insightful decision, there are some simple questions you can ask to help you choose your own path….

What do you want to do with your time?
In the United States, the average employee spends 40 hours a week at work, 2080 hours working a year. That is a fraction of the time you will work if you run your own business. In an office, you have a departments for finance, office management, human resources, sales and marketing, business development, and much more. In your own business, you run the whole show 24 hours a day / 7 days a week / 365 days a year. Choosing the right business for you is critical to your success when you are investing that kind of time and passion into something. Pick something that will keep you excited and interested. If you do something you truly love, you won’t mind the long hours. If you like what you do, it won’t feel like the grind of doing work (at least most of the time.)

What are your skills?
We all have things that we are good at. Sit down and make a list of things that you do well (even things like hobbies) and you may be surprised at some of the business options open to you. The important thing is to find a business in which you will really shine and be well-suited for the critical functions of that business. You don’t need to do everything well, there are lots of outside consultants and contractors that can help you in the areas where you don’t shine so don’t let what you don’t know scare you away from doing something you will truly enjoy.

What business fits your lifestyle?
When you are considering businesses make sure you take into account the type of lifestyle you want to lead. If working at home is your priority, you should consider an e-commerce based business that doesn’t involve travel. If you need flexibility in your schedule, you can consider project based businesses such as graphic design, website development or writing where a set schedule is not critical to business.

What about the money?
Let’s be honest, money does need to be a criteria in determining what business you want to run. You need to sit down and carefully consider your business financing requirements. If you have limited resources and don’t want to seek out financing, select something that you can grow organically without outside funding. Start small and let the business revenues provide the operational and growth capital you’ll need. Many businesses can require small amounts of capital to start and that may be the best route to take if you are just starting out. For example, with my own consulting business all I started out with was my laptop and a phone line. Once you get established you can develop additional marketing materials such as business cards and brochures or a website as you grow.

Do you have an exit strategy?

It may surprise you but you should always have a plan of how you will exit your business if or when the time comes. Do you want to sell it? Do you want to keep it forever? Are you ready to liquidate if it doesn’t work? Picking an exit strategy at the start will help you eliminate future legal and tax headaches for later.

About the author:    The Business Girl is Terri Sullivan Biehn.  I have been a professional business writer and management consultant for more than fifteen years.  As a management consultant, I work with entrepreneurs to develop business plans and other documents.  Through my consulting practice, I coach entrepreneurs and small business owners on their general start-up, marketing, financial, operational and management issues. 

Entrepreneur Tip: Buy a Notebook!

Once you decide you want to start your own business and you make the decision about what type of business you want to start, you will be surprised at how fast ideas will start to come to you. The first thing I recommend to my clients that are just starting out is to buy a notepad and bring it with them everywhere.

Bring that notebook with you everywhere. Ideas and questions will come to you at the park, as you wait in line at the coffee shop, or as you are picking up the kids at daycare. As quick as they come, they will quickly disapear unless you write them down.

At this stage, there are no dumb ideas and no dumb questions. Write everything down and flush out the details later. I’ll give you ideas later for ways to use your notebook, but for now just find one you like and make sure you have it with you wherever you go.

About the author:    The Business Girl is Terri Sullivan Biehn.  I have been a professional business writer and management consultant for more than fifteen years.  As a management consultant, I work with entrepreneurs to develop business plans and other documents.  Through my consulting practice, I coach entrepreneurs and small business owners on their general start-up, marketing, financial, operational and management issues. 

Business Planning: Brainstorming Your Business Idea

To write a business plan, you will need to be able to answer some vital questions.  The first questions aren’t all that tough and are absolutely essential to your business success.

Grab a notebook and do some brainstorming to answer the following questions. It may not be formal, but the responses will give you an idea of where your business is going.

1. What is your business idea?

2. What are your goals for starting this business?

3. Who are your customers?

4. How is your business different?

5. Who are your competitors?

6. How much money do you need to start-up?

7. How much do you plan to make in revenue for the first year?

8. Where are you going to get the start-up funds?

9. How will you measure the success of your new business?

10. What are the key milestones for your business?

About the author:    The Business Girl is Terri Sullivan Biehn.  I have been a professional business writer and management consultant for more than fifteen years.  As a management consultant, I work with entrepreneurs to develop business plans and other documents.  Through my consulting practice, I coach entrepreneurs and small business owners on their general start-up, marketing, financial, operational and management issues. 

Business Planning: What’s In A Name? Everything!

What’s in a name?  When it comes to business your name is everything.

When you start out the process of picking a name make sure you take into account the type of business you are in.  A techno name is great for an online business, but may not work for an offline service provider.  After working out a set of name options, check with your state filing office to make sure your pick is available and make sure the domain name is available online.  If the name is open, file the appropriate paperwork and purchase the domain ASAP to ensure nobody else holds the rights to your business name.

Here are the latest trends when it comes to naming your business:

Made-up Words – Rather than picking a name from the dictionary, some of the biggest drivers in the online marketplace turned to the world of make believe when it came to selecting their names.  Nobody had heard of the word Skype until the online communication powerhouse took the word mainstream a few years ago.  On the plus side, you should have no problem securing an online presence by snagging your domain names and social media tags with ease.  On the down side, a made-up moniker that is difficult to spell or remember can make is challenging for customers to find you.

Two Word Combos – Facebook is the prime example of two words that combined became a household name.  Make sure that when you are brainstorming two word possibilities that you check to ensure the online domain is available.  It is best to skip a website that involves extra characters including a dash or space which savvy online users will skip over. If you are going with a two word combo, head for some unconventional options like the sandwich chain Which Wich.  It may sound simple, but it gives the company a unique name that isn’t easy to forget.

Misspellings:  Your teachers taught you to make sure to watch your spelling, but a simple misspelled word can be online gold – think Toys R Us or Tumblr.  The simple act of dropping a letter or changing the spelling of a word gives your brand a modern feel.  If you go with a misspelled name, keep it simple so that customers will still be able find your business.

About the author:    The Business Girl is Terri Sullivan Biehn.  I have been a professional business writer and management consultant for more than fifteen years.  As a management consultant, I work with entrepreneurs to develop business plans and other documents.  Through my consulting practice, I coach entrepreneurs and small business owners on their general start-up, marketing, financial, operational and management issues. 

Business Planning: What Do I Really Need in a Business Plan?

One of the top questions I receive from clients is what information they really need in their business plans.  The answer is a general “it depends”.

The information you need to present in your business plan will depend on what you plan on using the business plan for and your actual business idea.  Sometimes that can result in a concise 3-4 page business plan with just the basics and other times it results in a sixty page novella that tells the entire story.

The one thing that is certain is that you do need a business plan.  If it’s for your own internal use, you can determine what you need to include in the plan in order to keep your business on track.  That may be a notebook of key points, a pile of post-it notes or a formal document.  If it’s for bank financing, you need to follow the SBA guidelines to make sure you have fully thought through the entire business concept.  If you’re heading to family and friends, an executive summary may be all you need.  No matter what the purpose or length of the plan, you absolutely NEED a business plan if you hope to succeed in business.

Executive Summary:  This is the one section no business can skip when it comes to writing a business plan.  It is the introduction to your business with all the key points of why potential investors should take the time to read your entire plan and ultimately pony up the funds to help you grow your business.

Company Overview:  Once you have captured the reader’s attention in the Executive Summary, the company overview is where you can provide information on the company history, details of your products and services, and information on the management’s experience.

Company Mission and Vision:  One of the shortest sections of the business plan, it offers you the opportunity to wrap up your vision for the business and its future in a few short sentences.

Use of Funds:  A detailed listing of how much money you need and how you will spend it.

Market Analysis and Competition Analysis: Details on the size of the market potential and an analysis of your direct and indirect competitors.

Marketing Plan:  The four P’s of marketing – Product, Price, Place, and Promotion.

Organization and Management Team:  The “who” section of your business which will include the structure of your organization, details on the management team and how you will staff the business into the future.

Risk Analysis:  A thoughtful analysis on any risks that you are aware of and how you will address them.

Financial Plan:  Once you have sold investors on the idea of your business, this is where they find out the return on their investment.  It should include financial projections for the first 3 – 5 years of operations, a break-even analysis, and a listing of start-up costs.

About the author:    The Business Girl is Terri Sullivan Biehn.  I have been a professional business writer and management consultant for more than fifteen years.  As a management consultant, I work with entrepreneurs to develop business plans and other documents.  Through my consulting practice, I coach entrepreneurs and small business owners on their general start-up, marketing, financial, operational and management issues. 

The Biggest Blunders To Avoid When Writing Your Business Plan

You’ve decided the time is right to take the leap and start your own business.  Now that you’ve taken the first step, you need to write a business plan.

A lot of time and effort goes into researching and writing a winning business plan.  While I recommend reaching out to a business plan professional to help put the polish on your plan, there are a lot of decisions that you will need to make along the way to help make sure you end up with a plan that you are proud to present to investors.

Here are some of the biggest mistakes you can make when creating your business plan:

Not Having a Plan!

You NEED a business plan.  A lot of new businesses think that they can skip the process of writing a plan and just get down to business.  Even if you aren’t going to be seeking outside investment, you need a plan for success.  That plan is a roadmap to show you how to get from where you are to where you are going in the future.  The process of writing a business plan makes you fully think through your business and evaluate its potential for success.  You have to realistically think through the challenges and opportunities available in the market and have a plan for action before they arise.  Your plan can be as formal or as informal as you would like.  A notebook filled with ideas, solutions, and analysis will work just fine if you are keeping it to yourself.  Go for a formal plan with graphical appeal if you are using it to secure funding.

Keep It Simple!

A business plan should start with the basics.  The details are important, but you need to make sure that the reader understands the basics of your idea before you drown them in details.  Start off with telling the reader what your product or service is and why the world needs it.  Once you have answered the what and the why, you can delve into the details on what makes it different and dynamic about it.  As you write the plan try to think about questions the reader may have and try to answer it as simply as possible.

Too Short Sighted

There is more to your business than the next three years.  Investors and financiers want to know what you are going to do with their funding in the short-term, but you really need to understand where you are going in the long-term.  While you will need to show how you can pay back any outside financing, it is important to have a plan for where you will be five or ten years down the line.  You don’t need to kill them with details of the long-term vision, but should set some longer term milestones and some goals to aspire to as you move forward past this round of funding.

Forgetting the Rest of the World

You are not the only business out there.  You probably aren’t the only one with the business idea either.  There are other companies and entrepreneurs who have been there and done that.  Look to their stories for inspiration and insight.  Look at what worked for them and what failed.  Identify opportunities that they may have missed.  Make sure you’re not too much like the competition, but also recognize that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel.

About the author:    The Business Girl is Terri Sullivan Biehn.  I have been a professional business writer and management consultant for more than fifteen years.  As a management consultant, I work with entrepreneurs to develop business plans and other documents.  Through my consulting practice, I coach entrepreneurs and small business owners on their general start-up, marketing, financial, operational and management issues.